Trek Émonda SL 6 eTap review

A climb-friendly bike with aero styling

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By Warren Rossiter

Published: October 26, 2022 at 5:00 pm

The Trek Émonda SL 6 eTap combines the fast handling of a race bike with subtle aero styling and a components package that includes a power meter. It adds up to impressive all-round performance.

Trek's triumvirate of road bikes used to be easy to distinguish from each other, with each having a distinct purpose.

The Madone was the aerodynamic racing weapon; the Domane, with its IsoSpeed suspension, all about smoothing the road surface; and the Émonda was the choice of the climbers, ultra-light in an attempt to thwart gravity.

However, in recent years, the lines have become a little blurred, with the Émonda gaining some aero styling, though the very latest 2023 Trek Madone takes this a marked step forward with its striking IsoFlow seat tube cut-out.

The Émonda's aero flavour means tubes with a kammtail profile (though not as extreme as the Madone), plus internal cable routing at the front end.

The addition of aero hasn't had a detrimental effect on weight, however. In fact, the top-end SLR frameset weighs in at a super-light 698g (56cm, unpainted).

This more modest OCLV 500 carbon version, used on the Émonda frame, adds around 400g to that figure, but that's still a fairly lightweight frameset.

Then there's the aero-optimised carbon wheels in the form of Bontrager's Aeolus Elite 35s.

These wheels are shod with Bontrager's own R2 tyres, which roll well and come with a toughened hard case to help keep punctures at bay.

Even though they’re fairly narrow, at 25c, they’re compliant and provide a great counterbalance to the stiff, responsive feel you get from the Émonda's frame and fork.

The wheels, at 1,625g a pair, are competitively light and add plenty to the Émonda's ride.

The Émonda feels punchy when you pile on the power and, impressively, responds like an even lighter bike to out-of-the-saddle climbing efforts.

The bike's geometry is very well balanced.

It occupies the sweet spot between Trek's slammed H1 fit, aimed at pros, and the H2 fit, found on the Domane endurance bike.

It's positioned with a 73-degree seat angle and a steep 73.8-degree head angle, while the wheelbase is short for a disc bike, at 992mm. The reach of 396mm isn't long, but the 581mm stack is low and racy (figures are for a 58cm bike).

All this adds up to a bike that is superbly fun to ride.

The handling has a rapid snap and it's the perfect bike for riding at speed or around tight corners on fast descents.

Yes, it's a firmer ride than some, but it's not uncomfortable, helped by a superbly comfortable saddle – under my rear, at least – and top-grade bar tape.

The Émonda looks after you as a rider and gets down the road with impressive pace.

To get even more out of the bike, a faster, lighter, tubeless tyre, perhaps in a 28mm width, such as the Continental GP5000 S, would save a little weight, improve comfort and add even more spark.

I’d also look to upgrade the decent alloy bar to a lighter carbon one (Bontrager's one-piece Aeolus RSL, as on the SLR version of the Émonda, would look neat).

However, while there are upgrade options for the future, as it stands, I’d be more than happy to run the Émonda SL6 in standard spec for many, many miles to come.

The SRAM Rival eTap AXS drivetrain works brilliantly, as we’ve come to expect, and the gear range of the 48/35t crankset with a 10-36t cassette matches the bike's intentions sweetly.

The Rival brakes are up to the usual powerful and controlled standards, but the icing on the cake is that Trek has added the optional Rival Quarq Dub power meter.

The meter is single-sided, so you don't get the right/left balance readings or deeper torque readings, pedalling smoothness and more offered by the very best power meters.

However, if you want to take the leap into power measurement as a training tool or to help you gauge long-day efforts, the Rival power meter does everything many everyday riders will need.

Trek should be applauded for including this £230 upgrade as standard, and this bike isn't overpriced.

The Trek Émonda SL 6 comes together as a well-equipped, brilliant all-round bike out on the road.

There's scope for future improvements but, with carbon wheels, a power meter and the excellent Émonda SL frameset at its heart, this is an impressive race bike.

Senior technical editor

Warren Rossiter is BikeRadar and Cycling Plus magazine's senior technical editor for road and gravel. Having been testing bikes for more than 20 years, Warren has an encyclopedic knowledge of road cycling and has been the mastermind behind our Road Bike of the Year test for more than a decade. He's also a regular presenter on the BikeRadar Podcast and on BikeRadar's YouTube channel. In his time as a cycling journalist, Warren has written for Mountain Biking UK, What Mountain Bike, Urban Cyclist, Procycling, Cyclingnews, Total Bike, Total Mountain Bike and T3. Over the years, Warren has written about thousands of bikes and tested more than 2,500 – from budget road bikes to five-figure superbikes. He has covered all the major innovations in cycling this century, and reported from launches, trade shows and industry events in Europe, Asia, Australia, North American and Africa. While Warren loves fast road bikes and the latest gravel bikes, he also believes electric bikes are the future of transport. You’ll regularly find him commuting on an ebike and he longs for the day when everyone else follows suit. You will find snaps of Warren's daily rides on the Instagram account of our sister publication, Cycling Plus (@cyclingplus).