First Look: Trek Émonda ALR: Aluminum, aero, and light

On Thursday, Trek officially launched the latest version of its Émonda ALR, which was already available in Europe on April 6, to cyclists in US and Canada. The new aluminum frameset is strikingly similar to Trek’s carbon Émonda, featuring integrated cables and truncated airfoil tubes. It’s also share the same H1.5 geometry, so it’s aimed at racers. The current versions of Émondas SLR and SL have been around since 2020, and the latest version ALR aims to deliver much of the same attributes that have been seen in the pro peloton, but at a much more affordable price.

My test bike, the Emonda ALR Frameset, was custom built with Shimano 105 Di2 and outfitted with Pro components since it will serve as the test bed for a long term review of Shimano’s latest electronic groupset. Same as previous years, the latest 105 received trickle-down tech from its big brothers Dura-Ace and Ultegra, including disc brakes and electronic shifting for the first time. Much like the Emonda ALR, it mimics its higher priced sibling to an impressively high degree, at a significant lower cost. In Canada, the Emonda ALR will also be available in a stock build with complete Shimano 105 mechanical, if building from the frame up is not your thing.

A real looker

First off, I have to talk about the paint job of the ride that I am testing. It’s a stunning white with multiple colours on the logos. But each flourish actually means something. According to Trek, it’s a celebration of the company’s many successes on the road. “The paint job on the Emonda ALR Frameset is inspired by a previous P1 paint scheme called Palmares,” Trek’s Canadian marketing manager, Taylor Cook explains. “The Palmarès paint scheme is made up of quilt-inspired depictions of iconic team kits and champion jerseys from Trek’s vast history of sponsorships and race victories.”

It’s quite stunning and will definitely stand out when you show up to a race. The paint scheme isn’t just on the down and top tubes–you can see little hints on the inside of the fork.

Comfortable cockpit

My test ride is fully Shimano. The 105 groupset was matched with Pro Vibe handlebars and stem. It’s not an integrated bar and stem which is nice, as you’re not beholden to whatever length and width stem and bar that the bike is shipped with. The Pro Vibe bars felt great. I tend to ride on the hoods a lot, but one of my pet peeves with some handlebars is the length. I like to have a decent amount of real…