Inside the relentless reinvention of Trek's Madone

In 2015, Trek debuted a radically improved version of its long-running road race bike. It was the fifth generation of Madone, but it was such a shocking departure from the previous generation that it could have been an entirely new category. 

In fact, it was. The 2016 Madone became the crown jewel in the emerging category of superbikes. At Trek and beyond, it was dubbed “The ultimate race bike,” because it nailed an elusive trifecta of aerodynamics, comfort, and light weight. 

Editors were impressed. Athletes were impressed. Customers were impressed. But the people behind the project knew they could do better. 

Days after the launch, Senior Industrial Designer Jon Russell called a meeting of the minds. He invited the key stakeholders in the project — those who’d been part of the concepting and creation of the 2016 Madone — along with representatives from product, industrial design, marketing, and performance research. 

He handed out a stack of sticky notes to everyone present and asked a simple question: “What does better look like?” 

One by one, they scribbled ideas onto the sticky notes and stuck them onto the frame. By the end of the meeting, the entire bike — one that had been widely regarded as the greatest road bike ever made — was hidden beneath a flurry of wishes. 

“There were no notes that said, ‘This part is awesome, don’t change it,’” recalled Product Design Director Hans Eckholm. “We take pride in our work, but this was not the time to be complimentary. This was the time to be brutal.” 

“People are more connected to the product at Trek than anywhere I’ve worked,” said Eckholm. “In every department, employees view the bicycle as the outcome of their efforts. They take it personally.” 

In the end, there wasn’t a single part of the 2016 Madone that didn’t present an opportunity for improvement. It had been a monumental effort to get the fifth-generation Madone to its current state, and it was a monumental effort to refine the design until the sixth-generation Madone was ready for production in 2019. 

“This is an important exercise — to look at what you’ve done and be honest about what could be better,” Eckholm said. “We deal directly with the product, but this idea of continuous improvement is pervasive everywhere at Trek. No matter what you do, you can take pride in your work. But you can’t think it’s the best, because it’s not.” 

You can probably guess what happened next. A year after its launch, when enough time had passed to collect test results and feedback from retailers and athletes and customers, the sixth-generation Madone was in the hot seat. And then the seventh. And now, the eighth. Covered in sticky notes, just like those that came before and those that will come after. 

There is no end, there is no perfection. But that fact will never stop us from reaching for it.