I hope this bike is not a harbinger of things to come in the bike industry. Can't see how a proprietary bottom bracket, seatpost, and headset can be a good thing for the consumer. Is there a benefit that I'm missing here?

Trek makes more money...

Trek wanted to create something completely unique. They did. I think it looks awesome. And I'm sure they ride awesome also. I can understand putting the bearings in the frame. Its similar to a headset. But the seatpost idea seems strange. Then again, I never needed to replace a seatpost before.

I'm sure the functional changes they made to the Madone design offer some benefit, but I get the impression that there's really not an overwhelming consumer interest in the bikes.

For something so "new and unique", no one really seems to be abuzz about them. Not in the shops, and I've noticed relatively new "check out my new 08 Madone" threads here on RBR. Time will tell I guess.

Look at any other company -- Specialized is moving toward totally proprietary components, what with two sized-headsets, company-produced forks and shocks, and cranksets that don't really play nice with given standards. Look moved to the 1.25/1.125 headset a few years ago...proprietarity is a recurring theme in the industry. Trek used to produce suspension forks...remember them? It'll die off again, and come back...and die off...and come back.

I toured the Trek facility in WI a month or two back and got to see some bare frames as well as part of the manufacturing process. My feeling is that the consumer benefit to the redesign is negligible. The new frames require almost zero machining after the curing process unlike the previous models. All the bearing pockets are as molded. This saves Trek a ton of money because they now don't have to machine bottom bracket threads into an aluminum insert in the frame or buy bottom bracket cups from Shimano or SRAM or whoever they use. From what I understand the BB bearings can be purchased from a bering supply house and I'm sure that is what they are doing for production. All in all, they look nice and I'm sure they are great bikes but the focus on the redesign was not on the consumer getting the benefit but rather to reduce costs and increase profit margins.

I think the reason there is so little buzz on the boards is because they are Treks and we have all seen them at our local shops. The buzz on the boards is usually over more exotic bikes.

that being said I don't see a reason to complain over the propreitary parts. Cervelo has been doing it with seatposts for years. And even if its propreitary the market saturation of Trek is great enough that I am sure there will be several third party manufactures offering some options.

I toured the Trek facility in WI a month or two back and got to see some bare frames as well as part of the manufacturing process. My feeling is that the consumer benefit to the redesign is negligible. The new frames require almost zero machining after the curing process unlike the previous models. All the bearing pockets are as molded. This saves Trek a ton of money because they now don't have to machine bottom bracket threads into an aluminum insert in the frame or buy bottom bracket cups from Shimano or SRAM or whoever they use. From what I understand the BB bearings can be purchased from a bering supply house and I'm sure that is what they are doing for production. All in all, they look nice and I'm sure they are great bikes but the focus on the redesign was not on the consumer getting the benefit but rather to reduce costs and increase profit margins.

When the Trek boys were letting us ride the new 2008 Madones at BRAG (Bike Ride Across Georgia) this summer, they sure were selling the benefits of the new bottom brackets. They were claiming increased stiffness in this area of the frame due distinctly to how they had engineered this bottom bracket change. They also downplayed the change, saying that the width of the frame was the same as the old design plus bearing cups. So no change to the Q factor or anything like that. They had their stories well coordinated, as all were telling the same story.

I think the new Madones look really cool, especially given the right color/paint scheme.

And, I'm sure they ride just as well and perhaps better than old madones. How much? I don't know. But it's supposed to be stiffer etc etc. Could I feel the difference if I had the new Madone? Don't know but I'm not betting on it. Maybe I might. Most probably, I won't.

Can a pro tell the difference? I have no idea but I'm not saying he'll definitely be able to do so either.

The differences for the new design are such that the bike becomes stiffer and more stable over the BB area, amongst a few other things they have said it's supposed to be.

Like I said, it's supposed. How you feel it depends on the rider and how sensitive you are to certain changes but more likely than not, it'll feel pretty much similar to the old madones.

But, it's still really cool to me.

is it pretty? i am only concerned w/ looks. seriously... i don't think there is anything to improve on a road bike frame. we just need better tires.

All of those trends have been going on for a while with other manufacturers too. Lowering costs might be one benefit of house brand parts but the bike prices don't seem to be dropping. The trend I see is the more plastic a bike has the more expensive it is when released (CAAD, Six13, SystemSix, SuperSix for example). (That is mostly the demand side as opposed to R&D costs.) Four years ago a DA steel bike was just over $2k retail.

With increasing stiffness of this and that each year it's amazing anyone ever finished a bicycle ride or race in the past.

One benefit I hope these new designs have is being less susceptible to creaks and squeaks. I don't want to be the early adopter however since problems often come up (learning curve of CF or galvanic corrosion for example). The new designs don't do much for me aesthetically (sloping top tube and seat tube collar). The more advanced bikes become the better my basic steel frame bike looks.