Trek madone 9 upgrade etap - saving weight ?

[Erwin]

Very interesting thread!
I like to see your 3T stem and Aeronova bar on a Madone 9. I drive this combo on my Madone 7 and always had an eye on the Madone 9. But the Bontrager stem/bar combo with non flare bars and fixed setup hold me back so far. Please can u post some pictures from your steerer tube-stem-bar setup? Thanks a lot!

What do you guys do with the control center if you have an ETAP group? Are there options for closing the control center hole, like carbon covers, 3d prints, etc.?

EDIT: Etap Access Plate cover for Madone 9, here it is: https://www.shapeways.com/marketplace/?tag=madone

[RocketRacing]

A madone is all about speed. In my opinion you wouldn't do the bike right if you sacrifice aero for weight.

I'd go with the original bars, aero bottles, maximize what I can like bolts/saddle/groupset/wheelset then work on my power. If you decide to do some racing then just keep the bike nice and clean, and work on your power numbers.

If you ever feel like the bike is too heavy and you're losing seconds compared to your buddies remember that you have an advantage on the flat and on the descent.

If I could pick only one bike I'd take a madone too. There are limits to how far I'd go with secondary objectives. Lets be honest, for a madone, weight is one of them.

If I had money burning in my pocket and knew I'd stay with one bike, I'd get etap/di2 and so on.

I chose a different route and got 3 bikes. It makes life so much easier when you can have different priorities. Light stuff (non-aero ok) on the climber, good braking wheels, shallower is ok. Tubeless optional.

Maximum aero on madone/tt bike, ignore weight. Aggressive position. Low rolling resistance = "heavier" tubeless. Deep "heavy" wheels, skin suit, aero full face helmet, shoecovers, perfect shifting before lightweight = duraace over sram red. Don't drop chains and so on. All about saving seconds which electronic shifting does do.

Tt bike is completely ignoring weight. Split nose saddle, most aggressive position, disc wheel, heavy aero brakes, maybe oval chainrings and so on....

The more agressive the position the lower the power. So it takes a lot of discipline and hard work to ride an aero frame or tt frame. If this is not fun for you then better stick with a climber or endurance bike than to have an upright position on an aero bike and lose the whole point.

Sorry for babbling. Just thought to share some insight. To summarize, on a madone, don't worry about 30 grams. The obsession won't make you faster. If I were you I'd only take the lighter of two choices if they both have the same aerodynamic advantage or they both allow the same power production. Only then...

This is my mantra also. 100% Light bike. 100% Aero bike.

That being said, i currently run only one road bike, so i have made it a mix of light and aero to make it a good all rounder.

[Erwin]

@Noots: Please, post some pictures with the Aeronova on the Madone 9. Thanks a lot!