I wanted to share my thoughts on my Trek Domane Al 2 (bought Sept 2021) and the upgrades I made for it. After climbing the Mont Ventoux in the summer of 2021, I fell in love with cycling. One month later I bought my first road bike. At first I wanted to buy the Domane AL 5, but not being sure if the new hobby would last, I picked the cheapest Domane Al 2 (Shimano Claris groepset) at the price of €899. Now, after riding it more than 20.000 kilometers in dutch weather on tarmac and gravel , I wanted to share my experience.
Overall the stock version of this bike does feel quite heavy and riding doesn’t feel as smooth as riding a lighter and stiffer carbon frame. But I think for beginners like me this bike is perfect. The geometry of the frame is very comfortable, making the bike capable for long distance rides. Also the Claris groupset is perfect for beginners, shifts pretty smooth and replacement parts are cheap. The groupset is easy to maintain by yourself since it’s using cable activated disc brakes instead of hydraulic. Some of the stock parts make the bike feel and ride heavy but replacing those won’t have to cost a lot (see the upgrade part below). The frame itself is very durable but the paint job wil get scuffs and scratches fast. But it’s a bike so that’s fine with me. This bike is really for people who are new into cycling, or want a cheap 2 in one bike for road and gravel. If you have ridden older (lighter) rim brakes bikes this is not for you.
+: Comfortable, Shimano Claris, tire clearance, Price, Very durable, it’s a Trek, easy maintenance
-: Weight, stock tires
I’ve upgraded pretty much every part of the bike over the last 12 months. In total the upgrades costed me around €1100. Most parts are bought as new but second hand and finding great deals online or at local shops.
Upgrades: (Listed from most to least impact to ride quality combined with the cost of the upgrades)
(1) TIRES and Tubes! The stock tires (Bontrager r1) are actually pretty good for beginners. They are really puncture resistant and durable, but feel very slow and you feel every little bump on the road due to their hardcasing. I’ve ridden lots of tires over the last 2,5 years and let me tell you the gp5000’s, p zero’s and Victoria corsa’s make this bike feel so much smoother and faster. Combine these tires with any latex or tpu tube and you’ll go even faster and smoother😎
(2) Saddle. The stock Bontrager saddle is really comfortable for your first rides. But after riding more and especially longer rides, the saddle will not give you enough support. That’s why I changed it to a more stiff Bontrager Verse Elite saddle. This saddle makes longer rides way more comfortable due to it beings stiffer and harder giving you’re body more support.
(3) Wheelset. The Bontrager Afinnity disc wheels are heavy, really heavy. But they are capable of riding road and gravel and a lot of tires will fit them. After 2 years of riding these wheels I had no problem with them, they where true all the time and never had a broken spoke. But i was searching for an update, to make the bike a bit lighter and stiffer. After searching for the best ‘cheap’ carbon wheels and reading many reviews I ended up buying wheels from Elite. These wheels costed me €400 (shipping included). The bike not only looks better with deeper wheels, it’s also much more responsive. The wheels are actually not much quicker at high speeds, but acceleration is better due to the lower weight of the wheelset.
(4) Seatpost. There is nothing wrong with the stock seatpost. But I thought it would be funny to try a cheap carbon one from Toseek. I have to say I didn’t think it would make a big difference, but man I was wrong. The seatpost absords so much bumps from the road and makes the ride so much smoother. I used it for over 2000km’s and it is still like new. I think everyone should give it a try haha.
(5) Groupset. I have ridden the Shimano Claris groupset for over 2 years. The 8 speed group helped me climb the famous hills of Flanders and Limburg and a couple of mountains in France. Seriously it’s a great groupset, as a beginner you really do not need more than this. But the parts wear out and my fitness got way better, so I thought why not upgrade. Buying a new road bike soon and keeping this one for gravel it was a simple choice. I got the Shimano 810/600 GRX groepset on a deal from a local shop. It makes the bike look more premium and it just fits the picture of it being a gravelbike soon. Now that I have 11 speed I can say I’m riding at better cadence most of the time and ofcourse shifting is smoother. With Claris there were times where my cadence would be too high or too low. But for me, Al the other upgrades had way more impact on ride feel and quality then the change of the groupset.
At the moment I’m in the market for a new bike (the new Trek Emonda sl6 or Emonda ALR) and will be using this Domane al 2 as my winter/ gravelbike. With 40mm Schwalbe tires it’s very much capable of riding gravel roads.
by DOMANEKaas