The Trek Speed Concept is hardly new but up until now it has only been available to a select few that included Lance Armstrong, Chris Lieto and Julie Dibens. All that is now set to change with its inclusion into the 2011 Trek product line up, and imminent launch at the Amgen Tour of California.

As a result the marketing team at Trek have been hard at work ensuring it gets the maximum attention in the days preceding its May 22nd launch. Trek, along with the organisers of the Amgen ToC have also combined to create a little extra hype with the inclusion of 4 triathletes in the stage 7 time trial.

Chris Lieto, Chris McCormack, Chrissie Wellington and bikefit guru Dan Empfield will set off before the tour riders in a bid to match themselves against some of the best UCI riders over the 33.6km Los Angeles course.

All of this hype got me looking at the Speed Concept a little closer and it really is a marvellous piece of machinery. The attention to detail is visible from every angle and it has the naked look and feel of a track bike.

With the exception of the last piece of the rear derailleur cable, everything else housed within the frame and even this could be eliminated through the use of Shimano’s Di2 electronic groupset. The brake callipers are cleverly installed in the fork crown and bottom bracket and the internal steerer tube flows neatly what would traditionally be called the stem.

A variety of handlebar options have been seen but almost all of them are of the one-piece integrated variety with only the riders individual requirements catered for in the various options. The frame also contains a housing for the installation of wireless speed and cadence sensors and I am sure that their displays will very shortly be integrated into the ‘stem’.

While all of this is advanced, it is the frame itself that makes the biggest inroads into the aerodynamic advantage space that the UCI seem to intent on regulating. The technical team at Trek have found a way around the 3:1 ratio ruling by introducing a Kamm airfoil section to the forks, down tube and seat tube. This Kamm airfoil has the effect of creating a 8:1 section by chopping off the tube at the UCI limit. Incredibly the air moving over the tube does not recognise that the material is no longer there and continues to tail off as if it was.

An absolute stroke of genius, that is even further enhanced when you encountering yaw angles (cross or side winds) up to 15 degrees, which are considered the normal range for a bicycle.

All I can say is congratulations to Trek for taking it to the next level and getting one over the grey suits at the UCI. I look forward to June when mere mortals like myself will be able to purchase the Speed Concept from the local bike shop.