Trek Domane+ AL 5 E-Bike Review - feat HyDrive Hub Motor + Shimano 105 + 55 Mile Range + Disc Brakes

[@rontheretiredone]

I've had one of these for three months, now with over a thousand miles on the clock. It's fabulous and highly recommended if you just need a little bit of help for hills or you are getting on a bit ( I'm 70 years old). The drive chain of the bike is so good it never feels heavy, and I ride with no power over 80% of the time, then when I get tired I can ask it for some assistance. If you really want to crank up a steep climb just set it on power 2 and you fly up the steepest of hills. If you can afford it, get yourself one, you won't be disappointed!

[@rontheretiredone]

Forgot to mention mileage......I regularly do 25 mile runs round hilly Yorkshire and I have yet to see the battery drop to less than 60%, depending on wind and hills I usually see all 5 bars still lit up when I return.

[@generaphaelian8893]

​@@rontheretiredone Thanks for insight. Did you consider/ride any of the SL models before purchasing? If so what were your ride impressions of the SL vs the AL? Thanks in advance for any additional insight you can provide.

[@rontheretiredone]

@generaphaelian8893 nope, went straight for the AL5+, after four months I can say it's holding up well, if you use the power only when needed the battery seems to last forever!

[@generaphaelian8893]

@@rontheretiredone Thanks!

[@AzaanUiX]

Sir , I respect you . U are still trying to be fit even after reaching 70 years of age . Truely respect the enthusiasm

[@DogStar84]

Thanks for review. Bought this morning after enjoying your recommendations. Enjoyed my first short ride. Handle bars super comfortable. Having e assist for first time ever left me with a smile the entire ride. Felt like I was 20 years younger. Moderate Hills were a breeze.

[@TheSweetCyclists]

That's great to hear, I'm glad you're enjoying the ride. The e-assist is a great way to explore new roads and you can still ride the bike with no power without that much of a weight penalty.

[@mattjones8637]

These things are wicked. I bought one two months ago and am very pleased with everything about it. Even without the assist, I'm passing everything on the bike path in my city. I've only had one rider get close to me. I just went to level two and left him in the dust. Its so much fun in my opinion. Well worth the money.

[@TheSweetCyclists]

Glad to hear you're enjoying it. The $3500 price and relatively light 30lb bike make it a fun bike to ride.

[@drouleau]

Yeah, it's easy to pass people when riding a cheater bike. It's like a man pretending to be a woman and beating up a woman in an MMA fight, and then bragging about how they "won".

[@royking420]

It's not that serious lol relax.

[@bastogne315]

Can I chip it?

[@randyborst7517]

He said even without the assist. Sometimes when people get to their 60's and 70's they still like to ride and lost some or alot of fitness. This will keep me riding and excited for 10 more years.@@drouleau

[@pvpixelarts]

Thanks for the detailed review. I got one last week and really enjoying it. I wanted a bike that I can use for different gradients as my trail has such variations. I am just a beginner and in the process of building the endurance. I would have given up riding if not for this e-bike as it helps me navigate steep inclines. I tend to use it like a normal bike most of the times and only when I get tired that I use the battery option. I usually keep it at 1st level and occasionally bump it up as there are some portions of the trail that need a little more push. At the end of the trail where I need to go up to my car, it is a steep incline and the turbo mode (3rd level) helps me very well. Love this bike and the Hyena rider app is super cool. I did not know this until I saw this video. I know there was Bluetooth and I did not activate it until today. Only think that kept me pulling the trigger on this bike till now was the various news about fire incidents concerning other bikes. Hope this bike is safe in that aspect, given that it is from a good brand.

[@chrissinclair8705]

Very excellent review. It's great your expanding out into e-bikes a little. These sort of endurance type e-bikes are starting to rise in popularity. My Gotrax EBE5 is sort of a hybrid type bike built on a mountain bike frame. It has a 500w motor with a 750w peak but only weighs 52lbs which is light for an e-bike at the price I paid for it with a large 15amp battery. I was considering getting a fat tire bike but who wants to lug around 80+ lbs of bike. Also the fat tire bikes are usually more expensive as they need a larger battery and a larger motor to get up to speed. Even though my bike is 52lbs which is still heavy for a pure road bike I can easily pedal it around with no power and I paid a 1/3rd of what this bike costs. I added an unlocked display and a 52v battery for more speed and some Swalbe big ben street tires for less rolling resistance. On the 48v battery I got 62.5km throttle only with a lot of starts and stops in town, with another 3 km weak PAS but no throttle. I'm imagining the 52v battery should get the same even though it has slightly more watt hours as I've gone from around 19mph with the silly locked display to around 23mph with the unlocked display and 52v battery so it's using a bit more power, but I'm getting faster speeds. With the battery fully charged and running at the full 15 amps on the controller, the battery voltage sags to around 55.6 volts which is 834 watts peak, so it's definitely a little snappier.

[@bennetthasty7886]

I did test ride this & loved it however when I also test road the Specialized Turbo Vado SL I preferred that one

[@TheSweetCyclists]

The Vado looks great as well, it's pretty impressive how far e-bikes have come these days.

[@generaphaelian8893]

Thanks for the insight? Can I ask why you prefered the Turbo Vado SL over the AL? Thanks!

[@bennetthasty7886]

@@generaphaelian8893 I just preferred the weight, the ride, the level of assist

[@generaphaelian8893]

@@bennetthasty7886 thanks!

[@DD-xx8wh]

nice bike but would prefer more than the 20 mph assist limit...24 or 25 mph helps in traffic etc

[@TheSweetCyclists]

The 20mph limit is part of the electric bike class rules. Class 1 is pedal assist w/ 20 mph limit. Class 2 is 20 mph limit but with throttle. Class 3 is 28 mph limit pedal assist with optional 20 mph throttle.

[@DD-xx8wh]

@@TheSweetCyclists hopefully Trek will offer an affordable class 3

[@larrylem3582]

How do you remove the rear wheel for flat repair and changing tires? Nuts and washers? Is it tethered by the electrical cable? Can you completely remove the rear wheel?

[@TheSweetCyclists]

That's a great question. The bike has thru-axles you can remove and a removable connector that goes to the rear hub so you can remove the rear wheel and replace / service the tire / cassette as needed. One of the downsides of this hub motor design is that you won't be able to swap in your own wheel though as it has a different width than standard road bikes.

[@larrylem3582]

@@TheSweetCyclists Thanks!

[@martyp5531]

I love mine. Question I have is has anyone used it on gravel? If so did you switch out the tires (if so to what size?).

[@kergoat29]

hello what is your max range / speed average d + with your bike ? I just buy this bike first try 62 km 20 kmh average 734 m D+ and 62% use battery !!!! i use the motor only to climb level 1 rarely level 2 only on hill . !!

[@dermlover1]

Can it double as a gravel bike too?

[@soloist777]

What's the tyre clearance go up to on these for potential gravel? TIA.

[@TheSweetCyclists]

Trek lists the clearance as 38mm without fenders and 32mm with fenders. Most brands tend to be a bit conservative, so depending on the tire (some fit wider than official size) you maybe able to go even wider. The Domane AL 5 could be a fun gravel bike as it's pretty stable and forgiving.

[@soloist777]

@@TheSweetCyclists Ok thx. 40mm would be good.

[@TheZx9man]

What about the range of the battery in the 3 modes? I heard just 55 miles in eco-mode?

[@TheSweetCyclists]

The range is highly dependent on the type of terrain you ride and the mode. We were able to get about ~40 miles riding up 3000 ft mostly in mode 2. You can also extend the distance if you turn down the eco mode from 12% to something lower.

[@prestachuck2867]

Trek also sells an external Range Extender battery and cable that will double the range if you want to ride centuries on an ebike.

[@GiuseppeCostantino]

Has anyone tried to connect it to a garmin device to get user-power data?

[@TheSweetCyclists]

There is no built in power meter on this bike to my knowledge to display data from.

[@toddkvamme]

I'm looking for an e-bike that will shorten my current commute on a regular road bike (an old Specialized Tarmac). 20 miles...approximately 500 feet of "climbing" (it's pretty flat). Usually takes me around 70 minutes to complete. I want to get this down to like 35-40 minutes if possible. Will this do that??

[@TheSweetCyclists]

Yes, that's a perfect use for the Domane+. Using the pedal assist modes you should be able to increase your average speed and shorten the time especially for the climbing portions. Even in eco mode, the motor's additional torque lets you fly up hills.

[@ditto1958]

105 used to be the lowest level?

[@TheSweetCyclists]

Shimano 105 has traditionally been the lowest "performance" groupset for cyclists. Shimano makes a lot of lower variations, but those are typically on commuter / hybrid bikes.

[@ditto1958]

@@TheSweetCyclists Thank you!