The Checkpoint is Trek’s gravel bike, and the SLR 9 eTap is the top of the line race machine in the lineup. This 2022 Trek Checkpoint SLR 9 eTap review is going to cover the Project One experience you go through when ordering this bike. If you’re buying one from your LBS show room floor, odds are many of these decisions were already made for you.
The base price of the 2022 Checkpoint SLR 9 eTap is $12,049. This race bike costs the average price of a use car, or the cost of adding auto pilot to your Tesla. It all depends on your perspective, but either way the SLR 9 eTap is made to dominate the gravel racing circuit.
A baseline of Trek recommended minimum specs can he found here.
Checkpoint SLR 9 eTap Key Features
The best feature of this bike is it’s weight. The Checkpoint SLR 9 eTap weighs just 17.86 lbs.. For some perspective, Trek’s flagship road race bike is the Madone which weighs 17.19 lbs.. Swap the tires and you have a legitimate road race bike.
Second, you are getting the fastest and lightest electronic shifting groupset in the world right now. SRAM Red eTap AXS is top of the line performance on every part. The AXS components are cross compatible too. If your road bike has SRAM Force AXS you can still interchange parts as needed. With AXS you can even swap parts with SRAM Eagle AXS, which is a mountain bike groupset.
Checkpoint SLR 9 Project One Experience
Full discloser, my Project One experience was actually on a Trek Domane. I’m going to walk you through each step on the Checkpoint and I will talk about things I wish I had done differently, or things I am glad I went with.
First step is paint. This is an area I wish I would have splurged a bit more. You don’t buy a Project One bike very often, and spending a little extra for custom paint would have been cool. Instead I opted for a no up-charge ‘Select’ paint scheme. These paint schemes mean you do not get the custom message on your chainstay either.
Next up, you choose your drivetrain. The big choice here is whether or not you want to opt for a Ceramic Speed bottom bracket. Can they really be worth the extra money? I went with it, but its really an unnoticeable difference and I feel like it was a waste of money.
After that, you choose components. This is when sizing is important. I’d recommend getting your LBS to throw in a Professional Grade fitting before you order. I was able to change stem size and saddle so my bike came without needing any parts replacements for a perfect race fit.
Checkpoint SLR 9 eTap Price
It is important to know, upgrades during Project One can add a lot of money to the price of your bike. Upgrading to the Aeolus RSL 37V will cost you $1,200 bucks. In the end your bike could cost much more than its starting price tag of $12,049.
This bike is crazy fast, but only a handful of people on the planet need to ride a bike like this. If you can comfortably afford the price tag, you will have the fastest gravel race bike on the planet, and that’s a lot to live up to.
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