So I spent some time working on a few items for the Trek Madone. I don't own a Madone and have no access to a seat post so I am working off the built in tail light mount. One thing that is obvious from the tail light mount is that it isn't simply a snap in item. There is a spring catch. Shapeways or any other service like it, is just a print service and not a full fledged manufacturer. I am limited in what I can do with it. But I did order Trek part number W516121 which is the Flare mount specifically for the Madone. I have disassembled it and saw how they put it together and I can work with this.
Two things result from trying to repurpose the Trek mount, first it does require that you actually have part W516121 and second I am limited in what we can attach to the mount. I can actually design a few adapters that mount in place of the Flare tail light mount and the first ones I have worked on are for the Cygolite Hotshot and the Garmin Varia.
One more thing that concerns me is the very small mounting area, it is only 10 x 12 mm square. Even though there is a 4 mm bolt and nut that hold it together I am not sure that the 'Strong and Flexible Nylon' is adequate enough to hold a heavier attachment, or can be made strong enough to keep if from vibrating in the case of a GoPro style adapter. I am not as concerned about taillights like the Hotshot or Superflash or even the Varia. Switching to Acrylic which is only available in black, white and translucent might be the answer to the strength but the cost doubles moving from nylon. Another minor advantage to Acrylic is that it is a very smooth finish and not the fuzzy finish of the black nylon.
For those unfamiliar with how the taillight mounts on the Madone here is a picture
In order to use my adapters you have to remove the flexible tab for the Bontrager Flash and replace it with the new alternative ones. The Trek part listed above is only the black plastic piece and not the entire taillight. It is available as a special order from any Trek dealer. Some larger Trek dealers might have one in a spare parts box. An alternative method to acquire this would be from a non-Madone owner that buys a Bontrager Flash tail light as Trek now includes both the rubber strap and Madone mounts.
If anyone here has any opinions I would be happy to entertain them.
UPDATE: Found out the the Flare Tail light mount as well as a matching rear reflector mount comes with the Trek Madone 9 series, so there should be no need to buy the Trek part listed above. Since the bases of both the reflector and the Flare mounts are identical, you can disassemble either to replace it with the piece modeled above. It is listed here:
Trek Madone Light Mount Varia Insert
