LBS has the women's Domane SL5 with rim brakes for $1k less than the men's model. It's a closeout model (2019), but still. The photos look almost identical. I could save a ton riding a womans' bike. Are there really gender differences for these road bikes?

Check the geometry charts on Treks website. Take them for a test ride.

Men’s and Women’s sometimes come in different color schemes.

If it fits.. buy it.

No one will know you're riding a women's model, just like they won't know if you're wearing panties

This!

Here's the geometry for the 2019 Women's Domane -



Here's the geometry for the regular 2019 Domane -



Unless someone is seeing differences that are escaping me, the "Women's" model seems to be nothing more than a paint job option on frames 56cm and smaller. Oh, one thing that I didn't check - the saddle on the women's model is probably an Anja (Sp?), but I'd be swapping the saddle, regardless.

Sometimes the shifters have a different throw or are in a different size, too. I would check that out. On bikes that spec different shifters, they are made for smaller hands on the women's bike.

Just to give you some confidence on the bike choice, I've pretty familiar with the Trek line... I own a Emonda SLR. I've also rented on vacation a Emonda SL5 and a Domane SL5.

In my opinion the "SL5" is the sweet spot for price and performance. While the SLR version does handle a little better the SL is 85% there at less than 1/2 the price. The "5" has the new 105 and its a great groupset.

Trek's website has the 2019SL5 for $1999 which is a killer price.
https://www.trekbikes.com/us/en_US/b...-sl-5/p/24223/

The 2019 Madone came in a women's style with a light blue color that I preferred to any of the unisex/men's colors.

Ya see a lot of guys riding pink bikes and wearing women’s colors in San Francisco

I wear pink... I also wear grey.

My lifelong friend, Sue had brain cancer (grey) and breast cancer (pink).

For my first road bike I bought the women's version as I preferred the colour to the mens. Geometry was exactly the same, did have a women's saddle which got replaced straight away.

Except the entire internet, since it was announced right here.

Let me know when you see him.

Incredibly meaningful.

Thanks, we have raised over $175,000 for Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Centeri n the past 7 years.

I wrote code for 9 years for a company whose reason for existing was breast cancer. One thing that experience taught me in a concrete way:

All of the research has reduced the mortality of many cancers. Including treatment, which is a "natural experiment" helping the medical community refine their knowledge of what works.

What you're doing is saving lives.

Sue couldn't have asked for a more important legacy.

With most women's models the handle bars are more narrow, cranks are shorter and brake levers have a shorter reach.

And you see a lot of guys with missing teeth and limited education in your neck of the woods.

Interesting, my wife and I just bought our first road bikes (we both got Trek Domane SL 4's) and our LBS said that the Domane series no longer has women's specific bikes. We spent 2 hours getting fitted and we obviously got different size frames and such but essentially the same bike.
She picked hers up yesterday and mine won't be ready for another month.

I think consumers finally figured out that "men's and women's different geometries mandate gender-specific bikes" is pretty much bull****. We were told that women have longer legs relative to their height, etc. Nope. Actually, men have longer legs relative to their height. But, it's not enough to need gender-specific frames.

Saddles (yeah, hips/pelvises are different), sure. But the rest is just appealing to the buyer - colors and names.

It would certainly be nice to have some flexibility to choose saddles, handlebar width/reach and crank length when buying a new bike, but most brands and LBSs haven’t figured out a business model to make that work.

So how does this work with Trek’s 2020 models now? Do all the bikes come with the old men’s “standard” component sizing and saddles?

If it fits, buy it. Having a color you like is a big plus imo...love my Domane, but the black color was my last color choice at the time. Cheers!

Just ordered a Domane today..... should be with me in 2 weeks...... Excited

They put smaller handle bars and shorter cranks on the small sizes. Then starting at medium go up to standard men's components. At least that's what I've seen on some brands.