While Trek’s Checkmate goes all in on racing, the Checkpoint is free to become a gravel bike built for adventure. And multiple updates for 2025 express that.

“Puts you in a more relaxed upright riding position”

Comfort is a big theme. A great deal of that comfort is due to the revised geometry that Trek says “puts you in a more relaxed upright riding position” and allows more riders to get a good fit on the bike. 

Also, on the comfort front, Trek wisely continues with the IsoSpeed decoupler in the seat tube, which allows the seat tube to flex in response to bumps. Based on my experience riding Trek bikes with IsoSpeed for a decade or more, it works.

Further comfort may be gained by fitting wider tyres (clearance is up to 50mm from 45mm on the previous model), a suspension fork (the geometry is suspension-corrected), or a dropper post (the seat tube is a standard 27.2mm). Trek has also added multiple mounts: front and rear rack mounts; ‘manything’ mounts on the fork leg; a top-tube bag mount; front triangle bag mount; a bottle/cargo mount under the down tube; and multiple bottle mounts inside the front triangle. The ‘optimised’ front triangle can apparently fit massive 1-litre bottles inside, with bags.

The Checkpoint’s internal frame storage also gets a handful of updates. The opening is larger to make bag removal easier, and there’s more storage space inside. The storage door is shared with Trek’s Slash and the Top Fuel mountain bikes, which makes sourcing a replacement easier.

On that topic: the Checkpoint gets a UDH, and the headset uses “common mountain-bike bearing sizes”, said to be easier to source.

The Checkpoint has internal routing, like most mid- to high-end drop-bar bikes today; but Trek’s system, I feel, is one of the better ones. That’s because the RCS system – via different headset covers – allows riders an integrated one-piece cockpit, a semi-integrated two-piece system with Trek’s RCS Pro Blendr Stem, or a standard handlebar and stem. Having options – that’s a good thing! I’m also happy that Trek uses the same RCS parts and routing design for the Checkpoint, Checkmate and Madone. 

Diving into the smaller details: the Checkpoint is compatible with 2x drivetrains (the front derailleur mount is removable), SRAM’s full-mount derailleurs (Red XPLR and Transmission), mechanical shifting drivetrains, and it runs a T47 threaded bottom bracket.

All in all, it’s a supremely versatile bike that you can grow and evolve with over many years. It’s comfortable to ride, and you can (quite literally) go anywhere. What’s not to love?

R75 000 / trekbikes.com

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