I truthfully do not know if it was a test or not. From what the guides said, i don't think it was. Two of the three guides were my height and rode the same bike. The only difference I noted in the frame was the slope of the top tube; it was slightly sloped instead of straight across. I crashed doing a tricky manuever crossing a highway and going up a curb cut that was to the left/then having to make a quick right because the bike just felt so different. As I said before, I don't see why people feel that they have to have 700 wheels. We just buy a bunch of tubes at the beginning of the season and stick one in my seat bag. I have been riding for 5 years and I have never had a flat (shhhh!) except for the ones I did myself in the basement for very stupid reasons. But the different tube size should not be the excuse to get a bike that doesn't really fit you. I have increased my speed from an average of about 12 five years ago to about 15, without a very strict training program. So I don't think that the smaller wheels compromise your speed. I can easily maintain 18-19 on the flats on my bike. There's just not a whole lot of flats around here!
So, from what I saw, this was the new configuration for the bike. Maybe you can check the Trek site.