Chinese Carbon Road Bikes > Road Bike Frames, Wheels & Components

Stiff, Aero, Crit Bike

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Eddy_Twerckx:
Looking to build up an aero monster for racing crits. Not too concerned with weight. Just want something aero and stiff. I'm fairly big at 189cm and 80kg, and can put down around 1,600W in a sprint.

So far I have:

* Speeder SC-49D/Adapt FM49-DB - They look to be the same frame. Really aggressive (possibly too much), long and low. But looks nice and aero. Trying to find some reviews on the stiffness.
* ICAN A9 - slightly less aggressive but frame design looks very similar to above. Easy buying options and custom paint, but more expensive.
* Adris Le Vitesse - is this an open mold? It looks super nice but their website seems to be down right now so I don't even know if ou can still buy these. But it looks similar to an Aeroad. Also way more expensive.
* Bross Zenith. Seems to be vaporware right now. But probably excites me the most. Looks super aero. But absolutely no idea if they'd sell to the US.
Probably missing some others, I'm open to suggestions. Threaded BB would be a plus but not a deal breaker. Custom paint also a huge plus. Any ideas?

Related but also looking for a stiff, flared, integrated handlebar. Something like 38 tops, 42 drops. With around 190-200mm total reach (stem + reach).

Sakizashi:
Vitus bikes have been available on firesale in the US from Planet Cyclery. The prices and stock changes pretty quick but the ZX1-Evo could be a good choice if you are looking for a complete bike: https://planetcyclery.com/vitus-zx1-evo-cr-etap-rival-axs-carbon-bike.

I am not much of crit racer as endurance riding is much more my thing, but I personally would start by playing with fit. To the extent you can, I would play with longer more forward positions vs. drop. Being able to do a really hard like 150% of FTP effort for a few minutes from the aero hoods position, keeping those elbows tucked in will make a much bigger difference than aero tubes. I would balance that with being able to get a sustain a 20-30 sec max effort in a relatively aero position.

The advanced thing would be measure your weight balance on your current bike using a couple of bathroom scales and a wall in your drops or whatever position you would use to chase or hold a wheel when things get spicy. I would try to keep expected the weight balance at the wheels between 60% Rear and 55% Rear. Its hard depending on size, but testing on myself good balance meant it was less work to shift my weight in and out of corners helping me keep the power down and my body in an aero position. Between your desired fit and balance, you should start to rule out some frames.

Lastly worth noting that BB height may impact your ability to pedal through corners. Ideally you want the lowest BB you can run without making pedal contact as that will minimize your frontal area of you and the bike. My rule of thumb is 80mm is the max drop for 165s, 75mm for 170s and so on, assuming you are using Look or Shimano style road pedals and shoes with standard length axles. The A9 and SC49 have a relatively high BB which could be good if you run longer cranks.

I had it in my head for a while that I could develop a better race bike for shorter riders and spent a lot of time on it during the pandemic and had a Ti prototype made before concluding that it wasn't for me. Those were important things I learned doing testing and iterating on designs that I think matter in this context.

Eddy_Twerckx:

--- Quote from: Sakizashi on January 06, 2024, 12:41:27 PM ---Vitus bikes have been available on firesale in the US from Planet Cyclery. The prices and stock changes pretty quick but the ZX1-Evo could be a good choice if you are looking for a complete bike: https://planetcyclery.com/vitus-zx1-evo-cr-etap-rival-axs-carbon-bike.

I am not much of crit racer as endurance riding is much more my thing, but I personally would start by playing with fit. To the extent you can, I would play with longer more forward positions vs. drop. Being able to do a really hard like 150% of FTP effort for a few minutes from the aero hoods position, keeping those elbows tucked in will make a much bigger difference than aero tubes. I would balance that with being able to get a sustain a 20-30 sec max effort in a relatively aero position.

The advanced thing would be measure your weight balance on your current bike using a couple of bathroom scales and a wall in your drops or whatever position you would use to chase or hold a wheel when things get spicy. I would try to keep expected the weight balance at the wheels between 60% Rear and 55% Rear. Its hard depending on size, but testing on myself good balance meant it was less work to shift my weight in and out of corners helping me keep the power down and my body in an aero position. Between your desired fit and balance, you should start to rule out some frames.

Lastly worth noting that BB height may impact your ability to pedal through corners. Ideally you want the lowest BB you can run without making pedal contact as that will minimize your frontal area of you and the bike. My rule of thumb is 80mm is the max drop for 165s, 75mm for 170s and so on, assuming you are using Look or Shimano style road pedals and shoes with standard length axles. The A9 and SC49 have a relatively high BB which could be good if you run longer cranks.

I had it in my head for a while that I could develop a better race bike for shorter riders and spent a lot of time on it during the pandemic and had a Ti prototype made before concluding that it wasn't for me. Those were important things I learned doing testing and iterating on designs that I think matter in this context.

--- End quote ---

Thanks for the info. The Vitus actually looks quite good. And it's a stellar price. Kind of a bummer the frameset isn't on as deep a sale as the full build ($1918 frameset vs $1999 full bike) because that candy red is stunning. But with the full build I could sell the groupset and wheels and be left with a killer deal for the frame.

Honestly, the only thing holding me back with that is Vitus and Wiggle being in doubt. With everything going on, I don't want to be left with no support should something go wrong. Now hopefully somebody comes in and can keep Vitus around, but who knows.

filtered:
TFSA Windbreaker ?
https://chinertown.com/index.php/topic,3932

Eddy_Twerckx:

--- Quote from: filtered on January 06, 2024, 02:27:32 PM ---TFSA Windbreaker ?
https://chinertown.com/index.php/topic,3932

--- End quote ---

Looks good, but super low. That's a good 4cm lower stack than my current bike. I'd end up with way too many spacers.

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