A death is a painful thing to experience. Particularly, I imagine, for the one doing the dying. For those left behind, it takes time to mourn and come to grips with the change; it is an unpleasant process, but such is the way of things.
The crack in the chainstay of my beloved Cervelo R3 had been weighing on my mind ever since I discovered its existence while cleaning my bike in Hawaii. Assuming the crack was superficial, I continued to ride the machine and took it with me to Belgium to rattle along over the cobblestones during Keepers Tour. It was during this trip that Andrew, a carbon fiber engineer for B’Twin, pointed out that the crack was not superficial and in fact quite serious.
I continued to ride it, and slowly made peace with the fact that my favorite-ever road bike was destined for retirement. Denial turned into anger, anger turned into grief, grief into acceptance, and acceptance into glorious Rule #12 obsession, deliberation, and contemplation. Still, my final ride on my trusted friend was bittersweet; I was on great form that day, and together we turned mountains into hills and carved the many curves as we rode along the seaside in the somber knowledge that this would be our last day out together.
I contacted the shop where I bought it and had them reach out to Cervelo for a warranty replacement, but even if they warrantied the frame, I wouldn’t want one on account of the tall head tube they’ve adopted on their large frames. I’m very picky about my position, and loved the ride and fit of my R3, so I was left with a conundrum as to what bike to get as my new #1. Then Mark, the owner of Veloforma, pointed out that he’d designed his Strada iR based on the R5ca, along with several improvements to the design. And he could do it in a custom Velominati paint scheme. Sold to the obsessive-compulsive Dutchman in the back! (That makes two Veloformas bought in the span of a few months, the VMH pointed out when I delivered the news.)
As much as I loved my R3 for its ride quality and fit, I have never been crazy about the 73 degree head tube angle. You wouldn’t think a half degree would have much effect, but the Strada’s head tube is relaxed just a hair to 72.5 degrees, and it really smooths out the handling compared to the the Cervelo. Aside from that, the dimensions are similar enough to my Cervelo that the first ride on the new steed felt like a reunion with my lost friend.
This thing is embarrassingly light at 6.3 kilos. For a 61cm. The head tube is nice and short at 19.5cm so I can get as low as I need to but tall enough that I still get to slam my stem. I also got a new carbon Pro Vibe stem whose paint job accidentally matches the markings on the frame’s custom Velominati paint job. It is almost too glorious for my tiny little brain to handle. Also, the front derailleur hanger is mounted at a slight angle which brings the derailleur cage in perfect alignment with the chain rings, which results in lightning-quick front shifting. Its little things like that which really impress me about Mark’s attention to detail when designing the bikes. Now that I think of it, both my Veloformas have the best front shifting performance of any bikes I’ve owned. Finally, the internally routed cables makes it astoundingly quiet; the lack of rattling cables makes this machine the high water mark in my quest for the Principle of Silence. And that paint job, oh that paint job.
I haven’t ridden the Strada a whole lot, but I did the V to V Cogal on it which consisted of two long days in the saddle and featured a lengthy session with my old friend, the Man with the Hammer. I’m happy to report that she climbs and descends like a monster. The bike has the road feel of my R3, but is more responsive with a stiffer BB and steering column. But the relaxed head tube makes it handle like a Merckx; the descent off Mount Saint Helens had some seriously sketchy tarmac in places and her handling probably gave me too much confidence in light of my Schleckian descending skills.
What started as heartbreak ended in a love affair. Funny how that works out some times.
[dmalbum path=”/velominati.com/content/Photo Galleries/frank@velominati.com/Strada iR/”/]
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Ah, right, mounting the shifters with the bars off the bike. I had forgotten about this trick. It's a good one.
Yeah, the Man with the Hammer does have a nasty habit of only showing up when he's good and ready. Bastard.
Bel mezzo Frank!
@xced;@frank
The Chinese frames (hongfu FM066)have been around for about a year and a half in this particular config, but have a pretty long history in other configurations. This particular frame is mostly Toray 700, and mine (a 50) weighed in at 835g for the frame and 370ish for the fork-very similar if not identical to the Veloforma weight. The general experience with them, if one is to believe the internet, has been very positive-ie no widespread reports of failure. Any carbon frame can fail, see the Cervelo and Trek reports above, but I've not seen a single post of a fm066 failure or build issue.
I'm not saying or implying who copied who, if one is a copy or Veloforma is painting open source Chinese frames or anything-anything is possible, I just found the photos and geometry remarkably similar given the $2500 price difference.
An
really like the bike but nothing like an Italian frame my friends..
@Greg
Thats interesting; I know Mark shares the cost of building the mold, which is incredibly expensive, with another company in Italy who sells the same geo with a different layup in Europe. They basically have a partnership in place to make the considerable cost of producing frames more manageable and agree not to sell in each others markets. So the idea that its an open-source frame doesn't seem to line up, and I also *believe* I remember him saying they're made in Tiawan, not China...but who knows.
That detail aside, I think the Chinese have a well-established track record of being very good at making carbon frames from molds and also of laying up frames in other people's molds and selling them on the gray market.
I also think a Chinese company would have different economical challenges (especially if they're not on the hook for a $1M mold) than a US or EU company would have.
The bottom line is this, thankfully enough, that if you don't think the Veloforma is worth the price they're asking, then don't buy one. I think it is, and as such I bought one, and I'm very happy with it. Childishly simple.
@frank
+1
Brilliant technique!
@minion
+1
Kind of the same benefit of going from 9spd to 10spd. With 11spd you can also sneak in an 18t for a 12-25t set up.
@Greg
True you can find similar (same?) frame for thousands less purchasing direct from China with, despite as advertised, little/no warranty service or recourse if anything goes wrong. No reported failures is probably related to grossly fewer sales of the frames than ones from the major brands who have a sense of responsibility to their customers and have accountability for their product.
For a budget minded ride, sure they are worth a look. However in the sense of being a cycling traditionalist they are horrific hi-jacked models of other frames often with mis-matched forks designed for other geometries (e.g. the Orbea-like frames with Onda forks and Dogma-like frames with straight blade forks). In looking at small custom frame builders you do pay a premium which pays for itself in time. 3 custom frames (2 steel, 1 lugged carbon) from a builder (and subsequently a friend) and I have lifelong service and warranty.
@the Engine
Another fucking British misconception - it didnt "work well" for Fleming at all. He just discovered a new mould by accident and was never able to use it or recognize it for what it could do - he gave up on the stuff. Howard Florey (yes, an Australian) was the true father of penicillin - the one who (along with his team) worked out its potential and developed it into the single greatest life saving discovery in history.
Its a pretty cool story in the middle of WWII scientists scraped bacteria onto the inside of their jackets so they could retain the strain but destroy their lab if the Nazis overran England...
Unexpected bike death is terrible:
I'm not too sure what to get to replace it.