(mechanical sounds)
- We've got a brand spanking new bike for you today.
This is the very recently released Factor ONE
aero road bike, ridden by Frenchman Rudy Barbier of AG2R.
(energising music)
This is the second year that Factor
have sponsored the french squad,
and I think we'll see a number of their riders
using this brand new model in 2018.
It's got to be one of the most
unique looking bikes in the pro peloton,
and much of that is down to their
Twin Evo split down tube.
So, you can actually see, from my direction,
through to the front tyre there.
That is some technology which has trickled
down from their slick time trial bike,
which they released last year.
They claim it improves the aerodynamics,
but also the overall stiffness of the bike.
OTIS, standing for one total integration system,
and that means that it's one piece,
right down from the dropouts here,
up through the fork legs,
up this external head tube here,
and steerer tube which also makes this look very unique,
to just underneath the stem.
And, on top of that, they have got their very own
handlebar design as well.
One piece aero stem and handlebars,
with the top cap looking very neat here as well.
Now, when I had a Factor Vis Vires a few years ago
it wasn't a dissimilar system,
but it was quite hard to adjust the height
of the handlebars.
But, they have factored that in, get it?
That was terrible I know.
And you can now easily change the height
of the handlebars using their own
proprietary stack height spacers there.
And the great think is that
you don't need to cut the steerer,
and also you don't need to remove any of the cables
when you're doing that.
They also claim that that external steerer tube
at the front is both stiffer and more aerodynamic,
and they also made some small improvements
in their aerodynamics by widening
the seat stays here at the rear.
Also changing is the bottom bracket,
which is now a BB30 standard,
which they say has made it slightly wider and stiffer,
whilst not actually changing the Q factor at all.
It also comes with its own seat post here.
The groupset is mainly from Shimano,
their top of the range Dura Ace DI2.
Although there are a few deviations from that,
which I'll get onto very shortly indeed.
So, they've got the Dura Ace shifters,
front and rear derailleurs, and also the cassette there.
But, as you can see, that is not a
Dura Ace rear cage.
Those big jockey wheels are very obviously CeramicSpeed.
He's got an 11 up through to 28 tooth
cassette currently on them,
standard at 53 by 39 chain rings.
But, as you can also see, they are note Dura Ace cranks.
He's running an SRM on these new look cranks and,
with them, you are able to adjust
the length of the cranks without changing the cranks at all.
The only problem with that is that I don't know how to tell
what length crank he's running.
The wheels are provided to the team by Mavic,
and currently here in the faster stages of Abu Dhabi
he's running the Comet Pro SL,
which are as you can see quite deep at around 60mm.
On those wheels are the Continental
Competition Pro Limited tubular tyres,
which really are the tyre of choice for a lot of teams
still in the world tour.
A french company, again, provides the pedals.
They are the Look Carbon Keos.
Whilst it is the italian brand FI'ZI:K
who provide the team with their saddles.
And Rudy has opted for this Aliante with the carbon rails.
In terms of the measurements,
well the bar width is 42cm.
He's got a saddle height of around 69cm.
And then the reach between the tip of the saddle
and the centre of the bars is 56cm.
As you can see, though,
there is hardly a saddle to bar drop at all.
Probably the least amount of any pro bike
I've ever done here on GCN before.
I should probably also mention, before I finish,
that CeramicSpeed also provide the bearings
in both the bottom brackets and up there at the head tube.
Well, let us know your thoughts on this bike.
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just down below this video.
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