- This is the Factor O2, that I've literally
just ridden in the Taiwan KOM Challenge upon.
- And on board, there are some of the--
- Lightest parts available, we've got Lightweight wheels,
we got THM components, and I've got a
Shimano Dura Ace. - SRAM RED eTap.
- Mine came with SRAM RED eTap.
- Mine came with Dura Ace.
- Mine's gonna be lighter then.
- Hang on a minute, not so fast.
You have those bling painted wheels,
and I've gone for the nude carbon,
so I think mine actually stands quite a bit chance
with the lightest one, to be fair, mate.
- So, alright, the only way we're gonna tell this
is having a weigh-off.
- Go on.
Hang on a sec, you guys have gotta wait before we do this.
(heavy bass music)
Firstly then, what is the Taiwan KOM Challenge?
- Well, I shall tell you, it's a 100-kilometer race
basically uphill, and we're currently standing or crouching
at over 3000 metres above sea level.
Yes, we are very, very high indeed.
- We are indeed, right, so, the frame.
The Factor O2 is actually made just down 100 kilometre
descent that way, on the other side of the island.
- It's 750 grammes, but that doesn't tell
the whole story at all.
Now, Factor is one of the few brands
that actually manufacture their own bikes.
And in doing that, it actually allows them to have
a far more complex carbon lay-up, or so they say.
Now, what that gives is ride quality, and less weight.
- Yeah, they also, Matt, use some quite exclusive
55 J carbon fibres in there from Nippon Graphite.
- [Matt] They certainly do, mate.
- [Simon] They do.
- [Matt] Looks nice too, doesn't it.
- It does, I mean, I really like it,
but you could've given it a clean.
Now speaking of lovely, Matt, let's speak about the wheels.
Lightweight Meilensteins.
Now I actually first noticed these being ridden
at the 1996 World Championships, and they've been
pretty sought after ever since.
- It's not really hard to see why is it?
They're super stiff, and they weigh in 1100 grammes
4 47.5 millimetre deep section clincher.
- Yeah, a deep section clincher.
No they've actually get there through advanced
material selection, and also the way they're built.
So they've got carbon spokes, now actually bonded
onto carbon hub flanges and then the rim itself.
I don't know about you, Matt, but I definitely noticed
on steeper gradients, that's where ultra-light wheels
do come in to their own, don't they?
- They do go, don't they? - Yeah.
- They certainly helped us out today.
- Yeah, they look nice too, don't they.
- Yeah, especially mine, with that rather glorious
white finish to it.
- Next on our list of super bike components
comes courtesy of THM Carbones.
And we actually have a world exclusive here, literally
those handlebars have never been seen before anywhere.
- [Matt] They haven't.
- They haven't, but we can tell you a little bit more
about the stem, which is the tibia.
It's just 80 grammes, 80 grammes, for a stem.
- And it's mega-stiff too,
and then let's look at the brakes.
We got THM fibula brakes for each wheel.
Weighs in at a mere 120 grammes, and then look at this.
A rather beautiful THM Clavicula SE cranks, 293 grammes.
- 293, to be fair though, we still need to compactor metre.
Running 34-50 chain rings and that's paired to an 11-28.
And I don't know about you, mate.
I used every single one of those gears and I was almost
literally begging out loud for another one.
- So did I.
- Yeah, tell you what though.
They look nice, don't they, I mean they look super nice.
- [Matt] Even spattered with mud.
- [Simon] Yeah.
- Ooh look, I wanna touch it.
- That's mine, that one, do you mind?
- Sorry.
- The saddle, Fabric ALM Ultimate, one piece
carbon rails and shell that was originally
developed with Airbus apparently.
And Matt, you seem to have
painted that one white as well, or got it white, anyway.
- Yeah, I've gone for a white one.
Now the weight with these: 140 grammes only.
Now let's look at the gears.
Simon, you had Shimano Dura Ace Di2.
- [Simon] I did.
- [Matt] I had SRAM RED, now, we didn't choose
the group set specifically, it's what both bikes came with.
- Yeah, could we complain about them?
No, absolutely not, both at the top of their game.
The key differences is between them are
that SRAM is wireless whereas Shimano is wired.
Both of course are electronic.
And also the way you actually change gears differs.
So on the Shimano gears, you use your left hand
to change chainrings, and your right hand to shift
up and down the cassette, whereas on SRAM
your right hand changes into harder gears,
your left hand changes into easier gears.
- Mm, and to change the front mech,
you tap both levers simultaneously.
Both Shimano and SRAM and have their loyal fans,
but for the weight weenies among you, the difference
in weight, one hundred and fifty grammes lighter for the SRAM eTap.
(heavy bass music)
- What about these final finishing bits, then?
Well, Matt is using Shimano pedals,
I'm using Look Keo Blades, we're both rocking
Continental GP 4000 II tyres in a 25,
and we both got our Wahoo ELEMNT BOLT head units on.
- Right, the time has finally come.
Which of these bikes is the lightest?
- Oh yeah, now, Matt, I think yours has a slight advantage
in that it's a size smaller.
And you also have that SRAM eTap, so I do wonder
whether it actually it might be yours.
- Although, we need to need mention I've got a bit of a
paint penalty, because I've opted for these
rather bling painted wheels.
- That's true actually, you have sacrificed speed for style.
Go on then, ready?
- Let's do this.
Alright, actually, hold that a minute.
Take my bottle off.
- Good point.
- And just take my Wahoo BOLT off before we do that.
- Alright, alright, I could probably do this with one hand.
- Alright, let's see, let's see.
Alright, it's 6.24.
- Come on then, baby, let's weigh this bad boy.
- Alright. - You ready?
- There you go, so, have you got enough strength left, mate?
You sure? - Not really.
- Alright.
- Ready? - 6.185.
- Ah I won, yes!
Stick that in your pipe and smoke it, white spoof!
- It's the paint, paint.
- I knew it, I knew it, see, it's that light, Matt.
- Alright, I can see it, your bike is marginally lighter
but we're gonna put this to the vote:
Which bike do you like the best?
The white one or the blue one?
You can vote just up here.
- That's right.
- Blue, blue, blue, blue.
- The choice is yours do you go for performance or bling?
- Bling.
- Right, do also make sure that you get involved
in the comments section down below as well.
What do you think about super-duper lightweight bikes.
Is it your bag, are you more of an aero person?
You can't not like these, can you?
- It is definitely my bag up a climb out this site.
It's been amazing, really.
- Yeah, it has.
I've been thanking the Lord for every metre climbed.
- Definitely.
- Yeah, do also make sure you subscribe to GCN
as well as get involved in the comments section.
To do so, just click on the globe.
- Now for another weight-based uphill video,
how about clicking just down here, where me and Dan
put that to the test in Andorra.
- Yeah or how about this one?
An archive one, an oldie by a goodie.
You and I, Matt, testing out how much difference
a lightweight bike does actually make on a climb.
- We went deep on that one as well, didn't we?
- We did, yeah.
- Don't forget to like and share.