- That, is a stunning vista.
(upbeat rock music)
Who doesn't like a new bike day?
Today I am in the New Forest National Park
in the south of England.
No major surprise there really,
as I live just down the road.
But today I'm fortunate enough to get a first look,
and a first ride on the brand new
all road bike from Factor, the Vista.
(smooth music)
Gravel is the new road,
or the old road as the case may be.
More and more of us are going,
almost literally back to our roots.
We want a bike which handles well on the road,
which goes fast on the road,
but which gives us the ability to head off-road.
And what's not to like about that?
Once you head off the road there's no cars,
no traffic in general, and you've got
an increased sense of exploration and adventure.
Now Factor, I'll give you a brief history of the company.
It started out life in 2007 as a subsidiary
to the engineering firm bf1systems.
Who a long time have worked with
the likes of Maserati, Ferrari, Lamborghini,
multiple Formula One teams, as well as Aston Martin,
which is how this initial collaboration came about.
Their approach to bike design has always been innovative,
it's always been very striking,
and it's always been performance led,
and those three are no different when it comes to the Vista.
However the word performance has a slightly different
connotation when you want to take a bike off the road,
versus a bike which is solely designed
to be ridden on tarmac.
So you want that extra degree
of confidence in the bike handling.
You want the extra degree of comfort,
whilst still wanting the ability to go fast.
So whilst there are some similarities between
this bike and its road counterparts, the o2 and the One,
there are also some very key differences.
Now for those of you who are familiar
with their aero-bike the One,
you will notice that the front end looks pretty similar.
It's got that OTIS-AR fork and bar stem combination.
There are some similarities there,
but there are also some differences again.
Let's go through those first.
Look at the stem, it's a lot flatter,
but it's also a lot wider.
So that means that when you're getting
out of the saddle it's still very stiff,
but the fact that it's flatter gives you
the extra compliance and comfort
when you're going over the rough stuff.
It's also got a three degree sweet-back on the tops,
and there a a flared part to the drops too.
What you won't be able to see internally,
there is a different carbon layout.
Which again gives far more flexibility
for the forks, and more comfort.
Those are the key differences at the front end,
but there are also some similarities.
You will notice that there are no exposed bolts
up there on the stem, which makes things look neat.
But it also means there's nothing to knock your knees on
when you're getting out of the saddle.
You also have the ability to change
the height of the front end there without messing about
at all with the internal cable routing.
Or indeed messing about with the tightness of the headset,
which makes things very simple indeed.
So I've spoken a little bit about the carbon layout
differences there at the front end.
That actually continues right away
through the bike pretty much.
Here to the flat back seat post,
the design of which allows extra compliance,
and again onto the frame-set itself.
Which has a different carbon layout,
versus its road counterpart.
In fact not just versus the road,
but also in the different sizes available.
This is at the very top end, so it's a 58CM bike,
and this will have a different carbon layout,
versus the lowest, which is a 49CM.
Because of course that's far more compact,
and it's also likely to have
a far lighter rider on top of it.
On top of the carbon layout we've also
got big differences in the geometry.
Because once you start putting so much bigger tires on,
that really does have to be taken into account.
In particular the fork-rake at the front for different
handling characteristics, but also the BB drop.
Now that's the difference between the center
of the axles here and the center of the bottom bracket.
Because of course bigger tires raise everything up,
and you have to take all that into account
when you're designing the bike.
Looking at some of the finer details on the bike,
it has a removable front derailleur mount there.
So you can run 1X or the double chain sets,
as we've got today.
Disc brake only as you might expect,
and to be specific they are flat mount discs.
Also they have some hidden mudguard mounts,
or hidden fender mounts, if you're over in America.
Deliberately very subtle, so that you can
put mudguards on if you want to.
But if you're not ever planning on using them
you won't really notice any difference here on the frame.
Further to that they have a continuous
down tube to chain-stay design which means
there's an increased degree of drive train efficiency.
Then the other big difference that you'll notice
is that the seat stays have been lowered
to meet up here on the seat tube.
I spoke to the Head Designer,
Inigo Gisbert this morning to find out why.
- That and with other design features we have on the bike,
they are meant to provide some
compliance on the rear triangle.
So by lowering that, and also with that arch shape
that you see at the top of the seat stays.
That helps to create some flex, some vibration of servants.
So together with the seat post and the bar stem we have,
helps to serve some of the roughness of the road.
It's not really a suspension,
but it helps for the frame to absorb
some of the irregularities of the road.
- Now in terms of tire width, Factor have designed this bike
around a with of between 30 and a maximum of 35MM.
You can go over that without the tires rubbing
on the chain stays, the seat stays or the forks,
but the clearances then are going to be pretty marginal.
For weight weenies out there,
this frame in a size 56 comes in at 950 grams.
All though they have stressed that weight
wasn't the top priority for them,
when it came to the design.
Never the less, in a 58CM and with this build
it comes in at just over eight kilograms,
which is very respectable indeed.
Talking of the build in fact,
they will not be offering this bike
off the peg as a complete bike,
but rather as what they call a rolling chassis.
That then includes the frame, the forks,
the bars, the stem, the seat post,
and also these Black Inc 30 wheels.
Or you can buy it just as the frame set,
which doesn't include the wheels.
You also have two choices when it comes to color.
This is the Factor design, but you've also
got a collaboration with CHPT3.
Which is called the Devesa, and it's this one in fact,
which I am going to be riding today,
once I've put some pedals on it.
And I can't wait to take it out,
and indeed show you my local playground.
Let's take it out for a ride.
(upbeat rock music)
In many ways, and this is something we've mentioned
in the GCN Show before, we've come full circle.
Both Si and I started off on mountain bikes.
Which at the time, and I guess it was a long time ago,
had front suspension of you were lucky.
They had narrow, flat bars with the compulsory bar end,
and they also had pretty narrow tires
that were probably pumped up too hard.
And of course that staggering,
but beautiful saddle to bar drop.
Now I would say that this Factor Vista
is every bit as capable off road,
as my top end mountain bike was 20 years ago.
And since then as I've mentioned,
there isn't really any gnarly trails here in the New Forest.
This is the perfect bike for me.
As good as my old mountain bike off road,
about 10 times better on it.
Also, another further comparison,
I would say that this bike handles as least as well.
Is definitely lighter and more comfortable,
and is probably as fast as
the road bike I started racing on.
(upbeat rock music)
There's no doubt that we have lucked out
with the weather today because believe it or not
it does rain around these parts some times.
But that was a lot of fun I've got to say.
However, I am dying to take this thing
on some slightly narrow, twistier trails,
and I know just the place.
(smooth music)
Well I have to say that,
for my current style and type of riding
this thing ticks all the boxes.
I don't need to go faster than this thing
allows me to go out on the road,
but it allows me to have a load of fun off road,
if I want to, or to explore,
have a sense of adventure if I want to.
Or even, sometimes when I want to,
to take a short cut to my house.
Or the pub as the case may be.
I've thoroughly enjoyed today.
As mentioned earlier very much helped
by the sunny weather late in October here.
But, that was a fun and enjoyable ride,
and I do like the look of this bike.
Particularly the fact that the cables
are hidden in there at the front end.
Not uncommon these days on a road bike at the top end,
but much less so on the gravel bike sector,
or the all road bike as we have here today.
Unfortunately I now have to give this bike back.
It's great to have a new bike day,
lees so when you give it back at the end of the day.
But never the less, it has been fun.
Let us know what you think about the bike
in the Comments section just down below.
If you'd like to get a more in depth
view of Factor as a company,
Si went over to Taichung in Taiwan last year,
before the KOM Challenge, to have a look around.