Cycling Review » road

Enigma Titanium Bikes

tejvan — Mon, 17 Sep 2012 09:00:05 +0000

Enigma bikes (reborn from the old Omega brand). Essentially, the bike company specialises in producing bikes with steel and titanium frames. It is a British firm specialising in hand built cycles using steel and titanium tubing. All bikes are handbuilt at a workshop in England. Titanium has a small, but enthusiastic following amongst cycle users. It is much less common than Aluminium bikes and for top end bikes, most choose carbon fibre. But, for some people Titanium gives a great value ride and is the perfect evolution of the old steel frames. Just because it is less fashionable doesn’t mean you should dismiss out of hand. As I’m used to riding Aluminium and Carbon fibre bikes, I wanted a go on a titanium bike. I only had a relatively short ride, but I’ve spoken to quite a few riders who are keen on their titanium bikes.

Titanium gives a very smooth ride. It has excellent properties for damping a bumpy ride. This is noticeable over an aluminium frame, which gives a ‘harsher’ feel. If you want to enjoy a wonderfully smooth day in the saddle, titanium is very good. The smoothness of the ride comes at little loss in performance. Titanium is much more rigid and stiff than a steel alternative. If you enjoy descending at speed, the Enigma frame is pretty solid and true at top speeds. There is no flex and will be attractive for the ‘well-built’ kind of riders. This is the attraction of Titanium – the smoothness of steel with the performance of aluminium. People often assume carbon fibre is always the best material. But, a good titanium frame gives carbon a good run for its money.

Enigma Echo

Compact geometry 9 degree slope
Double butted EST tubeset
Integrated head tube
English threaded BB
31.6mm seat post size
Bright brushed finish as standard
Frameset weight from 1250 grams – £1269.00

One of the most popular framesets, it is marketed for the audax, road racing and sportive market. If you want to do some light touring you can use some clip on mudguards and even the clip on panniers. It isn’t the lightest at 1.2Kg, but if you choose very lightweight components to go with frame, you could get close to 7Kg for overall bike. but gives a great overall ride.

The Enigma Etape

The Etape is similar to the Enigma Echo. It has a slightly slacker head angle 72 vs 73. This gives a slightly more comfortable ride, but is less powerful when sprinting or getting up to speed. It has longer chain stays which give more room for clearance for a rack and panniers.

Compact geometry 9 degree slope
Double butted EST tubeset
Integrated head tube
27.2mm seat post size
32mm band on front changer
Maxed out clearances for short reach brakes
Fittings for guards and rack
Bright brushed finish as standard
Weight from 1330 grams

An older Omega Enigma Bike

Still going strong after several years. Titanium bikes last very well, and don’t rust like steel!

Related

Titanium Bikes

Best Road Bike Under £2,000

tejvan — Sun, 04 Dec 2011 11:18:54 +0000

£2,000 gives a generous budget for a bike which will be close to the top pro standard level. Typically, you will be able to get a top of the range frameset with a groupset one or two below the best. The difference between a £2,000 bike and a £5,000 is not that big and you save alot of money for the marginal difference.

One option is a Focus Cayo Expert SRAM. Built around the UD carbon-fibre fram. it is the same frame used by pro cycling team – Team Milram and Nicole Cooke’s female pro teamThe SRAM expert is a light and fast gearset and offers a competitive bike at a reasonable price.

Bianchi Bikes Under £2,000

One of the best known brands in road bike circles, Bianchi offer a long history of bike design and development. Arguably, there is often a premium attached to Bianchi bikes, but, you will not regret buying into one of the most prestigious bike manufacturers. Consider the Bianchi 928 Carbon Mono-Q road bike with Shimano 105 or the Bianchi Sempre (just creeps under £2,000) if you look hard enough

Bianchi Sempre 2012

Weight: 8.2kg
Frame: Sempre carbon
Fork: Bianchi FN11 alloy/carbon 1 1/8″
Gears: Shimano Ultegra – 10 speed
Bianchi Sempre at Wiggle – £1,999
Bianche Sempre Veloce at Evans – £1,800

The Bianchi Sempre is aimed at both the Sportive and road race market. It is a relaxed race geometry (not overly stretched out and aerodynamic). It has excellent handling and power weight transfer. As Cycling Plus states: “The Sempre sets out to be all things to all men, and ful?lls its brief. The frame and fork combine for a sublime ride, brilliant under power and with direct, race-ready steering. It also has a superb knack of damping out vibrations…the frameset is such a wonderful performer that it was easy to lose hours riding it.”

For £2,000 – you get really quite a high spec bike with also excellent brand image and attractive, cool paint designs.

Felt AR5 2012

Frame: Felt Aero Road carbon fibre w/ 3KP weave.
Fork: Felt Aero Road UHC Performance monocoque fork
Handlebar: Felt VS Aero aluminium handlebar and ergonomic drop.
Groupset: Shimano 105 STI
Felt AR5 £1,999 at Wiggle

The real selling point of the Felt AR5 is a road bike designed with aerodynamics in mind. The groupset is Shimano 105, but, in terms of performance, it’s not much less than the more expensive Shimano Ultegra. It looks sleak and fast and has many aerodynamic elements from handlebars to aero forks and frame.

Time Speeder 105

For under £1,800 you can get a Time Speeder full carbon monocoque which offers excellent ride quality on a stiff light frame.

The 105 Groupset is fine, though you might want to upgrade later. The frame and fork weight are given as 1583g. It is not the lightest frame in the peleton, but, it is light enough to be very competitive.

Trek Madone 3.5 C

Trek offer excellent value for money. As one of the largest manufacturers they benefit from economies of scale allowing you to get an affordable top of the range road bike. For under £2,000, you can purchase a Trek Madone 3.5C which uses the same OCLV carbon frame as the Pro series but with 30mm taller head tube. This makes for a slightly more comfortable position and is an ideal sportive bike. It comes with Shimano Ultegra and Bontrager race light wheels.

Frame Trek Series OCLV Carbon

Fork:Bontrager Race w/E2 aluminium steerer, carbon legs
Groupset:Shimano Ultegra STI, 10 speed
Trek Madone 3.5 at Evans £2,000

Using same super smooth OCLV frameset, used in editions such as Trek Madone 6.9, this is an excellent value bike.

Video Review of Trek Madone 5.2

Road Bikes

Road bikes at Evans cycles
Road bikes at Wiggle

Related

Trek Madone 6.9

tejvan — Sun, 15 Aug 2010 07:06:42 +0000

I’ve ridden a 1000 miles on my Trek Madone 6.9, and am so far very happy.

In the tough 25% hills of Yorkshire, the bike performed well, it is light and rigid, which gives an extra power up the climbs. I have been doing some of the local hill climbs and timing myself. Overall, I seem to be going quicker which is good. There is still opportunity to lose weight on the bike because I did not choose the lightest wheels but got some Bontrager X Lite clinchers with Bontrager tyres. These wheels were not standard for a Trek Madone 6.9, but one good thing about the Trek Madone Project One is that you can choose combinations of components, by choosing cheaper wheels I was able to get the bike for less.

The ultra light weight carbon frame and fork are the heart of the bike. A great combination of low weight, rigidity and strength. It feels that all your power is effortlessly transferred to propelling the bike.

The 10 speed Dura Ace 2010 Groupset is very good. It feels a good improvement from my previous Dura Ace. The only disadvantage is that all my old bikes are Shimano nine speed. I really hope Shimano resist the temptation to move to 11 speed. Yes, it will be very, very, very marginally easier to ride ever so slightly up certain hills, but, I’d rather not have the huge cost.

From an aesthetic point of view, I’m still very happy with the Trek Madone 6.9. Again another real bonus of the Project One is that you can pay £300 to get your own colour scheme. For more money you can also get different options like your name engraved. This helps to personalise your bike and make it really feel like a dream bike. If your going to spend £5,000 on a bike, why not add a personal touch and get your favourite colour scheme?

There is also a certain smoothness about the whole product, the integrated cabling and smooth lines are a joy to watch. There’s a small irritation in that taking of those silly stickers about ‘don’t forget to wear a helmet when cycling’ leave a sticky residue which is hard to get off. Also with a white bike, there’s every incentive to clean it as soon as it gets dirty. But, you would want to do that anyway?

The thing I like least about the Trek Madone is the actual name of the bike. I mean Trek is American and it sponsors that cyclist, who I just find irritating. From one point of view, I would much prefer the chic of owning a real Italian brand like Bianchi. But, the thing is Trek do every thing right. It’s hard to find a better choice of bike with all the different combinations. Unless an off the peg bike suits you just fine, definitely look into the Project One, as you will enjoy being able to customise the bike a little.

Overall 10/10.

It’s hard to find any significant, worthwhile fault. It is just an excellent bike with excellent ride properties. Hopefully it will propel me to win quite a few hill climbs over the next few years.

Related

Trek Equinox SSL – top Trek Time Trial bike
Trek Madone 5.5 – Same frame, so good choice, if you can’t quite justify spending Trek Madone 6.9 prices
Best Road Bikes