Image worked for me. Strange looking downtube. It looks like it is split and then they put one water bottle screw on each side. Seems like it is more gimmick than functional feature if you put a water bottle on the bike because it would block the fancy hole in the downtube.

Still waiting to see what Specialized is working on.

So.... it's basically a Speed Concept but without the draft box :)

Good looking bike IMO. I wouldn't discount the aerodynamics of the bike. IIRC the Factor guys are ex F1 engineers so I'd imagine they know aero and know their way around CFD software. That said, I wouldn't expect anything monumental from the bike. It probably performs in line with the Speed Concept (which is fast!) but I wouldn't hold my breath for any improvements.

I'm also looking forward to Specialized's new TT bike. Between storage integration and designing the whole bike from a tire/wheel/frame perspective they actually have the opportunity to move the aero needle a bit.

When is specialized going to be coming out?

Basically looking at th comments above ppl still feel trek speed concept is still golden

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Follow me on Twitter @CK21TRHC
I use what I love: ISM, Blue70, Trek, FLO

Well technically the P5 is still the fastest bike you can buy designed with some level of integration and ease of use (easy on the superbike spectrum).

I've worked on the high end Factor road bike. That downtube is weird AF. Not a fan. Doesn't make aero sense to me especially when you put a bottle into the equation.

I don't think you can go wrong with the Speed Concept. The SC and the P5 are still very much the benchmark. Cervelo put a lot of R&D into the P5X and went with a radical design and came away with basically no aero gain.

As a SC owner my only real beef is with the brakes. They work fine but they can be a bit of a pain to work with. Not the worst by any means but also not the best. The SC still has the best cockpit in the industry. Not many will debate that.

As for a future Shiv or SC, look for bikes that are maybe a *bit* faster but step up the integration game and are easier to travel with. If you had asked me a year ago I would have said that comfort was the future for tri bikes but after Specialized quantified the gains from suspension on the new Roubaix (which turned out to be minimal over much more severe circumstances than a tri bike would encounter) I scratched that notion :)

Thanks too u both for the knowledge, def will look for classified speed concepts going forward to build one up

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Follow me on Twitter @CK21TRHC
I use what I love: ISM, Blue70, Trek, FLO

I had heard from one wheel manufacturer that the Canyon Speedmax slx was the fastest bike they had tested at low yaws.

I saw one at the London bike show. It has the split down like there current aero road bike. I was told it was a medium if so it had a very short toptube (My guess it was probably a small). I looked nice and I think Dave Miller had some input though no idea how aero it is. The split could be a bit of a pain cleaning wise - though I guess flossing with a rag isn't too much of an issue.

Rider or no rider? Which wheel/tire/tub combo? Tested against stock configuration frames or optimized ones?

Afraid there are just too many variables involved to come to any real conclusion.

That said I do think that the Speedmax is one of the faster options available.

True but I think it gives a reasonable insight that it's well up there. They seemed to have done a reasonable amount of side by side tests of their wheels and competitors on a few of the leading bikes plus have a few sponsored riders they have set up on the speedmax to assume it's competitive. Seems a well balanced bike in terms of offering enough storage while still appearing quite clean looking.

Here are some better images:

https://cyclingtips.com/...lick-custom-colours/


EDIT:

Looks like a Speed Concept, but has their weird split downtube.

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'It never gets easier, you just get crazier.'

I don't know why but the provision to accommodate 28mm tires is strangely appealing to me 🤔

They'll come in handy at the next off-road time-trial.

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'It never gets easier, you just get crazier.'

Yep. If I was buying this year, the Speedmax would probably be top of my list.