Ohio_Roadie wrote:
Hi! I rode the Nitrogen in 2015 as my race bike with Jelly Belly and had the 2016 as my only road bike since 2016. It’s joined me on journeys from the desert of Arizona to the Volcanoes in Rwanda. It’s a wonderful bike, but like anything it has some flaws. Even with the flaws I wouldn’t hesitate to get this bike again if I was on the market for a new bike.
Pros: -a FAST, aero frame that tickles the UCI weight limit
-fantastic ride, stiff in the sprints but doesn’t beat you up on the long days.
-corners well with the lower bb geometry
-semi-integrated bars are refreshingly clean, if they work for your position
-removable FD hanger if you want 1x
Cons: -the bike was made for 23mm tires. Be cognizant of this with the current generation of wide rims/tires. 2013 Zipp 404 with 25mm Conti Force rear tire clears on race day but I removed some paint and carbon from behind the seat tube when some fresh tar and chip got stuck on a 25mm GP 4000 in France, last fall.
-the lowest part on this bike: the TRP rim brakes. To put it nicely, there simply isn’t enough spring tension. Everything is good until the breaks start to wear in, once they get dirty, they don’t have the strength to open fully, or recenter. I wouldn’t recommend trying to modify the brakes to work better either. Most of the parts are lightweight aluminum and will just crack. This is one of the few bikes that I’ve looked at and wished it had a regular brake caliper or aero optimized disc brake. (I believe the newest generation is disc brake.)
I'd love to see your review of the disk brake version for comparison purposes.