Anyone ride Aquila or know much about them?
My understanding is that they’re a Toronto based brand, sold only in Racer Sportif stores.
A coworker is looking at buying one for her son to race, and they’re recommending he buy a $6k bike that they’re willing to knock down to $3k. Caveat is that it’s made of Titanium. Who races on Ti anymore? My thought process is that unless he’s using it for CX, if he’s racing, he wants carbon.
Back me up?!
My thought process is that unless he’s using it for CX, if he’s racing, he wants carbon. Back me up?!
Haven’t ridden one.
But I’d *by far *rather have a high quality, well designed, and properly fitting bike made of ti, steel, aluminum, bamboo, whatever, than a poor bike made of carbon.
Frame material is just one of many factors to consider when deciding on a bike. By no means should it be the most important or deciding factor.
Titanium is trending big right now and making a bit of a resurgence. It is stiff enough and low weight enough to race and still offers a nice ride. They do stand out from everyone with carbon these days too, and Ti bikes typically are bikes that once you own, you never get rid of, as it doens’t go out of style. It may not be your #1 bike but you would still keep it as a close second.
The Aquila bikes, are from my experience good quality. They are made in Taiwan as are most of the big brands and offer the same benefits of comparable bikes. What you do save on typically is that they are built up with better components of the same comparable bike. Where you might buy a Specialized for 1200.00 speced with 105 you can get an Aquila with Ultegra or Sram Force.
If they are getting a good price on it I’d say go for it.
I would go well out of my way before spending a cent at racer sportif. Happy to elaborate by PM.
Love ti, though.
I don’t have a problem with Racer Sportif. I’ve bought stuff from their Oakville store and found the guys there to be easy to deal with. So, my opinion isn’t biased by a negative experience.
I wouldn’t buy an Aquila bike. They are not bad bikes, but the price tag that they put on built up generic Chinese frames is just a little out of hand. For $3000, there are a many better options out there.
Recently, I’ve actually been fairly impressed with Wheels of Bloor / Oakville. They seem to have a knack for buying ‘end of model year’ frames in bulk and building them up for competitive prices.
http://wheelsofoakville.com/bike_specials.html
$3800 for an S2 red sounds pretty enticing.
A buddy had one a bunch of years ago. From what I remember, they were made in the same factory as Cervelo, back in the day. I don’t know of their recent exploits.
A ti bike for $3k sounds great.
Don’t get toooo caught up in frame material. Fit is most important, then quality, with frame material further down the line. Ti is a GREAT material, just out of fashion at present. Most riders of Ti bikes swear by them. Ti is about the only frame material I don’t have, so maybe I should drop $3k and fill the bike stable 
i rode a Ti Aquila bike for years…I think I bought mine in 2005?! I even bought mine at Racer Sportif in TO as well. I was pretty happy with my bike. Not so happy with the store itself. I do think that they try to create the illusion of giving you a great deal…and then…still overprice a lot of their products.
If you are going to spend that kind of money…I wouldn’t do it again. I would go with a traditional brand…Cervelo, Trek, Scott…etc. And I would also go with Carbon over Ti. But the most important thing is fit for sure.
-Ben
Looks like it’s made up with SRAM Force, and Zipp 101s, which makes the deal appear better than it did before. Appreciate all the input!
My general rule is that most of the time mainstream products/companies (i.e. not one offs, or quirky products) give the best value. So I would be reticent about spending 3k on an in-house brand, as the big boys usually have better economies of scale and purchasing power. That said, with Force and 101’s, with a Ti frame, it sounds like a decent value. Seems a bit odd that they are selling a 6k bike for 50% off. Either they price their products way too high, or there may be a reason why it won’t sell.
My other thought is that if the son is a decent racer, he should rely on his buddies, and not a store (whose motives are not always aligned with their customers), to advise him, or, if he is just a beginner, he doesn’t really need a 3k bike yet (and what I mean by that is, it would be a shame to spend a ton of money on a new sport only to find it is not for him).