Do any of you guys/gals ride or have experience riding the BP Stealth? What is the frame like? Heavy? Stiff? Is the company reputable?
Thoughts?
I have a road frame, carbon top and down tube, AL rear triangle. It rides good, stiff in the BB rear triangle. I think it built up w/ 105 and ultegra components to ~20. The owner used to be a client of mine when I sold magazine ads. He always paid his bills on time and returned phone calls promptly. The are an AZ based company that is making bikes under a different name which I can not recall.
I have the same type frame branded under a different name (Martec). I think but I’m not sure that the BP Stealth would be lighter than mine, at any rate they are made from the same mold.
My Martec bike is heavy due to the frame, it’s about 25 pounds. However it’s very aero and comfortable to ride and climbs suprisingly well for such a heavy bike. I like it a lot but will probably get a new frame next year.
I don’t know anything about the BP company itself although they have been around for awhile.
Oh my god! 25 pounds!
hey, that includes pedals.
Oh my god! 25 pounds!
I don’t know how you end up with a 25lb bike out of a BP Stealth BP-2. I have one in size “Large” and even with a disc, H3 front, tools, full waterbottle, etc. it is still only 22lb. The BP frame is only about 1lb heavier than a P3.
Anyway, I don’t think they sell the BP-2/Martec frame anymore, but mine is a real pleasure to ride. Smooth on the bumps, comfortable for 150+ mile rides, stiff enough for hill climbing, etc.
Scott Tinely once wrote in 1996 that there is never an excuse for a bike to weigh more than 20 pounds. Now ten years later that is even more true.
Knowing your bike isn’t the cheapest… I have to ask, what do you like (most) about your bike and why is it acceptable to you for it to weigh 25 pounds?
Please don’t be insulted, I really am wondering. This bike must be special if you don’t care that it is 5-10 pounds heavier than other bikes (pedals included).
Cheers!
This older frame is a good deal heavier than almost any frame out there. It weighed in at over 5 pounds without the fork. It’s NOT as refined and as light as the actual BP Stealth carbon, just made from the same mold.
Where I live and race the weight doesn’t have that much effect on my split time.
I stand by my 25 pound “boast”. I know how to read the numbers on the local bike shop’s scale.
Weight is overrated.
http://www.nytro.com/Articles.asp?ID=117
weight accounts for only 9% of the resistance required to go from maintaining 20mph to maintaining 26mph in this example.
I understand what Craig at Nytro is saying but when you are on a course with a lot of turns and/or rolling hills, the accelerations will require more power and it does become important.
Then again the frame is non-rotational so I suppose it doesn’t matter so much.
By the way, thanks for the link!
Do you have any idea how much more important? Specifically weight/power numbers for various scenarios? I’ve got a Javelin that weighs about 22lbs.
I’m like beatnic, in that usually my courses are flat and the only accelerations are at the start and the turnaround.