I recently destroyed my bike in a bad crash during a race and I’m now looking for a new frame and fork. I have been looking at various frames and a few days ago saw one called the bp Stealth bike. The frame is all carbon, and a can be purchased with a set of carbon forks. Does anyone know anything about these bikes and how they perform and last. Thanks for the info.
Michael
A thread on those shows up here from time to time, and the comments have been positive. IM Canada was won on one, but I’ve never heard any test data, etc. Note that it is a road geometry frame, as opposed to a true tri configuration.
"IM Canada was won on one… Note that it is a road geometry frame, as opposed to a true tri configuration. "
Sort of like when Luc won IM Kona and set one of the fastest bike splits ever on his road geometry TCR.
It’s very stiff, reasonably light, ungodly aero, and extremely sexy. I’m running the new HED aero bars, a NeverReach (the frame has no place for bottles except behind the seat!!) an Aspide Triathgel seat, FSA carbon cranks, DA gruppo, HED CX front (had it for years) and a brand new Falcon Accel II disc wheel.
It’s faster than my Trek 5200, and with a forward seat post, I’ve got a 78º setup. You probably won’t see much on this bike, because it isn’t UCI legal, and it isn’t offered by any of the major players. X-Lab marketed this frame under the name Hawi two years ago, but it had a funky paint job. The Stealth comes in a combo of black and natural carbon.
You can’t beat it for the price, although a Walser or a Cheetah might be a shade faster. The key is that not being UCI legal gives it an aero advantage over everything that is, which is nearly everything else on the market.
In the final analysis, the bike as described was less than $4000, which is far better than I could have done with the Trek, Merckx or Time frames that I was looking at at the same time. And let’s not forget that it’s the engine that really makes the difference.
As John Cobb told me, when I sent him the final specs: “It sounds like a nice setup. If you push the pedals really hard, it should go very fast…”
it is road angles, but Garrett rides it with a forward seatpost (the said winner of ironman canada)
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This bike gets pretty good reviews. It’s supposed to be very aero as well. An interesting note about this frame is that it has been sold under several different companies over the years. Mongoose had it for a while, as did Martec and maybe even Epx (not sure about this last one, though). Right now, you can find the bp Stealth frame under the old Martec brand on www.chucksbikes.com. It sells for about $385. The only thing about the Martec-branded frame is the color – it’s a rather bright yellow. If the yellow doesn’t bother you (and if Chuck has your size), you can get the frame for about half the price of the black bp Stealth frame that is currently available. And for the record, I’m not affiliated with Chuck’s Bikes, and have never even done business with him. But plenty on this forum have, and he’s got a good reputation for customer service, and if he has what you’re looking for, his prices rock.
RP
Really? Is it already off his site? I didn’t see it.
(I love anything yellow, and am thinking about a similar ride)
–zee
I checked on the site just a moment ago, and it’s not on there anymore. It was called something like the Martec Superbike. Chuck gets closeouts and discontinued bikes/frames, and when he sells out, he’s pretty much out. However, you might can email him and find out if will be getting anymore. I check his site periodically, and was on it a couple of times last week and he had that frame in the medium and large size. I guess he’s sold out in the last few days. FWIW, the “regular” bp Stealth frame is still a pretty good deal at its price point.
RP
Check out http://pedalforce.com they sell the frame as well (in a variety of colors), the price would be probably pretty close to the BP price after you add in the fork and other stuff, but just another option.
I’ve never ordered from them, so I can make no claims as to how good they are, etc.
Andrew