I’m in the market for a new tri bike, after looking around for a couple of days I discovered this new planet x exo3. For only 4300 (including shipping) you can get the bike with full shimano dura ace 9000 and carbon disc + carbon quin spoke.
Does anybody have a planet x that could give input on the build quality of the frame? I’d appreciate any input I can get
You see quite a few planet x bikes in transition in the uk. If you search on the uk timetrialling forum or tritalk.co.uk, I am sure you will find plenty of feedback on plAnet x.
They ripped off Ventums front end!
That sure looks like a Ventum front end (including fork and brake).
Looks pretty good. Not sure about the wheels – they are tubulars, yes? You couldn’t give me tubular wheels for free. See if they will cut you a deal on all the rest? Usually the Chinese open mold vendors will negotiate.
The frameset is going for less than £1000 on the UK site. Incredible value assuming frame is as slippery as it looks. Although geometry is very high stack - low reach.
SteveMc
I work 20mins from PX at Sheffield UK.
Its mega - a cave of carbon techno porn for all things two wheeled.
Interesting history as well with owner Dave Lochran being into tri’s a long time ago.
Their original TT bike (Stealth) was used by Cadel in TdF albeit unbranded.
They’re not newbies to this and have been using Far East carbon factories for a long time and hence QA/QC has been built up.
Yes I’m a fan.
In my size, the Shiv has the same amount of reach.
Are you sure that Ventum designed such a front end before someone else did. OR did Ventum borrow it from someone else?
I have a Planet X road bike and love it. Wouldn’t hesitate to order a TT bike from them. (If it fit)
Eh. That was sarcasm - back in August. Meaning the Ventum is using a generic front end. Or was.
Get the sram red etap version for $200+. Can’t go wrong with that deal.
I would like to know more about the brakes.
Brakes are trp ttv front and rear. I have seen the frameset in person before.
I have an Exo 2.
I can’t find anything to moan about (that’s rare for me !), the bike and service I have had from PX have been great.
Value for money was off the scale, I wangled a deal with them that snagged me a chours equipped bike for the same package price as the RRP on just the wheels and crank … 
Look at the areas where they normally cut cost out, calipers (difficult on the exo 3), seat and brake levers. When I was looking they typically down spec this stuff by one groupset on the calipers and fit there own branded seat and levers.
I was quite lucky in that respect. I got the chours skeleton brakes and an ism prologue. I did get their areo levers and planned on swapping them out with the campag items - after using them though I actually quite like them, they seem good quality and I have a sneaky feeling if I put the campag ones on I would probably scratch them on the first ride anyway … lol
WD
I will not buy this frame just because it has those brakes.
Agree. I have a Boardman TT bike with the TRP TTV brakes and they’re a complete pain in the ass with crappy stopping power. Never again.
agree
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Not wanting to go too off topic but -
I too have a Boardman air TT bike and the brakes are equally crap and terrible to adjust in equal measure !
I recently ran out of springs for the front brakes (they straighten out) and bought some direct from TTP in the US.
They are a considerably larger diameter than the Boardman originals and I had to modify the front brakes to suit. They are now much easier to set up and tune. They’re still not the best brakes in terms of stopping power but easier to live with.
Might be useful for you Air TT owners.
LG
I had a really good look at exo3 in a variety of the build options a few weeks ago at the PX warehouse. A couple things stood out:
- The transition between the front end and main frame is pretty sloppy. There is a noticeable width difference between the fairing which extends from the brake and the main frame. Similarly the brake fairing does not seamlessly morph into the fork. There is actually a external bolt which attached the fairing to the frame and the bold head is left sticking out in the wind (see http://d2plslj6xljffa.cloudfront.net/imgs/products/px/950_constW/294947_P2.jpg ). The same situation extends to the back of the bike where they main portion of the brake is hidden but there ar still a couple of bolts left sticking out. Overall I’m not convinced the front end is any more aero than a traditional set-up.
- PX currently only offers 1 stem option for the bike. Keeping in mind their is only one option in terms of extension shape, the bar has almost no room for adjustability outside of extension raisers, and the way the brake fairing was designed limits the use of other bars this might be a fit problem. The seat-post presents a similar potential conundrum. The seat clamp has a single set position so the only adjust-ability is in the saddle rails. Probably works for most but certainly will not work for all.
- The rear disc is an odd looking shape relative to all other discs I have seen. The surface of the disc is totally flat but then the brake track forms a big ridge noticeably raised from the rest of the disc surface. All other details about the disc like what the hub is were unknown, even by all the PX staff. I wouldn’t be surprised if in many case an aero cover would be jut as fast if not faster. As for the front wheel its got a massive side profile so you would need another for when winds pick up.
Does this mean the bike is bad? I don’t think so, but it isn’t the absolute bargain it might at first appear. You really need to try and figure out if the bike will fit you before you can assess its values as you will be quiet limited in terms of after-market adjustments to adapt the bike to you.
I would be wary of being an ‘early adopter’ with this new Exocet.
Apart from the well-documented problems with the integrated TRP brakes, the original Exocet had a number of issues (FD cable routing, seat post clamp) that made buyers in the UK very unhappy indeed.
Exocet 2 resolved some of these problems but had a pretty awful head tube design IMHO, big lumpy thing that looked less than aero to me anyway.
Planet X customer service can be a bit hit and miss too.