This review as been done by a professional test pilot and any comments on my seat too high, my hair or desert dude garage arent welcome…
I finally escape the bad weather of Victoria, Bc to go train in Arizona. As I arrived at La Casa del Desert Dude, I had 3 nice boxes from planet X waiting for me!!! I opened them up and got right away to work to adjust and set up my new ride for the season!!!
Here s a nice pictures of the Planet X stealth pro carbon……in pink!!! Yes, it was my request to have it pink!!! It s so freaking cool!!! It might take a few days to grow in you but it flash and I will definitely not miss my bike in transition like I did this year in Hawaii and it will be easier for my friends to spot me in races!!!
So, I been having the bike for about 2 weeks now and had the chance to put around 30h on it…… here what I think of it.
Lets start with the frame, I have a medium, and it s a 76 degrees angle seat that can easily set steeper if needed…. I ride it a 77 degrees. The head tube on the bike is pretty short at 10cm on this model so you can really get low, very important for me. IT also as a adjustable horizontal rear drop out and you don’t need any tools to adjust the space form the seat tube to the rear wheel. You only have to use 2 fingers and turn the adjustment screw on both side and here you go!!!
Very smart design. The seat post is also extremely simple and clean. You have one screw for the back and forth adjustments and another of these screw that you turn with your fingers to adjusts the angle of the seat…… it s so simple and make fitting easier than any other system I have seen so far. The seat is a planet X brand and look very similar to the fisik arione road. I m very picky with seats and this one is a keeper! one of my favorite component of this bike!
My bike is very well dress with a nice carbon FSA chairing set. I m not sure how much time this will save me in a race but it s freaking mean looking!!!
IT as also the FSA SLC brake that are very light and some nice carbon brake levers. Dura ace drive train, keo pedal, planetX stem and renynolds training wheels.
Finally, I have to mention the really nice TT carbon bar that come with the bike. They are adjustable in every direction possible, with s-bend shape extensions. You can set the arm rest as wide or narrow as you want and play with the height. The extension angles and length can also be change as you want. Very user friendly.
I also have it outfit with come nice planet x carbon racing wheels. The front is a 82mm deep and the rear as a 101mm deep. Should be perfect for any races from hilly to windy!
Now, I was really excited to get on the road with it so I have put on the training wheels and give it a spin. After 30h of riding on different condition…here s my comments.
Let s start by mentioning that Dave at planet x made me the really nice surprise of outfitting the bike with a ergomo pro powermeter. IT s also very neatly set on the steam of the bike. I do like gadget and this is a really nice tool with a lot of info….interesting to have on these long lonely rides. I m lucky to have the special Ergomo Boeing 747 edition. Heading out on my trip yesterday, the plan was simple, a routine trip at cursing speed with arrival at destination 3h after departure. As I took off, I dialed both engine at 250 squirrel power on the ergomo(you have the option of watts or squirrels for unit). I was moving very smoothly and cursing at around 25mph on the Las cruces region. I realize that it would be perfect as I would cover the distance plan and make it to destination in 3h exactly. It’s important to not get to destination too early as Paulo in the control tower doesn’t like to have early visitor back at the door.
The machine is very comfy to fly and was really enjoying the trip. I notice that ergomo as a altimeter build in it and I could notice the quick ride at 4000 feet high! I was probably riding the jet stream!!! What I really enjoy about this bike is that it s very nervous to steer and it makes the bike very alive. I have a 8cm stem so that might be part of the reason. At the 2h mark, I started to hit some rough turbulence and when looking down at the ergomo, it was saying that I was now changing of route and climbing quickly to 4500 feet at a grade of 4.6 %. I concluded that the ergomo must be a kind of auto pilot and to give me a smoother ride had decided to change the route. It was find by me and I just had to bring the power of both engine up to 280 squirrel and at 85 rpm. Well, this machine sure likes to climb and at a weight of about 17 lbs for the fuselage I really feel that every bit of power was going straight to propels me forward. My trip was about to end and I was still very high and was a bit concern that I would need to go down soon to make it home. I was also concern of hitting a rough patch on the way down after the turbulence of the last climb. Well, the ergomo took care of everything letting me know that we were now beginning our descent and a grade of 5% and it was now time to reduce the power of both engine and sit back far on my seat and enjoy the way down. Well, i was now a freaking missile!!! It goes down like a rocket and the frame took so much of the vibration of the road. I could not believe it. Enjoying a now faster cursing speed of 70km/h, I proceed to make a few nice tight s shape curves only to realize that this pink beast was on a rail and will not move from his designated path……i feel really confident on it. I announced to both my water bottle that we will be at the Gate 1452 on the University Ave runway in 10 minutes exactly. They were both very excited as they were completely dehydrated form the long trip.
I made it to destination and can now testified of a few very positives points. The machine is the most comfortable non beam bike I have ever test. I don’t know the reason, but it s definitely absorbing most of the vibration of the road. Its probably the most important aspect for me for long distance trip. It s light, can be riding very aggressively and is very user friendly for adjustment and setting. Now, the negative about it. I m definitely questioning the choice of engine from the company. The 2 engine I tested where very responsive in the first 2hours of the trip but definitely showed a lack of power in the last section of the ride. I given them a good test in the ascension but was disappointed with the power generate at that point. I will also have to criticize the small volume that can be store in the fuel tank. The 3h point was the limit of this machine before running on empty and I was told it should be good for at least 5h. I know the first commercial trip of the pinky is only set of April 15th in Arizona but there is definitely some serious work that need to be done to solve the problem of fuel and power (or lack of it) of this almost perfect rig.
Well…overall, I love the personality of this bike, and love the ergomo pro powermeter with altimeter….I think that at one point into the ride, I almost tough I was actually flying a airplane!!!
Why pink? Pink is the color of passion, pink is my new obsession
