CHAPTER 2 TERE £5999
› New Zealand has a new chapter
Chapter 2 is the new project from NeilPryde Bikes’ founder, Mike Pryde. The New Zealandbased designer has kept busy since leaving the NeilPryde brand.
The details of the Tere highlight current design trends, the move towards a more compact silhouette, and the radically dropped seat stays remind us of BMC’s design direction with the Roadmachine and Teammachine, along with Giant’s latest TCR, and of course Specialized’s all-new Tarmac.
The Tere’s seatpost with its D-section design is very on-trend too. The tube sections are all based around Kammtail shaping, which we first saw pioneered by Trek. A Kammtail shape ‘cheats’ the air into believing that a full teardrop shape is present, making it better at cutting through and conditioning the air than a standard round tube.
The frame is built using Toray carbon, the same stuff used by Pinarello, so this is no budget build. Our 56cm/L test bike has 73.5-degree head and 73-degree seat angles, with a lowish stack of 580mm and reach of 387mm. Claimed weight is 950g for a fully painted frame (M), so the Tere is very light, but not at the cutting edge of low weight.
Our test bike weighs an impressive 6.8kg, and comes with some pretty high-end finishing kit. SRAM’s eTap provides the drivetrain and it rolls on Zipp’s 404 NSW clincher wheelset shod with Continental’s GP4000 S II tyres. Steering duties are handled by Chapter 2’s own design carbon aero wingbar and clean-looking aluminium stem. The seatpost is D-shaped for aero benefits.
The Tere is an impressively rapid ride, with its aggressive ride position and those deep and fast Zipp 404 NSWs adding plenty of speed. It’s also infused with a sharpness, which makes it a fantastic bike for quick direction changes and nimble
Tube sections are all based around Kammtail shaping, which we first saw pioneered by Trek
manoeuvrability. The frame feels robustly rigid when really hammering out-of-the saddle sprints, all with the superb confidence that Continetal’s GP 4000 S IIs are some of the most dependable tyres around.
The solidity of the chassis and the sub-7kg weight make the Tere a formidable climbing companion, even if the tight 11-25 cassette wouldn’t be our first choice for long days with lots of ups. There’s no doubt the matching of a 52/36 with the close gaps of the cassette make it a brilliant bike for building your speed on rolling terrain.
The carbon wingbar is well shaped and the flattened tops are nicely ovalised and not too oversized, making for a nice handhold on longer, draggy climbs. The build Chapter 2 provided is a wishlist of a superbike spec: the 404 NSWs offer just about the best braking carbon rims can offer, and SRAM’s latest Red brakes are designed around wider rims (like the 404s) so prove a perfect complement to the wheels. SRAM’s eTap is a brilliant addition, with the simplicity of the two button shifts – right - harder, left - easier, both together shifts the front – and the clean look without any cables.
Chapter 2 will be offering the Tere as a frameset for £1649 (including frame, fork, headset, seatpost and stem) so it’s up to you to decide on the build with your dealer. If you can stretch to a super build like this you won’t be disappointed, although the frame would still impress in a more modest setup.