Kuota Kryon
An Italian racer with the pedigree but without the price
In Italy there are the giant brands, the tiny brands and the in-between. Worldtour sponsors such as Pinarello and Colnago are the glamorous stars of Italian cycling, while those more seasoned in the esoteric world of custom bikes will lust over the likes of Zullo (see page 114) and Pegoretti. Then there are brands such as Kuota, lesser known and less expensive but crucially still born out of a strong history of Italian bike building and racing.
‘Kuota started manufacturing carbon forks and rear triangles for a lot of Italian flagship frame manufacturers about 16 years ago,’ says the brand’s UK importer, Dave Williams. ‘The market for carbon continued to expand and Kuota was one of the first manufacturers to start selling monocoque framesets in 2004 with the Korsa, Ksano and Khan.’ Clearly Kuota has a predilection for bikes beginning with a K, and the Kryon is no exception.
What type of bike is the Kryon? Well, on first impressions it screams aero road bike, yet not much aerodynamic attention was applied to its design. It hasn’t seen any development time in a wind-tunnel, and although it has teardrop tube profiles it can’t really claim to be in the same league as the likes of the Trek Madone or Specialized Venge in terms of wind-slipperiness.
Perhaps, then, it falls into a category that’s hazily defined but becoming ever more prominent – bikes that have aero pretensions but are still predominantly standard road bikes. This allows for features such as conventionally mounted brakes rather than fiddly concealed aero brakes, and is suited to someone looking to do a decent time at a sportive rather than someone counting the seconds over a 10-mile TT.
This is backed up by the attention Kuota has given to comfort. The carbon layup, Williams tells me, is aimed at ‘taking the sting out of the road’, and this model comes specced with 25mm tyres, with clearance to go wider if preferred. That’s a big step from when Italians would consider 21mm an all-road tyre.
At £3,225, the Kryon is up against some serious competition, especially as it comes with only an Ultegra groupset and aluminium finishing kit. When I first received it, my feeling was that it would have a tough time proving itself worthy of contention against the big brands.
Kutting edge
Without doubt the Kryon looks great. The overall package is nicely coordinated, with the Mavic Cosmic Pro Carbon wheels and Rotor 3D30 chainset giving it the appearance of a thoroughbred pro racing steed.
The aerodynamic curves of the frame may enrage purists who feel that such a superfluous design without the appropriate aerodynamic engineering behind it is an exercise in form over function, but for my part I was impressed at the speed on offer with the Kryon from the outset. It’s always hard to tell just how aerodynamic a bike is, but I feel that a good aero frame will help me to hold speed near the 40kmh mark and above. The Kryon did this very well, and I was constantly pushing to the front of group rides on the flat. Perhaps the wheelset had a big part to play in this (see The detail over the page), but it did suggest that the Kryon’s streamlined tubes are not just for show.
If I were to pick one part of the ride where I was happiest on the Kryon it would be cruising close to my threshold pace, where the bike seemed to glide comfortably. Indeed comfort was a big factor in the Kryon’s strength at high speed, and it pays service to the idea that a comfortable ride is also a fast one.
In terms of ride quality, the Kryon performs well on many fronts. With its aggressives lines, I half expected to be bounced clear off the bike at the first pothole – instead it absorbed the bumps with a reassuring thud. I credit that comfort partly to Mavic finally conceding in widening its Cosmic rim, with an agreeable 25mm external width allowing for a broader contact patch for the tyre and the ability to comfortably run at a psi in the mid-80s.
While I welcomed the comfort I did worry that it could be indicative of a general softness to the build,
The Kryon is an undeniably fast bike that offers the highly tuned ride quality the Italians seem to do so very well
but try as I might I couldn’t make the rear flex in any substantial way. With the Exalith brake track on the Mavics, there’s no hiding from even the mildest flex at the rear wheel as the grooved surface buzzes on the slightest contact with the brake pad. That made for capable climbing and sprinting, even if the bike is a tad weighty at just under 8kg.
The fine print
A question I’m often asked when discussing a bike at this price point is whether it can compete with the direct-to-market options such as Canyon. Interestingly, the Kryon comes in £24 cheaper than an Ultegraequipped Canyon Aeroad that also boasts deep section aero wheels. The difference between the two in spec is slim, and in terms of performance the Kryon makes for a very competitive rival. But it does lack a little sparkle. A Canyon Aeroad, a Trek Madone or a Ridley Noah have the engineering and development demanded by Worldtour teams and, whether or not a rider can really feel the difference, it’s nice to know a bike has been through extensive R&D and testing if it’s geared toward aerodynamics and speed.
I was pleasantly surprised by the Kuota. It’s an undeniably fast bike that rides comfortably and offers the highly tuned ride quality that the Italians seem to do so well. I had a lot of fun through technical corners and winding descents on the bike, and it begs to be taken to gran fondos and local road races.
Perhaps the only limitation of owning one is that it doesn’t have the engineering attributes that would allow me to bore my Sunday club ride for hours on end, discussing yaw angles and cleverly engineered cocktails of carbon fibre. For the most part, though, my fellow cyclists would be glad of it.