Tifosi Mons
Last year’s 4.91kg Mons gains some weight and a lower pricetag
We first saw the Tifosi Mons in 2017, when it was showcased as the lightest production bike in the world, with a total weight of only 4.91kg. That version cost £9,000, and was bedecked with AX Lightness wheels, super-light Eecycleworks brakes and a Fibre Lyte chainring that cost about the same as a second-hand car. The frame was the keystone of the project, though.
‘The Mons was this little sketchbook project of mine,’ says Josh Lambert, Tifosi’s technical specialist. The bike became a sort of skunkworks project where the team at Tifosi could experiment with the limits of their designs and their production partners’ capability.
‘When I first pitched it, our directors said it wasn’t really a priority but it fits with where we want to go,’ Lambert continues. Tifosi tweaked and tweaked and eventually unveiled the Mons.
The 4.91kg Mons was something of a coup for a small British brand. Indeed, while Tifosi may have once seemed like little more than the mid-price in-house brand for major distributor Chicken Cycle Kit (importer of Campagnolo, Miche and Deda cycling components), the Mons made a statement of intent that Tifosi wanted to challenge the big names of the market in its own right. Of course,
there aren’t many people with the spare cash to spend on a £9,000 bicycle, so Tifosi had to re-spec the Mons to make it more affordable for the average human.
Take away the super-light components, though, and does the frame live up to the challenge?
Cries of the Tifosi
At first glance, the Tifosi Mons fits right into the mould of a normal endurance racer in terms of geometry, although with a slightly longer reach than most. Indeed Lambert describes the bike more as an all-day sportive ride.
‘We wanted to make a bike for a cyclist who is looking to ride with their club or buddies and wants it to be a breeze to do so,’ he tells us. ‘The geometry is slightly longer than some “endurance”-focussed bicycles, so the handling is stable and efficient.’
However, the geometry might make for a few difficult decisions about which frame size to choose. On the size large I tested, for example, the head tube is 160mm, which would suit a more all-day rider who doesn’t want a low, aero position. The top tube, on the other hand, is 578.5mm, which makes for a stretched out position.
By contrast, the size medium comes with a short 140mm head tube, which is pretty aggressive for a 560mm top tube. A lot of riders may find they fall somewhere between the two sizes.
When it comes to the paintjob on the frame, this version of the Mons is marginally different to the super-light version, which employed the venerable Cole Coatings paintworks to adorn the logo onto an otherwise naked carbon frame. This one has a clear coat of lacquer that adds weight to the otherwise identical package.
‘This is exactly the same base frame and forks as the special Cole Coatings version,’ Lambert tells me. ‘The difference between the two framesets is a little over 200g – this standard finish is 940g frame weight and 340g fork weight, as opposed to the 780g/280g for the Cole Coatings-finish frameset.’
For a frame that shares a name with the claimed lightest production bike on the market, 940g is a little weighty. Yet the Mons isn’t really an exercise in pure lightweight construction, and is geared towards rigidity and all-round performance.
Tifosi claims the frame uses ultra-stiff T1000 and T800 carbon fibre to improve the bike’s handling and general pedalling stiffness. These are put to use around the head tube, chainstays and bottom bracket shell.
The Mons is promising yet a little confused – a lightweight frame that’s a tad weighty
So in terms of its specification, the Mons is promising yet a little confused – a lightweight frame that’s a tad weighty and a sportive partner that’s quite aggressive.
On the Mons
The Mons generated quite a bit of interest from fellow riders before I’d taken a single pedal stroke. While the frame shape may be a little generic, the creative paint job gives the impression of something high-end and bespoke, and garnered plenty of compliments.
On the road, my first impressions were certainly positive. The bike provided admirable levels of comfort that left me feeling happy enough after six hours in the saddle. Indeed, one of my first tests for the Mons was a three-day stage race in Corsica – Explore Corsica, by Le Tour de France. On the first day of the event, star guests Cadel Evans and Frank Schleck set the pace and it was up to the rest of us to try and stay with them on the climbs. Fortunately, the Mons was up to the task, even if it meant I was at the limit of my own ability (while Evans and Schleck chatted amiably at the front).
The Tifosi reacted well on steep ground, never costing me much in terms of flex during those deep efforts. At 7.12kg, it was also light enough to float up 6% drags, even if that weight doesn’t qualify it as one of lightest bikes on the market.
When it came to descending, I felt the bike didn’t quite have the stiffness in handling terms I was hoping for. It seemed to dampen my sharpest leaning efforts, and was never quite predictable enough for me to ride aggressively downhill.
In terms of its overall build, the Miche wheelset did seem to exacerbate some of these negative features and I found it to be heavy and a little flexy. After I swapped in a set of carbon-spoked Mavic Cosmic Ultimate UST wheels, the entire build felt stiffer, lighter and a little more agile and snappy.
Fortunately, a big advantage of Tifosi’s sales model is that the brand is happy to work with a dealer to change and swap components, which means the wheel choice is optional.
The Tifosi Mons certainly has its charm. It mixes comfort with a certain raciness, and at a pound under four grand it’s competitively priced. There’s still room for improvement – maybe disc brakes, a lower overall weight and some custom paint options – but it certainly makes me keen to see what Tifosi does next.
The Mons mixes comfort with a certain raciness, and at a pound under four grand it’s good value