NEW AND OLD WORLDS COLLIDE
Who makes the best aero race bike, historic Italian brand Bianchi or Far Eastern upstart Factor?
In cycling, the new and old worlds are reversed – Europe is the old and the Far East, the ancient lands of China and Taiwan, are the new. Bianchi versus Factor is about experience versus the upstart, artisan craft versus technology, and even authenticity versus big business. Do the Italians have superior expertise gathered over more than 130 years while Factor is too new to know what it’s doing? We pitched their top-end aero road bikes head to head to find out.
Although they share a common goal as fast race bikes, nearly everything else about the Factor One and Bianchi Oltre XR4 contrasts sharply, especially in these builds: electronic Shimano Dura-Ace Di2 and blunt aero carbon clinchers on the Factor play exquisite mechanical Campagnolo Super Record and stubbornly V-shaped Bora Ultra tubulars on the Bianchi in this Italianissimo spec. Even the headtube badges say a lot – the Factor has a modern graphic logo whereas the Oltre XR4 wears its traditional crest with pride.
Pedigree v pro power
Bianchi has been making bikes since 1885 and has an illustrious history that runs through the very fabric of the sport. Founder Edoardo Bianchi is credited with inventing the front wheel calliper brake and some of the greatest champions rode and won on Bianchis – Felice Gimondi and Marco Pantani to name but two – giving the brand a lustre that is durable far beyond its current rather dry spell in competition. Bianchi’s Grand Tour highlights in recent years feature little champagne but do include LottoNL-Jumbo’s Steven Kruijswik cartwheeling himself into a snow bank on stage 19 of last year’s Giro d’Italia, losing the pink jersey.
Factor, by contrast, was established in 2013 in the UK by Beru F1 Systems, the carbon fibre and electronics motorsport boffins who designed the Factor 001 concept bike in 2009. That bike became the radical Vis Vires. However, momentum was lost and the brand began to sink until it was bought in September 2015 by
You want a special-feeling aero racer that can do mountains and long days too
ex-pro Baden Cooke and Asia-based bike factory owner Rob Gitelis. They immediately set about reinvigorating Factor, revising the Vis Vires into the One you see here, with a new carbon layup, fork and cockpit, plus a more conventional sibling, the round-tubed O2. They also got into racing with the One Pro Cycling team for 2016 and then somewhat ruthlessly dumped them for WorldTour outfit AG2R La Mondiale and a great chance of Grand Tour success this year. Of these two brands, it’s a Factor that’s more likely to be ridden to a podium at the Tour de France. The millions of kilometres that Bianchis have been raced in Grand Tours over the last century mean nothing for the thousands that lie ahead.
Revise and relaunch
The Oltre first launched in 2010, was revised into the Oltre XR2 in 2013 and became the XR4 last year. The arrival of the super-light Specialissima freed the Oltre to focus on aero and, drawing on what had been learned in R&D for the Aquila time trial bike, Bianchi’s engineers claimed to have saved 20W at 50kph. The front end of the bike was a particular focus, with a slimmer, pointed head-tube to pierce the air, a bowed fork to reduce turbulence from the spokes and a new one-piece cockpit. In parallel, they also worked to increase comfort. Thanks to its Countervail damping technology, Bianchi says it’s possible for the rider to hold a more aero position for longer on the Oltre XR4 and, of course, the rider causes 80-90 per cent of the total drag.
Factor’s aero chops were a fluke, as even it admits. The One’s wacky split down-tube was a feature of the original 001 concept designed to increase pedalling stiffness. It was only years later, when a production version of the Vis Vires was taken to a wind tunnel, that the designers discovered it was also effective at handling the wash from the front wheel. What no one thought of was how your bottles and the inside of the frame get hosed in crap on anything less than dry roads. You have never seen a bike get dirty so quickly as the Factor in winter.
On the road, head down and churning the big ring, both bikes feel fast, more able than most to deliver high average speeds. If you like to ride at 20mph-plus almost every outing, you will enjoy both bikes. Each of the integrated cockpits is stiff when you’re sprinting; the Bianchi’s Vision 5D bar offers more wrist clearance but doesn’t have a Garmin mount, the Factor’s does.
Ride styles
While there’s nothing in it on raw pace, away from a wind tunnel at least, their characters are easy to differentiate. The Factor is aggressive, in its stiffness, its firm ride, its looks, and especially in its steering. The steep 73.5-degree head angle paired with a tight fork offset of 43mm would make a tandem feel agile. When applied to the Factor’s OTIS fork, with its more substantial and torsionally rigid external steerer, the result is a bike that turns faster than you can think. It’s initially alarming, then great fun. The bike is made to ride hard.
The 23mm tyres hold it back slightly, as good as the Schwalbe Ones are. A swap to 25s would give you the grip to play with the live wire handling, some much needed cushioning to smooth out what is a very firm ride in spite of the revised layup and curved seatstays, and better integration with the wide rims from sister brand Black Inc. Clearance is tight, though: GP4000S IIs won’t fit in 25mm.
The Oltre XR4 isn’t quite such a headbanger but it’s no less of a race bike. It’s just as much fun to ride hard and, being a useful 0.7kg lighter,
more so when the road goes up. It’s slightly stiffer over the burly Factor and feels phenomenally responsive on its super-light 50mm tubs. The handling is more neutral; to some that means duller, to others it means a more biddable, confidence-inspiring bike that’s actually faster through any given apex or gorge.
Bianchi understands that it’s easy to overcook a chassis. The old brand isn’t slow on its feet, rather it has the confidence of experience and makes the Factor’s over-exuberance look like the folly of youth.
Still, the Oltre doesn’t have its tyres right either, with 25mm tubs on skinny Bora Ultra wheels. They bulge out the sides in an un-aero light bulb shape and squirm when you honk the bike hard. Conversely to the Factor, it would be better on 23s. There is a comfort gain, though, with the tyres starting what the frame then finishes, vibration and bumps usefully softened before they reach your contact points.
Campagnolo versus Shimano is an argument as old as the brands themselves and more pointless now than ever, so we won’t start. Each groupset shifts beautifully and each embraces its format: Super Record is joyfully mechanical, all crisp clicks, snappy shifts and firm lever feel; Dura-Ace Di2 (still 9070 here) is hyper electronic, with whirring servos, a self-trimming front mech and super-light button actions that remind you of how detached you are from the chain’s movements. The debate is rendered irrelevant because the Bianchi is far from an all-Italian show. The Oltre XR4 can be ordered with Campagnolo, Shimano or SRAM, mechanical or electronic, a range of wheels including Zipp 404s and even a Rotor power meter – 132 years old and still with its finger on the pulse.
Rather than shifting, it’s braking where a big difference is tangible. Despite well proven Dura-Ace callipers, the Factor only generates modest braking power on the Black Inc rims. The Bianchi’s Super Record Skeleton callipers, however, are almost shockingly forceful. Campagnolo’s levers, callipers, pads and rims work brilliantly together, far more so than you’d expect even with the advantage of being developed in unison. Such stopping power is a tick for the incredibly light, fast rolling, stiff and responsive Bora Ultra 50 wheels.
Inconclusion
For many people, the styling and brand appeal of each bike carries with it so many preconceptions that you’re unlikely to have both on your shortlist. If you’re in the lucky position to be able to choose between these two, you probably already know which one you want. The Bianchi is unquestionably the better bike – smoother, more polished, with better handling and braking, and just as fun to ride hard. The Factor can be a riot to thrash but riots get tiresome. Yes, there’s a price difference but two grand barely matters in this territory and the Bianchi doesn’t win because of its expensive Campagnolo build.
More interesting than the here and now is the future. Factor is aware of the One’s limitations and while it continues as a flagship in the range, it’s the lighter and more conventional O2 that serves the AG2R professional team and takes the bulk of sales. The One is due for a revamp soon and Factor is working flat out to build its range and develop the bikes, using the race team for valuable feedback and exposure. The company’s likely to grow much faster than Bianchi over the next decade, closing the performance gap as it goes. Maybe in 128 years we’ll be talking about that giant, historic brand Factor and reminiscing over when Europe had a bike industry.
You’re bored of conventional bikes and familiar brands and you ride hard