EVO2MAX NEBULAR R9
£2799 › Bespoke-built British aero bike
Recent start-up Evo2Max’s founders include top British amateur time trialler Andrew Jackson, who currently ranks seventh on the alltime list for his 18.02-minute 10-mile time trial, so it’s no surprise that the company has come to market with a range of bikes that are designed around aero principles.
The Nebula R9 might not have seen much wind tunnel time, but designer Steve Griffiths worked closely with its production partners to use more cost-effective computer modelling to achieve the R9’s shape and features.
It does have plenty going for it, once you get beyond the extrovert livery. Our test bike is a mix of chequerboard carbon, electric blue and fluoro yellow, but you can opt for a black and slate-grey option.
The frame’s main tubes are narrow aero profiles. The Nebular eschews the current trend for cut-off airfoils in the shape of Kammtail profiles in favour of more TT bikelike deep and narrow shapes. The fork is anchored at both the base and top of the head-tube, a bit like a downhill mountain bike’s triplecrown fork, to give an aero shape to the head-tube’s leading edge and bolster front-end stiffness.
The Nebula’s handling took us by surprise. It’s not noodly or harsh, and the front-end’s rigid security makes for a bike that threads through flat-out corners with such surety that it inspires confidence.
Over rougher surfaces the front end does tend to crash over ruts, but it does a great job of minimising smooth road buzz. A lot of that is down to the excellent 25mm Continental GP4000 S II tyres, the quality Zipp cockpit and plush bar tape from Bontrager. The back end’s slender aero carbon seatpost and deeply dropped seatstays mean a bit more flex here, but you feel pretty well cushioned.
The 60mm-deep Evo Momentum R1 wheels were an unknown quantity to us, but we were impressed. The unidirectional carbon-finished rim is modern in shape with a blunt edge and wide profile, shaping the excellent tyres well. The hubs are Taiwanese Chosen cartridge items using quality Sapim CX Ray spokes. On a blustery test day they were easy to control in sidewinds and the braking, usually the downfall on carbon rims, was confidently controllable and noise- and fadefree. The combination of directmount frame fixings and Shimano’s Ultegra units provide ample force, no flex and plenty of feel.
The bike is at its best when blasting along on flat or lightly rolling terrain. On climbs the bike’s relatively light weight (7.75kg), for an aero bike, and taut front end mean it performs when you rise and attack. The only shortfall we could find comes when in the saddle on fast downhills and shifting your weight to hit the apex. Here you can feel a slight disconnect between the front end and the back, as if the middle frame section is flexing at a slightly different rate. We’ve felt similar before on aero bikes, but it doesn’t hugely detract from the overall performance.
We came away pleasantly impressed. The slammed long-andlow ride position isn’t for everyone, nor the loudness of the finish, but if you’re looking for a cost-effective aero road bike that’s fast and, above all, fun, the Evo2Max is worth a try.