Aquila Crono
BASED IN TORONTO, Aquila Bicycles started out as a house brand sold through a bike store called Racer Sportif. Through the ’90s the brand was popular with Ontario triathletes and also enjoyed some high-profile success: Lori Bowden rode an Aquila early on in her career, and Sharon Donnely was on an Aquila when she won the 1999 Pan Am Games triathlon. (In the interest of full disclosure, Racer Sportif was one of my first sponsors when I turned professional in 1985, and my daughter and sons have been sponsored by Aquila for both cycling and triathlon.)
A few years ago the company decided to move beyond its “house brand” status and looked to enhance its position in the Canadian market. Aquila sponsored Team Race Clean
and the Canadian U23 National Team, providing the riders with its Equipe R frames. My son, Sean Mackinnon, rode an Aquila prototype to a bronze medal at the Pan Am Games Time Trial in 2015.
Sean had to use a prototype for the TT at the games because Aquila hadn’t revamped the Crono, which debuted in the lineup, since 2010, choosing at that time to step back from the hyper-competitive triathlon market and focus on road bikes.
Last year, though, Aquila decided it was time to step back into the triathlon world and released the new Chrono. Incorporating many of the features seen in the bronzemedal winning prototype, the new Chrono also featured some innovative new additions that make it an interesting addition to the current crop of triathlon bikes on the market. I had a chance to ride the new Aquila Chrono last summer – I took the bike for a three-week trip to Europe – and was impressed. The bike has a lot going for it, and for the money, it offers excellent value.
Models
There are four different versions of the Aquila Crono. I rode a version of the Crono Ultegra R8050, which featured Ultegra Di2 and Zipp 404/ 808 Firecrest wheels ($6,500). There are a couple of versions available for $3,700 – one features Shimano’s mechanical Ultegra gruppo, while the other offers a combination of Ultegra Di2 and 105 components. There’s also a version with Shimano’s 105 components that goes for $2,999.