FUJI SL 1.1

Plenty of carbon wizardry went into making this superlight frame

MODEL Fuji SL 1.1 GROUPSET Sram Red etap GEARING 52/36t chainset, 11-28t cassette WHEELS Oval Concepts 928 TYRES Vittoria Corsa G+; 700x25c FINISHING KIT Oval a 910SL Ergo bars, Oval Concepts 777SL stem, Oval Concepts 950 seatpost, Oval Concepts X38c saddle WEIGHT 6.52kg (56cm) PRICE £7,299 CONTACT evanscycles.co.uk

EWAN’S SUMMARY

I’m a bit of a hill climb specialist so the Uci-illegal SL was right up my street. As a rider keen to not to miss an opportunity to shed weight I particularly liked the Fuji’s finish. Aside from being utterly beautiful when the different tows of carbon caught the light in the direct sun, simply lacquering over the SL’S unidirectional carbon tubes definitely weighs less than a standard paint scheme.

It should be said that despite the finishing kit and wheels all being supplied by Fuji’s in-house brand, Oval Concepts, I thought none of it undermined the performance of the frame. Braking performance was good, and although the rims were pretty voracious in their appetite for the brake pads, otherwise they seemed smooth and stiff. The cockpit was similarly rigid, yet the unusual ergonomics of the bars left a bit to be desired for me.

The seatpost and saddle made a comfortable perch for the whole day and provided a little counterbalance to the uncompromising frame – the SL is one stiff bike. It’s compact in every sense; I found the sloping top tube and short wheelbase made it feel really taut, ideal for punchy accelerations when I was trying to drop Matt.