Factor OSTRO VAM overview: A race bike to rival the perfect

After just a few accidental-on-purpose leaks and sightings on the 2024 season opener on the Tour Down Under in Australia, the Factor OSTRO VAM launched quickly after in February. This was simply months after the model’s O2 VAM launched as a light-weight bike with aero touches. 

I’ll be sincere and say the launch confused me. Just months prior, the Factor O2 VAM had impressed me with its all-around efficiency and had seemingly bridged the hole between aero bikes and light-weight bikes. Much like Specialized’s Tarmac which killed off the Venge and Trek’s Madone which killed off the Emonda, I believed on the time that Factor’s O2 was going to straddle the 2 traces, and alongside its place in our information to the perfect light-weight bikes, I’d fortunately think about it among the many greatest street bikes general. 

But right here we’re. Factor adopted up its aero model of a light-weight bike with an all-new OSTRO VAM, which I can solely actually describe as a light-weight model of an aero bike. 

*insert ‘Corporate would love you to seek out the distinction’ meme right here.

Are they not simply the identical factor? To lower a protracted story brief, they’re very comparable, however crucially, I feel on this case there’s sufficient of a distinction that I’m glad each bikes exist. 

But is the brand new OSTRO VAM adequate to earn a spot on our information to the perfect aero bikes, and maybe be part of its stablemate among the many greatest general? 

To discover out, I’ve been utilizing the OSTRO VAM since its launch for a variety of street driving. I’ve raced it, I’ve completed large endurance days on it, I’ve even commuted on it, and for anybody in search of a five-second overview: it has been nothing in need of distinctive.

As a buyer, you possibly can configure your personal, which means you get comparatively free rein on sure specs and paint schemes. Priced at $11,199 for this spec, nevertheless, or $5,499.00 for a frameset, it does not come low-cost.

That worth additionally means it is acquired some stiff competitors from the likes of the S-Works Tarmac SL8, the Trek Madone SLR, the Giant Propel, the Cannondale SuperSix and extra. Luckily, we have additionally examined all of these bikes. We even took all of them, and extra, to a wind tunnel for a superbike shootout, so we will confidently say how this bike compares to its friends each from our personal experience experiences and extra comparably, within the information. 

Design and specs

The OSTRO VAM body was designed, examined after which, most significantly, manufactured in-house by Factor. 

When I interviewed Factor’s founder and CEO, Rob Gitelis, again in Spring, he spoke at size about his life in Taiwan. He has lengthy owned a manufacturing facility there and has spent years constructing bikes for manufacturers he now calls opponents. 

That manufacturing facility is now devoted completely to the manufacturing of Factor bikes, providing the model a possible edge within the velocity at which it may prove new designs, and the management over how these designes are produced. The model retains its product vary comparatively small too, with only a dozen fashions spanning street, gravel, XC MTB, and observe, all of that are made out of carbon fibre and specced on the premium finish of the market.

The OSTRO VAM is on the market in seven sizes: 45, 49, 52, 54, 56, 58 and 61cm. 

The geometry leaves little doubt as to its intentions as a pure race bike. Our check mannequin got here in a 56cm, and in a neat contact, the stack and attain particulars 565mm and 392mm respectively – are printed onto the seat tube. 

Looking at these numbers alone, it isn’t probably the most aggressive in its class – the Giant Propel Advanced SL, for instance, is 1mm longer and 3mm decrease – however general the OSTRO VAM is fast-handling and race-ready with out being uncomfortable or twitchy. 

The lengthy, slim cockpit additional exemplifies that feeling on our check bike. If you purchase by way of the Factor web site, you possibly can select from 28 totally different bar width / stem mixtures. This bike comes with 38cm x 130mm, however you possibly can go as slim as 36cm, or as broad as 42cm, with stems starting from 80mm to 140mm in size. 

The cockpit is one in all my favorite issues about this bike. In addition to the lengthy and slim place, it’s snug in all hand positions and has a small backsweep from the centre outwards. It has a pleasant matte end that appears good and retains the sweaty handprints at bay, and has a very good drop depth and form for a safe however pure maintain when descending or sprinting. 

The brake hoses thread contained in the cockpit and down in entrance of the steerer tube contained in the body. The aero-profiled spacers are splittable, which means you needn’t disconnect your brakes to regulate your place. You might want to do it for a headset service, however the usage of CeramicSpeed’s SLT (Solid Lubricant Technology) headset implies that’ll be a really uncommon want.

The body follows the latest development of getting deep tubes on the entrance of the bike with thinner tubes on the rear, aerodynamically optimising the bit that hits the clear air probably the most whereas shaving weight the place airflow administration is much less efficient. 

The down tube is chunky and the underside bracket junction is gigantic, however the head tube is extremely slim, with an hourglass form to it, as proven above. Meanwhile, the seatstays are solely round a centimetre thick and the seat submit is not as deep as bikes just like the Canyon Aeroad or the Cervelo S5. 

It seems quick standing nonetheless, a theme which is complemented by the black and holographic color scheme. I feel it seems glorious, and the overall consensus I’ve derived from shopping boards and chatting with buddies is agreeable. 

If the color is not your fashion, there are a handful of other preset themes, or you possibly can pay additional to completely customise it your self, selecting from over 60,000 color mixtures. The worth of this varies relying on the place you’re and the way you purchase it. It’s $500 at Factor’s personal web site, for instance, however should you’re within the UK and purchase on the UK distributor Vires Velo, it may be as excessive as £1200.  

The solely visible grievance in regards to the bike I’ve seen pertains to the junction between the seat tube and the seatpost. The wedge that holds the seatpost in place is slotted inside behind the submit itself, with two small grub screws used to tighten the expander wedge accessed from behind. The place of this expander means there is a visible step backwards from the seatpost to the seat tube. 

Ironically, the Pinarello Dogma F has this step too, rather more pronounced the truth is, and I’ve seen no complaints about it, so maybe this tells us nothing aside from that persons are fickle. 

Factor claims it managed to shave 70 grams of weight and save seven watts value of aero drag (albeit the velocity at which this was measured is unconfirmed) when in comparison with the prior iteration of the OSTRO. 

The claimed body weight of 820 grams (a painted measurement 54cm) is not truly all that aggressive. Specialized’s S-Works Tarmac SL8, for instance, boasts a weight of 685g for a measurement 56cm, however Factor weighs a painted body, which muddies the waters considerably. Regardless, given the depth of the top tube and the scale of the down tube, it is nonetheless an impressively low quantity.

The carbon fibre used on the down tube is so skinny which you could flex it together with your hand. You in all probability should not, as a result of you possibly can harm the layers of fibres, nevertheless it exhibits how far the model has gone to minimise the burden. 

As a full bike, the OSTRO is 7.23kg full with pedals, bottles and cages within the Dura-Ace spec (no energy meter). That’s simply 50 grams greater than the S-Works Tarmac SL8, which weighs 7.18kg. We weren’t fairly evaluating apples to apples, because the Tarmac was fitted with new Red AXS (which I perceive is barely lighter than Dura-Ace) and with an influence meter. 

Perhaps extra comparable is the Pinarello Dogma F, which weighs 7.20kg with Dura-Ace, no energy meter, and Princeton Carbonworks wheels. 

So it isn’t the out-and-out lightest ‘aero all-rounder’ available on the market, nevertheless it’s one in all them. The Giant Propel, for instance, ideas the scales at 7.5kg. The Van Rysel RCR Pro is 7.54kg, and the Cannondale SuperSix Evo Hi Mod is 7.69kg. The all-out aero Cervelo S5 is 8.5kg, albeit with SRAM’s second-tier Force groupset slightly than Red or Dura-Ace. 

Importantly, a lot of the low weight of the OSTRO will be attributed to the brand new Black Inc wheels, which at 48mm deep (entrance) and 58mm deep (rear), weigh 1296g (examined) for a pair, with a Shimano freehub fitted, however with out tubeless valves. That’s simply among the many lightest of its sort available on the market, and it is 209g lower than a comparable Roval Rapide CLX II. 

They are in the stores individually and retail for £2,960.00 / $2,899.00. They are technically hooked, albeit with a mini-bead hook that is so ‘mini’ that it is nearly nonexistent. They have an inside rim width of 23mm, and spin on CeramicSpeed bearings. 

My check bike was geared up with a Shimano Dura-Ace R9200 groupset, and very similar to the O2 VAM light-weight mannequin I reviewed final 12 months, it does not include an influence meter. Many folks will discover it galling for a motorbike to value this a lot and never include an influence meter, however my argument earlier than – and it stands now – is that should you did not need one, you’d discover it much more irritating if Factor set the retail worth at £500 larger and compelled you to have one. 

Those who need one fitted from the off will be capable of spec one on the level of buy. This is not provided on Factor’s web site, however go by way of your nation’s distributor – akin to Vires Velo within the UK – and the choice is offered. Alternatively, you should buy one individually at the same extra value. Our information to the greatest energy meters has acquired you lined should you’re in that boat. 

The bike ships with Goodyear Eagle F1 SS tyres, with tubes, however I’ve tried the bike with a handful of various tyres to make sure my perceptions weren’t being skewed. Again, shopping for by a seller supplies the customisation to arrange with totally different tyres, with or with out tubes as most well-liked. 

Performance

Those perceptions I point out are nothing in need of extremely spectacular. The Factor OSTRO VAM is well among the many greatest all-round race bikes on the earth, even perhaps the outright greatest.

Despite the evident aerodynamic intentions, Factor has completed a superb job of retaining the graceful experience high quality I seen on the O2 VAM, and I may experience comfortably for lengthy distances with out feeling just like the bike was jarring or stiff. It does not have that rigidity that you simply may come to count on from a typical aero body, and irrespective of if driving uphill or down, it felt quick, reactive and purposeful.

Those emotions have been then backed up when, in our wind tunnel check, it was pitted in opposition to a Look Blade 795 RS, Giant Propel Advanced SL 0, Trek Madone SLR 7 Gen 8, Van Rysel RCR Pro, Specialized S-Works Tarmac SL8, Pinarello Dogma F, Cannondale SuperSix Evo 4, Canyon Aeroad CFR, Cervélo S5 and a Scott Foil RC Pro, and it got here out as one of many quickest. 

The precise result’s considerably nuanced, and you’ll learn it in full by heading over to our wind tunnel superbike check write-up, however in brief, the OSTRO got here out very favourably in opposition to among the greatest bikes on the earth. 

On high of all that, it’s constructed such that every pedal stroke feels direct and efficient. There’s no feeling of flex or energy loss that might undo its aero-meets-lightweight efficiency in a real-world situation. Put merely, I can not consider a single factor I’d change.

What’s extra, whereas I appreciated the way in which the O2 VAM rode, I seen some construct high quality points that would not actually be acceptable for a paying buyer shelling out upwards of £10,000. I’m instructed my check mannequin for that bike was a pre-production pattern, however the subject stayed with me as a potential purpose to ignore Factor in opposition to the extra established opponents. 

However, I’m completely happy to report that I’ve not had a single subject with the OSTRO VAM. Not a creak or squeak. It has carried out flawlessly over the previous six months, regardless of having been ridden and raced for round 1000km in all method of rain, shine and every thing in between. 

Value

The worth part is all the time the tough half when reviewing a motorbike that prices greater than a household automotive, however the worth of the OSTRO VAM is precisely the place you’d count on when in comparison with its friends. 

There’s no denying you will get many of the efficiency for considerably much less, however should you’re in search of the perfect bike then count on to pay in extra of £10,000 for a whole bike. 

Comparing simply the frameset for a second, at £5,449 ($5,499 / €5,799) full with cockpit, it’s going to by no means land in our information to the greatest finances street bikes, however the Tarmac SL8 frameset – arguably its closest competitor – is about the identical. Well, it is truly round 10% cheaper however with out a cockpit, so in actuality they are much of a muchness. 

In this specific spec, the value is £11,450 / $11,199, and for that worth you get a comparatively free rein on customisation. 

In reality, Factor actually stands aside from a few of its opponents by providing the power to configure and customise your bike as a part of the acquisition, which means you possibly can spec the handlebar match, saddle setback and crank size, in addition to color and another specs. This saves you having to purchase it because it comes after which do what I wish to name the eBay shuffle: promoting in your unused components and shopping for replacements, undoubtedly growing the general value of your bike together with a load of undesirable trouble. 

Even although you aren’t getting an influence meter on this specific mannequin, when judging the bike’s efficiency and the worth of the general OSTRO VAM vary, given the efficiency on supply, should you’re searching for a motorbike at this pricepoint then the Factor OSTRO VAM needs to be excessive in your checklist. 

Verdict

The Factor OSTRO VAM is, fairly merely, a superb race bike. 

With aerodynamic properties that outperform devoted aero bikes, a weight that mixes it with the lightest aero all-rounders, and dealing with traits which might be direct and purposeful with out being twitchy or scary, it is some of the constructive bike opinions I’ll ever write. 

I’ve not had a single subject with the bike in over six months of testing in all circumstances. Not a squeak or creak from the headset or backside bracket, no seatpost slips nor thru-axle issues. 

And so usually a motorbike of this worth is let down by a element that does not fairly match the invoice, akin to an inexpensive wheelset or a poorly specced handlebar, however that is not the case right here. Every element pulls its weight, from the superb cockpit and light-weight wheels from Black Inc to the CeramicSpeed bearings and Selle Italia carbon saddle. I’ve not even talked about the aero bottle cages which might be additionally accessible – I did not get them for testing – however they really feel like a cherry on the highest of a Bake Off winner’s cake.

I’ve stated it already, however there’s fairly merely nothing I’d change. Maybe I’d knock a zero off the value so I may afford to purchase one, however that is simply (very) wishful pondering.