AX Lightness Vial Ultra Long Term Review

Posted in: Blog, Cycling | Aug 19, 2016 at 11:52 AM

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INTRODUCTION

So finally I have been able to take the AX Lightness Vial Ultra to one of most difficult sportive in Australia: Peaks Challenge Gold Coast 2016 on the 14th of August 2016. To that date I have owned the bike for about 2 months. I have not owned it that long to call this article a “long term review” for sure, but at least the bike has seen rain and shine as well as a 11.5hr-straight ride in a mountainous terrain which covers various road surface. I would like to dedicate this article as a journal for my experience owning and riding the bike so far.

MAINTENANCE AND BUILD

I must say that to maintain this bike is rather difficult. I built this bike with the some of the lightest components on the planet and I must say not all of them are 100% compatible with each other. The chain-rings for example, it was a 33-48 from Fiber Lyte and somehow – according to 3 different mechanics I consulted – they are not that compatible with the frame. As it stands, if I’m on 48/19 gear (and any gear downwards eg. 17, 15, 13, 11), and I then switch the 48 ring to 33, the chain would get stuck behind the 33 chain-ring’s bolt. So before I switch down, I need to get the gear to 48/21 (or upwards) then the chain would not get stuck.

The eeBrakes are also rather fiddly. When the bike was first built by the first mechanic, according to the 2nd mechanic, the 1st guy didn’t do it right. The cable was slightly too long and that caused the brake to lose its tension so brake rub happened. No matter how hard you tried to center it, it would always rub your wheel. Mine happened with the rear one. So finally the 2nd mechanic shorten the cable and now the rub disappears.

The stem from MCFK carbon is also somehow not clamping the handlebar properly. Even though I have tightened the bolt to be really-really tight to the point where my bike-tool can no longer turned, if I hit a big bump on the road, the handlebar would sometimes slip downwards. Before the event my handlebar angle was 10.8degrees. After the event it became 8.19degrees. During the Peaks Challenge I indeed hit a bump on the road and I heard this creaking sound which must have been the handlebar that moved down from the stem. This has also happened few weeks prior on the road while I was commuting. I have never had any similar experience using the alloy stem.

Finally, the stem is also not clamping properly on the fork steering. After I pulled out my bike from the Scicon Bag, the steering would be slightly left-turned! This happened twice: on the day I arrived at Gold Coast while I pulled out the bike from the bag to get it setup for the event; and also when I arrived back at Perth. Even though I have properly tightened the stem screws with the specified torque, it somehow can still move within the bag.

So all in all, maintenance of this bike is rather difficult. Compare to my Guerciotti Eureka SHM50, the Guerc didn’t have any issues whatsoever. Some of the parts (including the stem) were alloy, yet I never had any issues with stem losing its torque or handlebar that slips.

COMFORT

As mentioned in my first initial review, the Ultra just does not have any comfort element whatsoever. Lucky I wore gloves during the ride otherwise it would have been a bumpy one. When the road surface was smooth, everything was fine. But as soon as you hit the outback, the road surface turned into the “country road surface” and the vibration was immediately felt. Every little bumps and road imperfections were immediately felt by your hands and arms as well as through the seatpost.

ON THE FLAT

As the frame shape is not aero (ie. that aero bladed-shape body), the frame is not as affected by crosswind. Compared to the Guerc, the Guerc would have been affected a bit more in crosswind. Although, the Ultra does not feel as easy holding up speed compared to the Guerc. I think an aero bike has that capability of holding up speed better.

Acceleration however is a lot better on the Ultra. As it is lighter, it takes less effort to accelerate. This was proven when I was riding with the bunch. On the Guerc I had to push a bit more to get up to speed while on the Ultra it was with less effort. When you hit an undulating road, where the bunch would accelerate, you can follow easier on the Ultra.

If you’re sheltered in the bunch, the Ultra is the winner. But if you’re in a breakaway or riding alone, I still feel an aero bike would perform a lot better.

ON THE CLIMBS

Well, I surely do not need to speak any further on how great the Ultra was during the climb. The stiffness was king during the climb. It truly propelled you upward and forward with every stroke you pushed down those pedals. The climbs during Peaks Challenge Gold Coast were mostly 10%+, a lot of the times they were in the region of 13-18% and the Ultra didn’t struggle a bit. With the Ultra combined with the gearing I’m currently putting on it (33/48 and 11-42 cassette) I’m confident I can climb even the steepest mountain.

ON THE DESCENDS

Now this is the interesting one. As mentioned during my initial review of the bike, the Ultra was certainly very fast and twitchy on the descend. This was even more prominent during Peaks Challenge Gold Coast. As most of the climbs were 10%+, the descends were, too! Most of them were steep descends, off-cambered turns on a narrow trafficked road. That would just make the descending so interesting.

Compared to when I was on the Guerc during Falls Creek and Cradle Mountain, I had to brake a lot more during PCGC. The Ultra was very twitchy and if you were not careful, you could go wide so easily. There was this one turn which I put down the gas a bit and I almost went wide. On a closed road, descending on the Ultra would be awesome. However, on road with traffic (and not to mention other riders who were around you), you would have no chance descending without braking.

Without braking the Ultra would just zoom down so fast. But then it was twitchy, too therefore unless you have the bike handling skills of Peter Sagan, the descend would feel a bit scary!

CONCLUSION

In conclusion, the Ultra is a high maintenance bike I must say. It’s not the bike which you can ride and forget. Every now and then you’ll need to check the bolts, etc to ensure they’re still all top notch and the torque and everything is still correct.

This is the first time for me to own a bike with all the light components. Will I buy similar bike again? I’m not sure. I now probably wouldn’t mind an a bit more sturdy, few-hundred-grams heavier bike.

As it stands, with pedals, Garmin, etc the Ultra comes at 6.2kg which – for me – is very-very light.

As far as the performance goes, I can’t fault the stiffness. I’m not a rider who is looking for comfort over stiffness anyway so I wouldn’t mind the Ultra.

Tommy

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