First impressions after 24h and 80k with the Aethos.
In general, it is a very nice bike. Looks classic and subdued, in my build (some WW, some aero bling) not quite as stealthy, but very lovely. It is definitely a bike, I would have found boring looking, before I started cycling, and that probably won‘t turn many heads of people who are not involved in cycling.
When lifting up the bike, it is impressively light.
Riding: The bike is fun to ride, it is light and nimble, yet very comfortable. However, I can‘t say, that it rides that differently from my Roubaix Team. The 900g difference in an almost 80‘000g system is just not that big of a difference. I can‘t notice much of a difference in higher speeds vs the Roubaix, but it certainly holds speed less effortlessly than my Aero Bike.
I have pushed the bike pretty hard, doing a 12x30“ all out standing sprint session yesterday, and a 37 minute threshold effort today. Whatever I threw at it, it was never „noodley“ or „squishy“. I am a rather light guy at just over 70kg, but I have ridden large frames (58/60) that had much greater issues dealing with standing sprints. For sprints at just over a 1000W (not very much, but that‘s all I got), it felt just as good as the aero bike (albeit not just as fast). For the very long effort at almost 360 Watts, it felt awesome. I had longer passages of pedaling at high cadence and never felt bouncy, then got out the saddle to put some power down and back into the saddle at lower cadence… always solid as a rock. Cornering is very precise and fun.
I have yet to ride the bike up a proper climb (and with current COVID-developments, this is unlikely to change within the next 3 months), which will be very interesting.
I also have yet to do a long endurance ride on it, which will tell more about the comfort.
A too early conclusion:
Is this a revelation? No! It is not too noticeably better (or different really) than the Roubaix Team I had before that. Maybe I will change my mind about it once I get into proper climbing, but even that is not too likely. Ultimately, it is another high-end bike by the same manufacturer as my previous ride, with almost the same components, and therefore I didn’t expect miracles… and there aren’t any.
Is this a bad thing? Also No! The Roubaix Team is the best road bike I have ever ridden, and this has the same speed and comfort (maybe not over cobbles, which I never ride, but over rougher tarmac, I didn’t notice a difference). However, it is a little more precise when steering (the future shock made it a little soft in some corners), and is lighter also. I am definitely happy with the bike, and you if you can/ want to afford it, you will get a fantastic bike, that is super subdued, yet super bling (for those who know).
I‘ll post some nicer pictures once I have ridden the bike a little more.
Here is the one for the weenies:
The build could be a made a little light, with the handlebar being „aero shaped“, the wheels being rather deep, the chainring being a standard (50/37 being 60g heavier than 48/35). To go much lighter would then require going super WW, but I am not after any of that. The bike is more than light enough and after all: aero is everything 