My new bike... Cyfac GOTHICA :)

Who are you (no off-topic talk please)

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iubike
Posts: 479
Joined: Fri Nov 25, 2005 2:02 am
Location: Austin, Tx

by iubike

Well I loved the Scott, it rode well and looked pretty cool. I have done a lot of projects in my life, cars, bikes, you name it. I always end up doing a "black" bike. Which is odd as I love color. I had always wanted to do my uber colorful car but never managed it, so I finally got my color :twisted:

I had first considered Parlee and Cervelo. Tom from Parlee was an incredible person to work with and I still would like one of his frames. I considered the R3 but reliability aside they were not very easy to work with. After chatting with Jason I checked out Cyfac (whom I had heard about before) and then called them. Eric from VeloEuropa was beyond helpful, this was something that mattered to me. I still would have liked the R3 but didn't want to deal with such a company.

Eric and I chatted about the Gothica and I soon figured out that either way I would be gaining some weight. The fork would be lighter but the frame could be as much as 1300 grams. While not near as light as the Scott the frames hand made beauty and wonderful paint work (not to mention how rare they are) really enticed me. This combined with Eric, well it was a no brainer. The frame showed up today and being the weight weenie I am the first thing I checked was the weight, well it was heavier. I was a bit bummed until I built the bike up.

The paint is amazing, so clean and well done, graphics are flawless, so I started to hang components. Well turns out you can't really feel less than half a pound that easy, and the bike is georgeous, god I can't get over it. Fits me great, and my short break in ride was incredibly smooth, Scott can keep their couple 100 grams for the way this thing rides :shock: . Anyways, I have a wonderful training ride tomorrow and am tired. Here is the first pic of the frame. More pics and a complete writeup will follow tomorrow!

Image

13lbs and some light change... thats with complete power meter :twisted: Still DAMN light.

K

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Mr.Gib
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by Mr.Gib

Excellent bike - one of my favorites. Don't think twice about the extra weight. You're still riding a bike that is two pounds under UCI!

I still would have liked the R3 but didn't want to deal with such a company.


Please elaborate on your concerns about Cervelo. Do you have issues with the company itself or distribution in your area (where are you located).

by Weenie


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iubike
Posts: 479
Joined: Fri Nov 25, 2005 2:02 am
Location: Austin, Tx

by iubike

Cervelo:

First off, one of my pet peeves with any company is when they do not offer a direct method of contact, no phone, no email, no address, nothing. This makes me fee like they think they are too good to be contacted. They also require a pretty heafty up front setup for dealers. This is something that also upsets me, why not get someone who SELLS bikes on your bikes?

I was also confirmed one too many times of reliability issues. No big deal I guess as I am sure Cervelo has a great warranty, but I can not beat the lifetime warranty of my Cyfac and the WONDERFUL service and crash replacement. I also like to ride my bikes, not ship them back for service.

K

Also, their dealer locator did not work well and this furthered my question why I could not easily purchase a frame to "try".

Auk
Posts: 689
Joined: Thu Feb 09, 2006 4:40 pm

by Auk

Super looking bike. Love the paint job. Looks like I need to make the trip down to Bloomington to see it in the flesh.

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gregclimbs
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Location: slc, ut
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by gregclimbs

nice, can't wait to see all the gory details...

glad you are feeling better. does it come with a cool front to give you a break from the heat?

;)

g

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Kahuna
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Location: www.fly.com
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by Kahuna

iubike wrote:Cervelo:
First off, one of my pet peeves with any company is when they do not offer a direct method of contact, no phone, no email, no address, nothing. This makes me fee like they think they are too good to be contacted. They also require a pretty heafty up front setup for dealers. This is something that also upsets me, why not get someone who SELLS bikes on your bikes?


Visit www.cervelo.com. The main navigation bar, on the right side of the page, there's a "Contact Us" link. The page has telephone numbers, contact forms, an email address, what else do you want, a back rub? :D

Seriously, you have a very nice bike. I've always like Cyfac, but saying that Cervelo thinks they're too good to be contacted is well, wrong. In fact their cofounder Gerard makes himself very accessible to people. If you've done any research (online) about the company you'll see that he frequently contributes to online forums like slowtwitch and he and other Cervelo reps like Chris Bastie will happily answer your questions.

The company is growing by leaps and bounds so now is the best time to get personalized attention from them. Like Scott and a few others, Cervelo is really committed to innovation. This makes the company and their products really interesting. As for the R3, trust me it's that good!

Rickyfirst
Posts: 379
Joined: Sun Nov 21, 2004 4:47 pm
Location: Belgium

by Rickyfirst

iubike :

Did you use the Cyfac postural system to determinate the geometry of the frame ?

If yes did this postural study change your position on the bike from what you have on your previous bikes ?
Last edited by Rickyfirst on Fri Jun 02, 2006 8:56 am, edited 1 time in total.

Emmanuel
Posts: 225
Joined: Sun Nov 13, 2005 2:11 pm

by Emmanuel

That bike is more than hot! :shock:

Just wondering though, i've read you mention a lack of funds to buy some stuff you'd like a couple of times, yet you manage to get the ergomo and a new frame within a month :twisted:

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FelixOr
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Location: Vienna

by FelixOr

Looks outstanding, congrats!
Very nice components, and the weight incl. a powermeter is amazing as well.

I'm glad you like the ride of it.
Enjoy it!

KB
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Joined: Mon Jan 12, 2004 12:32 pm
Location: HULL UK

by KB

Absolutely love it. Another entered into my Hall of Fame. Very well done.

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jalapeno
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by jalapeno

that is a wonderful bike. Congratulations! Agrtee with you on the need for colour. :mrgreen:
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oZ_
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Joined: Wed May 31, 2006 8:29 pm

by oZ_

Wow what a killer paintjob, congrats!

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Mario Jr.
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Joined: Sat Jun 12, 2004 8:49 am
Location: Denmark
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by Mario Jr.

Oh, I love your bike, Kyle. It´s beautifull. :shock:
Was it a standard frame? As I would imagine a custom frame would take longer in the making.
I agree in the weight manner. I am feeling so much better on my Argon 18 than I did on my CR1. I think the colour and little details alone are responsible for a lot of the better feeling. (Not comparing my Galium to your Cyfac)

I agree about the availability of Cervélo. In Denmark we haven´t got a distributor. So if you as a shop wants to sell Cervélo, you have to order them from germany and take at least a handfull at the time. You can not see them in live, unless you drive to germany, either. No rep in DK.
I think it´s very, very odd as a lot of Cervélo´s could potentially be sold in DK, as CSC has their homebase here and is very popular.

BenCousins
Posts: 1359
Joined: Thu Apr 23, 2015 11:46 am

by BenCousins

From a fellow Cyfac owner - that's a f**king nice bike.

acg

by acg

Nice bike
The paint looks lovely

Tom may (just about) forgive you !!!

I know only a bit of Cyfac
Can you run through the range and why you chose this model over others in the line-up?

cheers

by Weenie


Visit starbike.com Online Retailer for HighEnd cycling components
Great Prices ✓    Broad Selection ✓    Worldwide Delivery ✓

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