My Figmo ISP3 - FOR SALE

[vmajor]

Today I finally got a suitable scale, so I can make a meaningful post here.

My Figmo ISP3 build came in at 6.79 kg.... 58.5cm, with pedals, 2 bottle cages and Cateye Micro Wireless computer, ie in fully ready to ride state, and I have yet to cut the steerer.

The full build is here:

Frame: Figmo ISP3 size 58.5cm
Fork: FG 520 tapered carbon steerer
Wheels: Pro-Lite Gavia Alloy clincher
Tires: Vittoria Open Corsa KS 23mm
Tubes: Continental Race
Skewers: Edge bolt through CrMo
Handlebars:Pro-Lite Ravenna 44cm one piece monocoque wing bars
Stem: Pro-Lite Elbrus 10cm carbon wrapped alloy
Bar tape: Pro-Lite Riscone silver gel cork
Saddle: Edge Soft Carbon
Levers: micro.Shift Arsis
Brakes: Karbona carbon wrapped alloy
Brake shoes: aftermarket Kool stop orange + orange/black
Front derailleur: micro.Shift Arsis
Front derailleur: braze on to clamp on adapter clamp - generic alloy
Rear derailleur: micro.Shift Arsis
Crank set: Edge/Gigantex ITS monocoque carbon fiber/CNC titanium compact
Cassette: Recon CNC Alloy one piece (yes even the 12t) 12-27
Chain: Pro-Lite Rieti hollow pin, slotted plate
Pedals: Xpedo RF-S1B CrMo spindle
Bottle cages: Pro-Lite Castel Franco x 2
Cables: Jagwire Racer kit + inline derailleur cable adjusters
Computer: Cateye Micro Wireless

The build came out very light, but it is still super strong. I weigh about 100kg so I stayed away from ultralight structural components.

I can make the build lighter by making the following simple and cheap changes:

Tires: Schwalbe Ultremo R and matching tubes - 160g
Brakes: Tektro R740 -56g
Tape: non gel -20g
Pedals: Xpedo Thrust Ti -35g
Stem: Pro-Lite Pelmo CNC -30g

TOTAL: -301g thus a mildly tuned build would be: 6.49 kg

Going to tubular wheelset that can still take my weigh such as the Velocite Noir 38/50 with SAPIM CX-Ray spokes (yet to be released/built) and tubulars would save another 150g bringing the final build to: 6.34kg

6.34kg for a strong 58.5cm build that can handle a 100kg rider is not bad...however I am in no rush as the current 6.79kg weigh is already silly light.

Oh and all the parts were sourced and made in Taiwan (except for the fame and fork which are courtesy of one of the big three factories in China)

Here is a link to the gallery. I will post some photos here when the weather clears up. It has been raining for about a week now so all I have are tragic indoor shots.

[url=http://www.cycletaiwan.com/gallery2/main.php?g2_itemId=5108]My Figmo ISP3 gallery
[/url]

Victor

[Jthomps60]

can you review the bike and compare it to other bikes? It's a nice bike and there isn't much info out there on them.

[weenie #2533]

mmm I liked this one...





are they still aviable in this design?

[TheBugMan]

Nice ride vmajor!

[vmajor]

Jthomps60: I will definitively review it, but I am not going to rush it. I need to ride it a lot more and for longer distances before I can do a proper review.

Here is what I noticed so far:

Flex: frame - undetectable to me. Even while climbing under power the frame feels completely solid. Fork - some lateral flex when pressing hard on the bars side to side - I mean really hard - about 80 kg either way. I reduced the flex by dropping the stem 1cm. I have yet to evaluate how the remaining flex affects the direction changing ability and cornering.

Descending: straight line stability under full power is amazing. You can power down a hill at full cadence without any concern. Taking turns while descending fast - more riding time is needed.

Climbing: Short climbs are effortless with a sensation of floating and power - can climb 13% gradient, 100m distance seated down on 50/14. Sustained climbing - no data yet -I am still recovering from a knee injury.

Ride quality: I run the Vittoria Open Corsa KS at their maximum rated pressure of 140PSI. Using the Edge Soft Carbon saddle - no padding at all and with normal shorts on, you can feel the buzz at the molars However, with cycling shorts on, the road buzz through the saddle is eliminated - dropping the tire pressure would help to, but I do not want to do it. The ride is otherwise supple, over road undulations the bike feels like it gathers speed. The wheels do not leave the ground indicating that there could be a useful level of vertical flex. Over cobbles (not the broken down boulder fields of Europe, but nice new cobbles) the ride quality is excellent. You can feel them, but it is not harsh and control is completely unaffected indicating that perhaps the fork is stiff enough and that the rear triangle is well integrated with the frame. The only thing you can truly feel is square edge impact like riding off a kerb (yes I do it) or hitting a sunk bit of pavement.

Maneuverability: So far I feel really connected to the bike, but not in a lazy kind of way. This bike requires your attention. Steering can be as quick as you let it and every direction change is pretty much instant. If you counter steer, the counter steering action is so quick that you need to really mean it as the bike will turn and turn fast. Taking slow sharp turns is a joy even though I am still getting used to how the bike rides and handles. It is very stable and you can tip it over safely as it just goes where you point it. I need a lot more time on the bike to properly evaluate its handling and limits. So far so good, but it is not a relaxing tourer.

Power delivery: Seems very good. You sit over the rear wheel due to super short chain stays and the seat tube recess. On the first ride when taking off under power from traffic lights I kept lifting the front wheel off the ground until I remembered to lean forward. Acceleration is likewise good. I am hoping to get more understanding of its power delivery and efficiency aspects when I start doing real climbs.


weenie #2533 They have some stock left - unpainted. They are not making them any more. My Figmo ISP3 is the new version of that frame.


TheBugMan Thank you!. It is still gray and cr**py outside, but I am hoping to take some better photos today.


EDIT: update 10/01/09

Took the bike for another ride this morning. My knee is still playing up so it was another flat ride (no climbing), but I noticed something else today.

Make sure you point in the direction you want to go to before you decide to accelerate.

I was almost caught at the traffic lights as I was entering so I decided to accelerate and inadvertently experienced a true "Wtf?" moment. I put the power down and immediately took off to the left, by the time I corrected my direction I was already at the lane divider (4 lane, dual carriage way city road) having cut across my lane. This would have been very amusing to the pedestrians eagerly waiting for the light change, but I was lucky there were no cars behind me trying to rush the lights as well as I could have gotten cleaned up from behind.

The message is, the bike accelerates like mad and the steering is super precise. You need to mean everything you do on it as it will do whatever your body commands it to, whether you meant to do it or not.

I also finally got a hang of the micro.Shift Arsis levers. Downshifts were always great, but I could not upshift as cleanly as I would have liked. Today I learned that even with shifting, you just need to mean it. Pushing the lever half heatedly does not give you the desired snappiness.

V.

[vmajor]

deleted

[Jthomps60]

Thanks for the review. It's a nice looking bike and a great price for the frame. If I needed a new bike I would seriously consider buying one.

[strobbekoen]

Nice bike!
Did you make those pics at a park in Taipei near Zhong Shan road ?
(near Sean's bike shop)

[vmajor]

Thanks!

No, I took them in a small park behind my place in Daan on Fuxing S. Rd Sec 2.

Sean's shop in Tienmu is too far for me - but I must make it there sometime soon. I'd like to get him involved with the Cycle Taiwan community site - many of his team riders are already members.

V.

[strobbekoen]

Oh right.. that's the second road parallel to daan park crossing hsin yi rd and heping rd. Anyway, back to your bike!

[ST]

The bike looks nice indeed.
Some questions from my side to understand it even better

My Figmo ISP3 build came in at 6.79 kg.... 58.5cm, with pedals, 2 bottle cages and Cateye Micro Wireless computer, ie in fully ready to ride state, and I have yet to cut the steerer.

The build came out very light, but it is still super strong. I weigh about 100kg so I stayed away from ultralight structural components.

Sounds quite strange for me. Normally bikes of this weight are more suitable for people 60-70 kg

Here is a link to the gallery. I will post some photos here when the weather clears up. It has been raining for about a week now so all I have are tragic indoor shots.

Shall I assume you are employee of the shop that sells the bikes, considering your photos are located on their server?

If I see specification of the bike most of the drivetrain is "microShift Arsis". Is it clone of Shimano or Campagnolo or some other brand? I want to know compatibility.

[vmajor]

Thanks ST, I also think it is a nice bike. I even use it for commuting and minor errands - like getting dinner. No cycle shorts, no gloves, just casual clothing and my cycling shoes. Works great

Yes the build is very light, but for every component I asked the manufacturer about the maximum rider weights - so yes this bike can indeed handle larger riders.

I own the Cycle Taiwan Shop (the one in my signature) This Figmo ISP3 build is also an experimental build using all of our own stock that is sourced from manufacturers and companies in Taiwan.

The micro.Shift Arsis is Shimano compatible.

V.

[vmajor]

Today I finally took my Figmo ISP3 to the hills. I went on a short ride that had a nice 5km hill climb.

I read up on how to manage knee pain and as a result moved the saddle back a bit. In fact the saddle is so far back now that I am sitting almost over the rear wheel axle . I have attached a photo of the new seat position.

I saw this before with the "Belgian fit", especially with Giant bikes, and most modern time trial bikes, but still it is a little bit out of the ordinary for a road bike. I think it is good however. My knee did not complain, and for the rest, read on.

Before I got to the road, I encountered a fellow building dweller (a friendly neighbour from three floors down) who in a nice and polite Chinese remarked that I now look very fat, and puffed his cheeks out for emphasis. I smiled and thought to myself "Gee, thanks." Taiwanese are like that, so it is fortunate that most foreigners here do not speak more than a few words of Chinese.

To the hills.

The bike wants to kill me. Nicely though. The feeling of power is soo addictive and the progress so seemingly effortless that I just could not let up the high cadence run up this 5km climb. This of course completely overloaded my cardiovascular system in my fat and unfit state. I still had ample power, but my heart rate was too high and getting enough oxygen in was becoming an issue, so I dropped a cog and took it a bit easier...only to start sprinting again as soon as I gathered my breath as the damn bike just wants to go faster and faster.

Whereas some bikes I rode before felt like you had a constant headwind or felt like your tires were deflated when climbing hills, on my Figmo ISP3 I felt that all my energy was carefully preserved and channeled into forward motion. This is a unique experience for me. The closest I came to feeling this before was on a La Pierre carbon full suspension racing mountain bike. That thing could climb.

What goes up, must come down.

Unfortunately, this hill carries quite a bit of motorized traffic, and the road is very narrow and twisty, so descending fast and taking corners at high speed is potentially suicidal. Thus, I took it easy so I cannot yet comment on how the bike likes high speed descending and turning. What I noticed is at the speeds up to about 20-22 km/h the handling is twitchy. You really need to pay attention to what your body is doing and how much input you are giving through the handlebars. At around 32-35 km/h the bike transforms itself into a super stable rail car. It is astonishing. Direction changes are smooth and stable and you feel pressed down into the ground as you lean the bike over further adding to the feeling of stability and control.

I could not go faster down this particular hill to see what happens beyond 35 km/h, but I think this heightened performance and stability will carry through to higher speeds. I will try to see how it performs at 75-80 km/h when I take it up a larger hill with a better road.

V.

[Trekkie]

Just ordered a set of wheels like yours and I'm quit curious to try them out.

[mrfish]

Can you post some pics and details of the shifters? Not seen those over here, and a nice alternative to big Ss / big C.