The Time Bicycles Thread -- Time Frames, Bikes, & Hardware Components After Sale To Cardinal Cycling Group

[miltmaster3]

I think the 1 thing that they must do is to put internal wires! The big logo better live then for mass and lower quality bike ( canyon- s wotks....) and the must live the carbon waves to be seen


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Why does everyone want fully integrated bikes? They make maintenance aand traveling a nightmare and the only viable choice is electronic shifting because cables don't like those tight bends.

Because aero means aero


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[jlok]

I think the 1 thing that they must do is to put internal wires! The big logo better live then for mass and lower quality bike ( canyon- s wotks....) and the must live the carbon waves to be seen


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Why does everyone want fully integrated bikes? They make maintenance aand traveling a nightmare and the only viable choice is electronic shifting because cables don't like those tight bends.

For the clean look probably, and then to avoid the 0.5W cable aero loss. If people value these factors highly then yea so be it for them.

I had the same reasons that I bought the Propel, but now I don't value frameset aero so much as the cost is too much (proprietary and unnecessarily heavy parts, difficult cable routing that may cause problem to Di2 battery leak, difficult to service like you said).

[Lina]

I think the 1 thing that they must do is to put internal wires! The big logo better live then for mass and lower quality bike ( canyon- s wotks....) and the must live the carbon waves to be seen


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Why does everyone want fully integrated bikes? They make maintenance aand traveling a nightmare and the only viable choice is electronic shifting because cables don't like those tight bends.

Because aero means aero


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The aero benefits of internal cables is so miniscule that outside of TTs they have absolutely no impact. On a road bike, especially on one that's not even supposed to be an all out aero bike the negatives far outweigh the positives.

[Robius]

https://www.bicycleretailer.com/announc ... iberia-and

[Llanberis]

I think the 1 thing that they must do is to put internal wires! The big logo better live then for mass and lower quality bike ( canyon- s wotks....) and the must live the carbon waves to be seen


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Why does everyone want fully integrated bikes? They make maintenance aand traveling a nightmare and the only viable choice is electronic shifting because cables don't like those tight bends.

Because aero means aero


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

The aero benefits of internal cables is so miniscule that outside of TTs they have absolutely no impact. On a road bike, especially on one that's not even supposed to be an all out aero bike the negatives far outweigh the positives.

The watt saving of hiding those cabels is indeed nonsense and completely negligible when it's the rider's body / position that matters more. However, the majority of deep pocket buyers (and believe me they are not here on WW) care about those things: Fully internal cable routing / disc / bar-stem combo, etc. Di2 / AXS / EPS for them is essential so no mechanical cable bending issue (plus they don't often work on bikes themselves). They just need the latest and sleekest things.

They could definitely use an all-out aero frame as Scylon is an aero-ish one only (but an absolutely amazing frame) and that's hard for them to market how many watts it saves you when that's what people want to hear when buying an aero frame now.

Ad'H is a different story I think; people here have managed to get a complete build down to 6.2 kg and that is not even with full WW components. Time could just tweak the front end like what Factor did for O2 and give it a full internal cable routing then it's good for another 1 or 2 years. And that way they could focus all other resources on the new aero frame (or something like SL7 or Ostro) to get more sales. Then hell when they are stable come back and update the good old beast Scylon in 2023..

I also like the older (2018-2019) AdH frames with that T on down tube and ulteam model is my favourite as it only have one small TIME logo on top tube.

Wow, thanks for that mate! Since early 2019 I have a 2019 AdH 01 naked carbon with those weird white patches on the down tube. They have mainly annoyed me for disturbing the visibility of the beautiful carbon work and making it look like a first gen Cervelo R3 from mid 2000. It’s not until now I realize what they’re supposed to depict. It’s a big ”T”! Brilliant! Thanks for enlightening me! Super great frame BTW.

I've always thought it looks a bit like 3T's design but agree it's a beautiful paint job which went full-force to showcase the carbon weave.

[Llanberis]

The paintjob looking dated is a weird statement. Just looking at the two paintjobs below, can you explain to me why you consider one extremely dated and the other one not?

Read my post - "most".

Though the Time one you show looked pretty poor.

Does it really need to say TIME in big block capitals twice on the main triangle and then again on the fork? It looks ghastly.

Even more obvious on the more widely distributed white and red.



Trend, fortunately, has been towards slightly less obtrusive branding these days. Time looks extremely dated.

Then let's go TREK..



Or let's go Aethos..



And yep I took the liberty to slam the stem for lazy Rossignol and hide the cables. A clean front end is all they need to sell more bikes nowadays..

To be fair, I think if anyone can play with their logo in such a "watermark everywhere" manner, it's Time.. I appreciate it's not a populat opnion but for me the graphic style is kind of iconic, dating back to ZXRS / RXR era.. Particularly where they cover the entire Translink seatmast with big white logo, the visual is strong.



*image linked from ab01ns' post here:

viewtopic.php?t=143634

That said, would 100% be up for a refinement of thier paint job language though; the beautiful carbon weave must be part of that showcase as I think that's unique to them.

Either your 'Trek' or 'Aethos' version look far better.

Also it's not that they hadn't slammed the stem ... It's that they hadn't even put spacers below the stem. They'd just clamped the stem on and not even bothered with spacers - so it looks weird with the skinny steerer and chunky stem,and also couldn't have been ridden. Messy cabling job as you say obviously didn't help matters either.

They actually did. If you look closely, they've acutally installed all three spacers that came with the frameset (the same spacer passed down from Scylon / Skylon). It's a shame as they designed a beautiful frame but couldn't give it a spacer that offers a more intergrated look at the stem / headtube junction. Rossignol's cost cutting I suppose..

On the other hand, Time actually gave even the spacer quite some thoughts: there's a rubber ring integrated inside to help with vibration damping. I didn't use any so couln't comment on how they actually help, but it's a nice little detail they did.

[RDY]

I don't think their bikes are heavy, and the Skylon is aero enough. The Active fork is a bust though. Get rid. If they want better damping just go with a Giant-like design.

I think at least 30mm clearance on all their road bikes should be a priority.

Probably the frame they should replace the mould rather than tinker with is the endurance bike. Geometry isn't anywhere near relaxed enough for a 2021/22 endurance bike.

Plus gravel of course - which they told me they were working on in 2020, but that it could take a couple of years. Hopefully takeover might expedite that.

IMO if they came out with that 'Aethos' style paintjob for the new ranges, they'd do well. Maybe add a new head tube logo. Why not do an abstract (rather than TIME) logo in the tradition of head badges? A stylised analogue stopwatch, or something else to do with time.

Re: the spacer. That's even worse if that is with spacers. The amount of time or cost that saves by using an unsuitable spacer is surely not worth it. It looks so ugly.

[2000m2]

Aside from distribution and cranking up production at the factory again, I'd say getting some better looking paintjobs on the bikes should be priority number one. Most look extremely dated. Priority 2, gravel. Also, increase tyre clearances on existing frames - I think they top out at 28s, which is low by today's standards.

Seems matte finishes are a bit more modern.

[EvilEuro]

A few notes related to topics that were discussed earlier in this thread.

Time has been expanding its sponsorship, albeit not at the top World Tour level. I've noticed on their Facebook page that they've been posting about teams who are now racing their frames. Matrix Powertag and Guidon Chalettois on the men's side and Stade Rochelais Charente Maritime on the women's side are the ones that immediately show up. It's a start.

Time has also been increasing its use of social media "influencers" or "ambassadors". The most recent one that caught my eye was Andy Clark, formerly of Competitive Cyclist and Speedgoat. There are others as well and the Time Facebook page (Now "TimeCycling" as opposed to "Time Sport" if you search for it) has more of their posts on it than in the past. Again, baby steps from their almost complete absence on social media before the sale.

Time is still looking for ambassadors and you can apply to become one at https://bit.ly/3gQT3QM

Time's bigger "relaunch" is due to happen sometime in August. I thought this would coincide with the Tour de France, but maybe it'll happen after the Olympics?? Completely unsure as to what the relaunch will encompass, but based upon what was said shortly after the sale I would assume it will include at least one new frame. Hopefully there will be new paint offerings that stop covering up almost all of their gorgeous carbon weave work and one or two which are almost bare and highlight it.

Time still needs to improve their corporate webpages. The new Time Bicycles page is still spartan with information and completely lacks a page to find a dealer in your area. The time-sport.us page still exists (this is for SRAM offerings since timebycycle.com redirects there if you click on the link for pedals on their page), and they do have a dealer locator. But who knows how accurage that is.

Hopefully we'll see and hear more from Time as they get closer to, and especially after, their relaunch in August. They really need to get out and talk to be bigger and more influential news sites like CyclingTips.

What questions would you have for them as the relaunch approaches?

[2000m2]

Nice to see some updates.
Any changes expected in their lineup of frame models?

[bikeboy1tr]

I was watching the Womens French National RR and noticed one of the women in the break riding a Time from the Stade Rochelais Team which made kind of excited to see a Time bike back in the Pro ranks. I watched the Mens race but couldnt locate any Time frames although that doesnt mean they werent there.

[EvilEuro]

Putting this here and in the 2022 new frames thread, but Time will be doing their "official" post-sale re-launch sometime during the third week of August. No news on if this will include new frames. I would hope at the very least it'll include new paint schemes and some clear ones to highlight their carbon work.

Vague, but at least something to look forward to in a few weeks time.

[bikewithnoname]

I'm itching to buy a Look or Time, Look's 2022 bikes on thier site are the same as 2021, so I'm hoping for something interesting from Time

[HenryH]

Yeah. If I crash my frame I would have bought a Time Scylon, but I don't think that has been updated for quite awhile?

[FatLadAtTheBack]

I'm itching to buy a Look or Time, Look's 2022 bikes on thier site are the same as 2021, so I'm hoping for something interesting from Time

Yeah bit disappointing from Look, the bikes are due a refresh in my view.