Bicycles

Test: Elios Road Race EST

Details

Parent Category: Bicycles

Category: Elios

Published on Monday, 19 January 2009 07:18

Written by Luca Salvatelli

An excellent bike, competitive price and good dynamic performance are its strengths

The Company

Elios Cycles born in 1950. Always linked to the world of cycling at 360 °, offers a full range of bicycle touring, mtb, classic, city, and hybrid race. If the mtb has a tradition that crosses the boundaries Italians, as well as city bike, which offers a very wide range and interesting, more niche is the range of bike racing, but not their will. In 2008, was proposed a complete range of bike racing, even very interesting, but has not had the success it deserved and that the company expected. Unfortunately, for the admission of senior management, in bike racing count the name over quality ... ..
For 2009, therefore, there was a strengthening of the range in more competitive as city and mtb bike, and a review of the range race, all characterized by the Made in Italy and value for money as strengths.

The road range

For 2009 the range road consists of two models: Road Race EST and Hybrid Road EST. Basically the two models are identical and differ only in the adoption of Flat Bar in the hybrid version. Components and frame are the same. We test the race, but the considerations may be considered valid for the Hybrid.

The Road Race EST we test

The base of the bike is an aluminium frame with carbon fork in a 3K and aluminium stem. The sizes available are 47 - 50 - 52 - 55 - 58; are planned for 2009 the colours black-gray-black and red. The chassis as a whole is well done, without major innovations. It is based on a technology with constant thickness of pipes, good size, with a dinghy steering scale, and a wagon rear not compact, excellent and well-executed welds. The painting is well executed and covered with transparent. All decals are well positioned. The attack is a Zoom aluminium finished in carbon fiber, while the fold is always Zoom in a light alloy wing profile. The seatpost is also light alloy and is adopted a saddle Selle Italia XR. The group provides the commands, changing and the derailleur Campagnolo Xenon for triple crank with 9 speed. The crank and bottom bracket are Miche, model sporting, with crowns of teeth 30-40-50, Miche chain for 9 speed and Sprocket Miche 12-26. The wheels are based on Miche hubs, spokes stainless steel cross in the second and rims Ambrosio medium profile. The brakes are always Miche, model Performance, double pivot. The tires dopted have a measure 700x23. Standard is also the handlebar, the bottle and a pair of pedals and automatic release provided their cleats.

The particulars

The road test

In the view of Elios EST Road should not be forget its purchase price, without which any reasoning becomes wrong. The bike is well built, with the penetrations nice, better than a bike often more expensive, well-made welds like painting and blending. The bike is complete with pedals and bottle, ready to ride without additional costs, not just because more and more competitors use to save on the cost of pedals, the bottle or the bottlecage. Of course there are those special glaring other products range top, but between the entry level this bike does not fear rivals. In saddle you find a comfortable position, only partly affected by a saddle rather harsh, but still significantly better than those taken on other entry level. The pedals are effective, with an adjustment of the coupling strength, and apart from the weight over more expensive models, and to a lesser fluency, have shown a good reliability, with a good base of support and an easy to use less experienced with the pedals machines. The ergonomics of the controls Campagnolo is perfect, offering an increasingly safe and effective enough to satisfy some all. Excellent take-fold wing, which is high in low. Moving one appreciates the shares of the frame which places the stability with an increasingly safe and accurate, and cornering on uneven or fast. Behaviour reassuring, if dissatisfied that the most experienced, reassures those who are beginners with answers always safe and predictable to commands given, with an exemplary stability on the fast and disjointed. In this juncture is to be put to greater sensitivity of the frame to disconnections, only partly mitigated by the wagon just longer than usual, so that has to reckon with a greater sensitivity to vibrations and shocks of the land, but less of what a full-aluminium chassis might suppose. On fast, you pedal well, thanks to the good fluidity of crank and hubs Miche and could achieve good performance even with better tires than those adopted, and just sliding hard, and with a crank even more rigid. Derailleur, front and rear, respond better with passages ever precise, while the triple crank allows always to find the ideal ratio. The weight greater than the high-end bike, and not the high rigidity of the chassis and the crank, feel in raises and progressions in which it is difficult to make rapid speed, this, however, always compared to a bike top range, while the behaviour is excellent compared to other entry level, even luxury. In climbs, even the most demanding, there are no particular problems, thanks to triple that allows everybody to find the right ratio to obtain an optimal frequency pedalling and not feel the weight of the bike. Without any direct comparison with a bike or equal weight satisfaction is high, even with significant slopes, and only with comrades with high-level bike can be noted that others can be faster with less effort, but also figures well spent more ... ..
In downhill behaviour is perfect for accuracy and safety of driving, but would like greater braking force. The brakes Miche Performance are very modular and progressive action, not ever bring them into crisis in the wet, you feel always the perfect control of the brake, but to achieve rapid deceleration should be very pull the lever. Again, though, to complain will be the most experienced and the neophyte can only appreciate the scalability and the sincerity of behaviour of the brakes. On wet you will have to watch the outlet of tires, not high, and braking long, but you should not be afraid of the wind off the bike suffers no more or anything.

The test with Polar CS 600 Power

Why this test:

We decided to use the instrumentation Polar CS 600 Power to analyze the performance of the bike. Other tools may give us the values of a rigid chassis, important information, but they say little about the overall goodness of the bike enthusiast who will buy and its real value for money. It is clear that a bike is not only frame, but also the components that are assembled and which determines the overall performance. With the Polar CS 600 Power can tell how many watts the athlete needs to develop to go at a speed X. The more rigid chassis will be the crank excellent, good wheels, the rest of the components excellent, much lower will be the power required to reach that speed X, the better the quality of the bike as a whole. By contrast, a good frame, but not at the top components, will get a worse frame average range but with good assembled components. Then evaluate the bike as a whole, just as we buy from the dealer, not a single element of it, albeit important. The Polar CS 600 Power also is the only instrument that can detect the power developed without replacing crank or rear wheel.
The completion of test:
mounted and properly calibrated CS 600 Power, the athlete has run a stretch of road perfectly flat and in very good conditions, without wind and other interference. The athlete has taken the first route different to 30 km / h constant, then a 40 km / h constant and finally to 50 km / h constant, with the longest available. These powers necessary to maintain the speed:
30 Km / h 245 watts
40 Km / h 335 watts
46 Km / h 490 watts

The commentary on the test instrument

The surveys were instrumental match impressions emerged on the road. At speeds of 30 and 40 Km greater effort than high-end bike is almost negligible and not decisive for a tourist-recreational use. This is a gap of about 25 watts, for the most expensive bike, but the greater the more the speed gap is substantial. The fault lies in the rigidity of the chassis and not crank at the top range bike, but also in Tires. The result, therefore, is who has reached not the threshold of 50 km / h, despite the high wattage developed. In addition to greater demand for watts to reach lower speeds, you should also note that a greater time to reach the same starting. If you can be disappointed by a comparison with high-end bike, the test is, however, excellent values if we compare with other bikes of the same level and beyond. Ultimately if the pure sports test the limits of bike entry level, no one can note that for best performance you must spend a lot, but much more frequent required to take possession of this bike.

Conclusions

The Elios Corsa EST goes judged by its price and its positioning in the market. Not everyone can or are willing to spend large numbers to buy a bike and racing for them this model is ideal. You can criticize each component, but only in comparison to much more expensive bike, otherwise it is difficult claim to have more. In reality no major weaknesses, maybe not very powerful brakes and tires not exciting, but direct competitors are even worse .... In reality this bike is much less than many commonly used for home use or for those who want to discover the world of bike racing is perfect. Its “defect” emerge only in a confrontation with a bike range of higher level, while no one can note that compared to other entry level luxury, which cost more than double, it is equally well and not suffer the confront for product quality with which it is assembled.

Positive aspects

Price
General quality
Dynamic behaviour safe and reassuring
Adaptability to any path
Good comfort

Negative aspects

Rigid tires
Braking just powerful

The price

The bike has a cost of 560.00 Euros to the public, you could not find a better price for a product assembled entirely in Italy. Excellent value for money.

Is suitable for

Athlete: it is not a bike for an agonist
GF cycling tourist: a perfect bike for people who have approached the world of bike racing and wants half reliable and not very challenging economically
Women: because of the geometry and the saddle is not very suitable for women

For further informations:

Elios cycles
Via G. Ferri, No 996-1030
45,021 BADIA POLESINE (RO)
Tel. 0425-51910
Web site: www.ciclielios.com
E-mail: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.