Bicycles

First impressions: FRW Napa Valley 2011

Details

Parent Category: Bicycles

Category: FRW

Published on Monday, 04 October 2010 08:22

Written by Luca Salvatelli

 A stiff, responsive and light bike, good price/performance ratio

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The bike FRW Napa Valley for 2011 has not been changed except graphics. Remains unchanged, then the frame monocoque high modulus carbon and surface UD. The fork is always carbon monocoque, while the series of steering has traditional bearings 1 inch and 1/8. All well-sized main tubes, the compact rear triangle, the oversized bottom bracket.

For the new season is offered with four different colors: white livery with red, white livery with green, yellow livery with carbon and carbon livery with blue. In the assembled version Campagnolo Chorus 2011 group is adopted in full, with crank, controls, brakes, front and rear derailleur, chain and sprocket. Series also Look pedals Keo Carbon, bottle cage and bottle. Stem, handlebar and seatpost are Ritchey Superlogic, while the saddle is a Selle Italia SLR XP Flow, the wheels are Mavic Ksrium SL, complete with Vittoria Open Corsa Evo CX clinchers. The bike has assembled such a weight of 6.8 kg as well as we noted (without pedals).

The road test

The Napa Valley 2011 is identical to the previous model and only the graphics and the assembly can be distinguished from a previous version new. Cycling remains a personal and a nice assembly, complete with a uniform quality of the components used. The total weight of the bike is very low, partly because that is not used a Super Record. Excellent ergonomics and good the handlebar and saddle. Now we understand the character of the bike, stiff and responsive. The frame is rigid, like the rear stay and comfort is affected, every disconnection shall be notified. But the performances are excellent and each push on the pedals becomes a strong acceleration. The driving behavior is typical of most racing bike with a steering that responds immediately to the orders given, he inserts into the corners and change direction fast. Requires commitment to leadership in strong side winds and certainly down (element was missing to check), but returns with excellent performance. Particularly enthusiastic about the reactivity of the rear and the overall stiffness of the frame, wheels and taken together with the excellent group, allows competitive performance in absolute terms. A pure race bike, then, that concedes nothing to comfort or ease of driving, but returns with everything you need for a cyclist, stiffness, responsiveness, speed cornering, the top performance. The price of around Euro 4680, though high in absolute terms, it is fair and proportionate to the quality of the bike, good for the performance of the half, only spending a lot more we achieve better performance.