BIKE & GEAR

Review: Velocite GEOS

Velocite’s super-light offering, built to deliver

Published: 08/03/11 10:14

Velocite is a Taiwan-based company that creates a range of products but their main focus is on road frames. I was fortunate enough last year to get my hands on their Magnus bike, a super-stiff and responsive frame that quite literally took my breath away. The Magnus rides provided me with just about the most fun I’d had on a bike in years, so when I got the opportunity to test out the Velocite Geos I was eager to get out on the road with it.

It turned up with a full Shimano Dura Ace groupset, Prologo saddle and 3T stem with Velocite’s own bars and wheels.

Out of the Box

This is a pretty bike with a nicely balanced paint job, smooth lines and a pleasing geometry - to this eye in a any case. Velocite have managed to write their tag loud and clear on the downtube but the positioning of it, on the underside of the beefy tube, means it’s not quite as in your face as some brands’ offerings.

Ride Velocite / Feel Invincible it reads on the top tube, which may be there to mock you as you cough and splutter up the climbs, but it does add a nice little touch of personality to the bike.

The other thing you notice is the weight. Light yet not feather light at just under 1000g, the frame was designed to combine lightness yet without compromise in stiffness, say Velocite. It makes sense of course, for what good is a sub 800g frame if it rides like a wet baguette? Not much.

Yet as we know, everything is marketing blurb until you hit the road, and there the truth will come out. So off I set, headed for them hills....

The Ride

The first immediate impression I got from the Geos was one of comfort, and it got stronger as my initial 4 hour ride wore on. The geometry of the Geos lends itself to providing the rider with a comfortable position. With a headtube on the XL version that is 200mm (175mm on the large), the need for spacers is minimized and the 408mm chain stays do a lot to absorb the road buzz.

Having said that, the Geos feels far from being a dead fish. Whilst descending the front wheel slips into its own groove and delivers the rider through corners, yet it’s responsive enough that slight readjustments to the line are immediately noticeable.

On the flats the Geos felt far from slow, yet I did feel at times the effect of being slightly higher at the front than on my own race bike. I took out two spacers though and brought the stem to the frame and noticed the improvement. In sprints the Geos felt quick enough for a superlight frame and reassuringly stiff, the rear wheel staying in contact with the road at all times.

The Geos was designed with a compact rear triangle that provides this stiffness, eschewing the trend for ultra-thin seat stays that are evident on many superlight frames. A BB30 shell is part of a theory of design that is informed by the crucial understanding that a bike bends around the BB and not at the BB, so the Geos designers have created a 60mm down tube and 45mm high chain stays to offset this.

The Geos truly expresses itself on the climbs, long or short, steep or steady. I instantly appreciated the slightly upright riding position and the steadiness of the bike. The power transfer felt very good indeed and I was able to sit in on many corners where I’d normally be out of the saddle on my own bike.

The bike felt a lot lighter than the scales will tell you, an impression that came not from a lack of oxygen but because, simply, this is a stiff bike. Tight, responsive and ultimately very rewarding, the impression that you are on a lot of bike for the money came back again and again.

Final Verdict

The Velocite Geos was designed to win stage races, and whilst the rider might truly decide that, I’d certainly not balk at the chance of riding this frame in a multi-day event. Very good on descents, decent in the sprints, excellent on the hills, the Geos outperformed a good few of the more expensive superlight frames I’ve ridden.

Consider this bike alongside the Velocite Magnus and it’s obvious that the engineering philosophy at Velocite is paying dividends.