BIKE & GEAR

Velocite Magnus 1.0 2012 Review

The industry's best-kept secret?

Published: 11/17/11 16:42

After a season on a two-year old bike I’m convinced that carbon can actually become gooey after enough races, training and being stuffed into bike boxes and put under pressure in a cargo hold at 9000 meters. So after quite a while on my still-beloved team-issue beater and with a large gap since I last had a bike to test, it was with barely disguised joy that I opened up the Velocite box that housed the latest Magnus 1.0.

It was time to test. And it turned out to be the most rigorous and demanding testing I’ve ever out a bike through...

I’d ridden last year's version and was keen to see just how an already rather impressive piece of carbon could be improved upon...

Out of the Box

This bike is loud. Not in color, because it’s matt black. It just screams speed. It’s a virtual cacophony. It peers at you from the box like it’s about to jump out and give you a beating. The back end is so sharp it could cut you, the new integrated seat bolt gives the whole frame a cleanliness that suggests that aerodynamics were considered deeply, and it has a beautifully flush exit on the top tube for the rear brake cable.

It’s not to everyone’s taste but once you lay eyes on it you won’t forget it. It’s a bike with attitude. I could have sworn it called me a punk...

So what’s the difference between this and the previous Magnus? The carbon is the same, so no change there. The seatpost clamp has gone, so it looks cleaner. The real difference appears to be in the construction process.The layup process uses up to13 layers of high and intermediate modulus carbon fibre in what Velocite call ‘critical locations’, all designed to eliminate lateral flex.

The frame weighs in a 1080g for the M, and features a new Velocite Bora 1.5” fork that is designed to not only compliment the bike but also to increase stiffness. Velocite claim it is 20% stiffer than its predecessor.

Do you get the impression that the 2012 Magnus is going to be stiff? Did I mention stiffness enough? Anyway, on to the business end of matters...

The Ride

First, the kit - it came with Dura Ace, Velocite bars and seatpost, and I put on my beloved Selle San Marco ‘Petacchi’ Concor and FFWD 50mm wheels with Continental's top tubulars. The FFWDs set off the bike beautifully, and with the saddle cranked high and the bars low, she called out whoooooosh once again.

Leg over. Hadn’t even left the car park and I could feel it's more comfortable than the previous model. I once compared last year’s Velocite to a Porsche 911 with carbon bucket seats. This new one feels like the same animal but with a layer of air between your backside and seat. I rode this Magnus for perhaps 2000km and felt no more discomfort than on any other high end machine.

Where it does differ than most other high-end machines though, is in the - wait for it - stiffness department.

When I put my foot down on the 1.0 I know I am going nowhere but forward, fast. This is not scientific, of course, but I would argue passionately that I get more momentum out of a single pedal push on the Magnus than on any other bike I’ve ridden. It’s that impressive.

When you get on this thing you better be ready to ride. Like its older brother, if you’re out of shape this bike give you a kicking. It deserves power.

It cuts on the descents, delivers you through the bends with a silkiness that is reminiscent of a Cervelo and fairly hops up the climbs, provided your engine is ticking over. The back end didn’t jump about either when I really kicked it, an improvement over the previous Magnus I'd tested.

I had initially expected to be testing this bike for just a week or so, but due to some problems with getting a replacement bike from my team sponsor, I have been racing the Magnus for the past month or so. It has so far taken me to two stage wins in the Philippines, a 25km individual time trial win and a top ten in an international 200km one day race that had ProTour riders in it.

So it’s been tested. Thoroughly - and it delivered.

Final Verdict

I think I might just have already said it all. You get a whole lot of bike here at a very reasonable price. Tag this frame with a big-brand name and the price would be ridiculous, probably. It is an excellent bike, no two ways about it.

It is, as I said not to everyone’s taste. But then it isn’t made for everyone. And there’s a beauty to that.

The 2012 Magnus 1.0. Thoroughly recommended.

The Basics

Key Features:

Asymmetric, tapered head tube 1 1/8” top, 1.5” bottom

Full length carbon BB30 shell and bottom bracket

Carbon fiber head tube angular contact headset races

Through the head tube cable routing

Internal rear brake cable routing

Carbon dropouts

Patented seat post clamp system

Unmatched stiffness