Back in 2010 not long after I started this blog, I first saw Rose Bikes in the UK at the London Bike Show. At the time Rose wasn’t a brand I’d heard of so I stopped to find out more, put a post on the blog (http://girodilento.com/london-cycle-show-rose-bikes-2011/). Those discussions also led to the first bike I was sent to try on the blog – A Rose X-Lite (http://girodilento.com/first-look-mini-review-2011-rose-x-lite-4400/ ). My recollections of the X-Lite are still very positive. It was well specced, it was light, it was fast and despite my initial reservations about the apparent solidity of the seatstays, it was very comfortable.
Since then I’ve seen a number of other Rose bikes get generally excellent reviews in bike magazine tests and also be on display at the major bike shows up and down the country.
It was good then at the London Bike Show to see Rose’s new 2013 bikes as they had a couple of interesting new additions to the range since I’d last seen the brand and I wanted to do a short post about them.
The new aero road bike, the Xeon CW, designed using CFD modelling and then tested in the EADS windtunnel helps Rose join the aero road bike party. A frame weight of under a kilogramme for the higher end version, which is still very good for any aero frame. Framesets available from €1,599 (or €1,899 for the top of the range one). Full bike builds range between €2,299 and €5,999, giving a wide range of options depending on your preferences and budget. There is also a good range of colour choices. I’ve not seen a review yet
Rose have also updated the Xeon X-Lite range once again focussing on stiffness, lightweight and comfort (the holy grail to me). Frame weight is now from 850g and the frameset is priced at €1,699, which is about £1,500 and looks really interesting to me. It’s a compelling price point for the frameset because if it’s an improvement over the one I rode, it’s going to be very good. Perhaps even better when you consider the 10 year warranty. Interestingly with the Xeon X-Lite range the standard builds are all top end choices: Dura Ace 9000, Campagnolo Super Record and SRAM Red. Prices for full builds range between €4,299 for Dura Ace through to €5,999 for Campagnolo Super Record EPS no less. The Dura Ace and SRAM Red builds give you a bike weighing 6.1kg – impressive!
The Xeon CRS is also worth taking a look at for more mid range builds and also because it’s one of the framesets you can buy at a discount if you have a racing licence. The normal price for the frameset is €1,499 but if you’ve got a qualifying racing licence that price drops to €1,099. If you fancy a light race bike with a good warrant and crash replacement – this might need to go on your list. Full builds are available from €2,295 for an Ultegra build through to €3,449 for a Dura Ace 9000 build.
Another interesting thing about Rose is that they are seemingly one of the few companies offering builds with Shimano, Campagnolo or SRAM groupsets. Sure I know a few companies do it but it rare enough to mention. Every bike is built to order at the very large Rose facility in Germany.
Rose have also jumped into the disc road bike market as well with the Rose Xeon DX. They had a loud coloured bike on display at the London Bike Show and whilst the colour wasn’t to my taste it seemed to be getting a good level of interest. It’s a 7005 triple butted aluminium frame and runs mechanical discs and again you can buy it as either a frameset or in a range of three standard builds based around Ultegra or SRAM Force. The frameset is €999 and the full builds range with Ultegra or Force are €1,945 or there’s a €2,649 Ultegra Di2 build if that’s more to your fancy.
The Rose pricing is very good, thanks to the company being a direct seller. They do have a UK based person you can call and talk to if you want to discuss any bike. I believe there are some demo bikes available to try before you buy if you’d like to and there’s the 10 year warranty I mentioned before along with the 5 year crash replacement guarantee of half price frame replacement.
If you’d like to know more you can download or order the comprehensive (and very good) bike catalogue from here: http://www.rosebikes.co.uk/content/catalogue or simply visit the main site: http://www.rosebikes.co.uk/
