Velocite Magnus takes on the Tour of Battenkill

A couple of weeks ago one of our sponsored team members, Rich, had the opportunity to partake in the epic race that is the Tour of Battenkill.  Rich put the Velocite Magnus, along with several other items from the Velocite arsenal, to the test.  Here's his take on how the race unfolded and the performance of his Magnus.  Check out Rich on that epic day!

Tour of Battenkill/Magnus Review:

I've had my Magnus for about 4 months and I've ridden quite a few races on
it already, but I figured do a write-up after I rode the 102k, 50+ Category at
the The Tour of Battenkill. The Tour of Battenkill is a race in upstate NY,
starting in the town of Cambridge. It boasts ten sections of dirt road, a
covered bridge and a whole crap load of hills. It's a well organized race with a
huge participation, there are 5 men's cat 4 races alone, each with 125 riders!
The 50+ race had a field limit of 150, filled, with a waiting list!

I started the race on my Velocite Magnus frame, Licos handlebars, EtherealBottle Cages, and TLCS31 Carbon Seatpost. I do have a pair of Noir 38/50 Tubulars, but I decided to save them for another day and instead opted for a very worn (expendable) set of Zipp 303s with Gator skin tubular tires mounted
on them. I got to the start line with about 3 minute to spare after checking out
the run-in to the finish.

Starting at the back, I had about 10k (5k of which was dirt), to get to the
front before the first climb. The Magnus is very well suited for this task, it's
very stable, it goes where you point it. It took a bit of work, but by about 3k
before the climb I was comfortably in the top 20 riders. We hit the first climb,
it's paved and at its steepest maybe 18%, not crazy long though. I worked my way
up over the top without any problems. looking around it looks like the field
size is quite a bit smaller now, maybe 50 or less.

At the bottom of the decent we hit the second section of dirt, this time it's
a steep climb. Here's where my race starts to unravel, we start heading up the
climb, I'm feeling confident. The dirt is really packed down, the bike is
great. I'm thinking "man, am I glad I checked out that finish!". I no sooner
finished thinking that thought and some of the guys in front of me start to
sputter. Now I realize that the road is only smooth in the car tire tracks! Now
the top 15 guys are just rolling away. I finally find a hole to ride through and
get clear of the group I'm in, the 15 guys now have a pretty good gap. I'm
now in panic mode, the 15 guys are getting close to the top of the climb, I
don't want to be chasing on the descent, so I go flat out trying to reach them
before they hit the top. I tagged onto the back just as we crest the top. We go
flying down a short descent and we're climbing again, I still haven't recovered
from the previous effort, so I'm just trying to hang on at this point. This
climb is long and stepped, with the top in sight I finally pop. I'm wrecked,
crawling up the the rest of the climb, about 5 guys go by me like I'm standing
still, I have nothing. As I hit the top another group of about 5 catch me, this
time I manage to hang on. We're now descending fast, still on dirt, single file
and weaving though potholes, this is fun. We're slowly picking up the riders who
passed me and we can see the lead group ahead.

It takes awhile, but eventually, we reconnected with the front group making
it about 25 total. It was a pretty cool feeling though, somewhere behind us were
the remnants of the rest of the field. At 45k we hit another good size climb. I
cleared that without any incident. Up ahead was a new section they added this
year, added I believe because of construction. I had heard that the dirt
section of this new bit was pretty rough, that turned out to be very true. Lots
of loose stuff and really up and down too. I lost contact in that section with 3
other guys. We worked and traded pulls for the remainder of the race, a couple
of times we even get pretty close to getting back. The the last half of the race
was really hilly and with about 15k to go we saw them for the last time.
With 10k to go, 6 or 8, 50+ guys caught us, along with 6 or 8 guys in tow from
part of cat 4 race we had past earlier. I stayed with the guys from my race
until the finish and was able to beat all but 1 rider to the line, finishing
23rd (I had hoped for a top 10, but in the end I'm happy finishing where I did).

In closing I'd like to say, I am really happy with my Magnus and the way it
performed at in this very difficult and technical road race. I've read in
some of the forums that people feel it's a criterium bike, and it is great in
criteriums, but I think what makes it a good crit bike is the same thing that
makes it ideally suited for a hard road race like Battenkill. It's just a very
solid, predictable bike, I can honestly say I'm more confident on this bike.
Whether I'm flying down a dirt descent, riddled with potholes and gravel or
diving through the final turn in a criterium.

As far as Battenkill goes, the $75.00 entry fee is, I think, the most I've ever
paid for a single day masters race. But in the end, it was well worth it. The
course was epic and the race was very well organised.

The Velocite Magnus heads to San Antonio, TX and here's what the Lone Star State has to say.

After about 1500 miles I can honestly say the Magnus is for real.  As stated by many other riders, this machine was built to get you to the finish line as fast as possible. 

Velocite Magnus set-up:

Shimano Ultegra 6700

FSA K-Force Light crank set

3T cockpit and seat post

Velocity aerohead wheels 28F 32R

The ride:

Instantly I knew this bike was going to be the most rigid race machine I have ever ridden.  Before the Magnus I was riding an S-Works SL2 Tarmac.  The difference was night and day.  Immediately I noticed the super stiff bottom bracket, I inserted a BB sleeve as I did not have a BB30 crank set and still the stiffness was awesome.  Every ounce of effort went straight into the bike; whatever I would give, the Magnus would match.  As a bigger rider (185lbs) it is important to have a bike that can handle the forces applied by a heavier rider. 

Climbing:

First off, I am not a “climber” I just train on hills.  I took the Magnus out to Vanderpool, TX for some serious hill training (5000 ft).  This is where the stiffness really impressed me.  It would eagerly surge with every down stroke as if it were saying “is that all you got? Give.  Me.  More.”  I’d say jump, it would say how high?

Descending:

The over sized head tube and rigid frame gave me confidence in the switch backs on the descent.  The bike rides on rails.  It’s as simple as that.

Overall:           

This isn’t your grandma’s bike.  This bike is there to do a job.  I have read that the bike gets to be a bit uncomfortable after about four hours due to its rigid nature.  I disagree, I felt completely fine after two back to back days of four hour rides.  If you are looking for a comfort bike this bike is not for you.  If you want a machine that will meet your every demand then I say… Ride Velocite, Feel Invincible!    

Aaron is a member of the Bike World Racing team.  They are currently ranked, 7th overall in the amateur mens road State Cup Competition catagory and 1st in the mens amateur Central Texas Cup competition (two riders in the top 10).

Velocite Magnus Sponsored Team Review - Fast & Angry

I've been riding my Magnus now for well over a month.  Our team got the frameset as the official steed this year and I have to say I was pretty excited about trying it out.  I had heard a lot of good things about it online, and just from doing my research. 

Staight out of the box I noticed the beefy tubing and "mean" look of the frame.  It just looks fast, and angry.  I built mine up in quick form and took it out on the innagural ride.  I'll back up a second and say that I'm not a light racer.  I weigh in around 220 lbs and like to put some wattage into my pedals.  Now for the skinny (pun intended) on this bike:  I immediately noticed the power transfer of the Magnus.  I've ridden lots of bikes.  Some are stiff with a harsh ride.  Some have been soft in the rear end for a bigger guy like me.  But none have had the immediate response I've felt on the Magnus.  I feel like every single % of my effort into the pedals is going directly to the rear wheel.  I've truly never felt anything like it on a bike.  The lateral stiffness is also very impressive.  No flex in the back end either.  However, the ride has been much more enjoyable than other "stiff" bikes I've owned in the past.  Cornering is responsive, and comfortable.  I've really enjoyed racing on this machine, and look forward to many more pursuits on the Magnus.

Follow Andy and the other members of his team here.

BlueRooster Cycling Crows in on the Velocite Magnus

We had a big CX season this past fall, with several riders in podium spots (thanks to Noir tubulars!).  Road season is just getting underway with a few races, and we've seen some top ten finishes already in the Cat 4s and 5s, with some Cat 3s just out of contention. I rode in the Independence Valley Road Race last weekend, a short 38 mile road race with about 1500 feet of climbing.  The Magnus performed expertly; easy power for climbs and some great stability in the corners.  The Noir wheels rolled fast and true.  I got sucked into the
mid-pack of our 80+ rider group, but fought my way up to finish top 1/3.

Last weekend our team made the drive down to Mt. Hood, Oregon for the annual Cherry Blossom Classic - 4 days of racing over hundreds of miles and thousands and thousands of feet of climbing, with two road
races, a crit and a TT.  It definitely put us to the test and let us know which of us still need some miles in our legs.  Our team had have a half-dozen riders present.  I'm counting on my Magnus for all of the road stages.

I do love my Velocite gear -- the Magnus frame is the highlight, but the LICOS bar and the Noir wheels are also top-notch.  I love the feeling of confidence in my equipment, and Velocite definitely promotes that feeling of control and power.

Steve is a member of the BlueRooster Cycling Team in Seattle. 

Cornelius' Take on the Velocite Magnus

Cornelius at the ASU Sun Devil Crit

Before my Velocite Magnus arrived I spent a good amount of time checking out the photos and specs of the frame on dnadistributing.com.  The photos of the downtube struck me the most.  This was one stiff and mean frame.  When the Magnus arrived and I had it in my hands it became even more apparent how well crafted and purpose driven the design of the frame is.  Everything about the design of this bike is made for forward motion: from the tapered head tube, the massive down tube and bb30 bottom bracket, to the super stiff chain stays.  For such a stout bike I expected to see a weight penalty but, if there is one, it is not noticeable when picking up the frame or racing or training on climbs.  One of my first rides on the Magnus was up Mt. Lemmon, a 27mi (~43.5km) climb in my hometown, Tucson AZ.  Riding out of the saddle is a true joy on the Magnus, looking down at the bottom bracket area while out of the saddle there is absolutely no lateral movement and the bike rockets forward with each pedal stroke.  On the way down I was completely blown away at the stability and predictability of the bike at high speeds.  While Mt. Lemmon is not particularly steep, high wind gusts can get you up and over 60 mph (~96.5 km/h) very quickly.  The Magnus handled it without a second thought.  I had full confidence in the bike on every corner at any speed within two days of building it up.  With every other bike I've ridden the amount of time it takes to trust the bike and adapt to its riding style has been weeks or even months.  On the way back into town from Mt. Lemmon there is a city limit sign I always sprint for.  For me a sprint is always a huge rush of adrenaline and that's why I enjoy it so much.  The Magnus is the biggest rush I've ever had sprinting a bike. 
Brian Cornelius is a 26-year-old Category 1 cyclist from Tuscon, Arizona.  It is his dream to race professionally and he has been in pursuit of that goal since he started racing as a category 5 rider five years ago.  For 2011, Brian will race for the Tuscon, Arizona based team O2 Modern Fitness/Maynard's.

Velocite Magnus Detailed Build Report

When I first started looking at Velocite I was looking for a back-up race bike for My Bianchi 928 Hoc. Last season, that frame had been damaged when a stick went into my rear wheel and ripped my rear derailleur off. I took more than 6 weeks for the frame to be repaired and probably another 6 weeks trying to get a new, very hard to find derailleur hanger (I eventually had to settle for a used one sent to me by the manufacturer of the frame). During that time I had to train and race on my 15 year old winter bike, so this year, I didn't want that scenario to repeat itself.

The frames and the components looked great on the website and the prices were great too, seemed too good to be true. So at first I was a little skeptical, but after talking with Chad Hodges at DNA Distributing a bit, I decided to take the plunge, and if everything went well, even make the Velocite bike my primary race bike. The big items I bought were a Magnus road frame, a Noir 38/50 tubular wheelset, TLCS31 seatpost, FSA SL-K light crankset and the LICOS handlebars. About two weeks later I recieved the packages, I was very happy with finish on everything, the frame and fork looked exactly like the pictures on the website and as far as the wheels go, I used to work at a bike shop,  I've built and trued hundreds of wheels, and have seen many factory built wheels come thru the shop as well, some wheels come in straighter than others. These wheels were perfectly true and round.

Before I started the assembly, I weighed all the parts individually. I was happy to find that all the published weights where pretty much right on the nose. Below is a list of what I got for weights versus the published weights.

Item                                               Published Weight                My Weight

Magnus Frame*                             1115 grams Large Frame       1056 grams Small Frame

Bora Fork                                       355 grams                              365 grams

LICOS Handlebars                        176 grams +/- 5g                   178 grams

TLCS31 Seatpost                          175 grams w/decals               176 grams

Noir 38/50 Tubular Wheelset         1178 grams                            1174 grams

* The frameset had the BB30 crankset bearings already installed. To compensate for this I weighed the headset bearings and then subtracted that weight from the total frame weight.

The build-up was pretty straight forward. Below are a couple of notes on the build I felt worth mentioning.

Crankset:

This is the first Bike I've owned with the BB30 crankset. The BB30 system allows for a very stiff, very narrow (Q-Factor) and lightweight crankset, you need some specialized tools to install and remove the bearings, for a small service charge Velocite installed the bearings for me. 

Installation of the crank is actually pretty simple, there are couple of small seals that slide over the spindle, one for each side. The tolerances between the bearings and the crankset spindle are very tight, so sliding the crankset through the bearings was a little tricky. I put a light coating of grease on the surfaces of the spindle that the bearings ride on. The spindle passed through the first bearing pretty easily. Getting it through the second bearing was more difficult, at first the spindle didn't want to slide in. I was starting to think there was a problem with the alignment of the bearings in bottom bracket shell. There was a temptation to use force at this point, which I'm sure would be a bad idea. So I just kept fiddling with it. Suddenly out of the blue, it just slid in, this process of getting it through the second bearing took in total slightly more than 5 minutes, it seemed much longer. I don't think that it would be a bad idea to remove, clean and re-grease the spindle once a year to avoid any chance of seizure.

Rear Brake Internal Routing:

Velocite delivers the frameset with piece of plastic coated wire though the holes in the frame that the brake housing passes through to assist with the installation. You can take the wire, slide it into the brake housing, then pass the housing through the first hole and the use the wire to get the housing back out of the second hole. If the wire is too short, or is accidentally removed from the frame, it's probably easiest to work the bare brake cable through the frame and then pass the housing over the cable to get the housing through the frame. I used Nokon housing on my bike, so on rear the brake I had Nokon housing on the external areas, with a short section of standard housing where the cable passes through the frame, I used double sided ferrules on either side of the section of standard housing to mate it to the Nokon housing. Nokon provides pieces of clear fuel line to protect the frame. The fuel line also works for standard housing and is available in different colors at automotive outlets.

Seatpost:

The TLCS31 seatpost is one of the lightest available.  Everything on the post is carbon with the exceptiont that it uses two bolts and a front thumb adjuster nut to secure everything in place.  Once you get the seat mounted, you'll use an allen wrench to tighten the rear bolt and then use the front thumb adjuster bolt to fine tune your saddles position.

Fitting:

Over the years, I continue to constantly tweak my riding position, to ensure that my position transfers, and is common from bike to bike, before I cut the fork, I take photos of each bike and overlay them in photoshop. This allows me to make my position exactly the same on all of my bikes. The photo below is a comparison between my old race bike and my new Magnus. In this photo, it's really hard to see what's going on, In the actual program it's much easier. You have all kinds of tools, each photo is on a different layer and you can fade each photo in and out and also draw guides. One note on doing this, obviously you want to be as consistent as possible from photo to photo. If the handlebars are turned even the slightest bit to the left or right, it will it appear as if the reach to the brake levers is off. For this reason, I only look at the bars and levers for height. However, you can use the stem as a reliable reference point and then measure rest with a tape measure on the actual bike. In this picture, I'm almost finished. Level out and lower the saddle a bit and then twist the handlebars down about a 1 or 2 cms.

Conclusions:

In closing, I'm really happy with quality of my Magnus and all of the Velocite components I purchased. Velocite is a growing company that is very passionate about the quality and development of there products. Chad Hodges with DNA Distributing has always been helpful and very quick to get back to me with answers to any questions I've had.

Total weight of my race ready bike without pedals as pictured below is 13.75 lbs. With a pair of stainless Speedplays (206 grams), the complete bike would still weigh just over 14 lbs.

Tucson Here We Come!

Brian Cornelius & Taylor Phinney, 2010 Tour of the Gila

The excitement is building as the 2011 season kicks off.  With sponsored teams and riders hitting the scene from Seattle to Florida we're very excited to see some great results and also post some great race reports and product reviews.  DNA Distributing/Velocite Bikes U.S.A. is pleased to announce our latest sponsored athlete, Brian Cornelius.

Brian Cornelius is a 26 year old Category 1 rider from Tucson, Arizona.  It is his dream to race professionally and has been in pursuit of that goal since he started racing as a category 5 rider 5 years ago.  Brian’s specialty is sprinting and prefers long road races and fast and technical criteriums.  For the past two years he raced over 100 days each season in races that included San Dimas, Tour of the Gila, Joe Martin, Tulsa Tough, Tour of Somerville, Tour of America’s Dairyland, SuperWeek, Glencoe Grand Prix, and Gateway Cup.  In 2011 Brian will race for the Tucson, Arizona based team O2 Modern Fitness/Maynard’s and ride the Velocite Magnus frameset.  His race schedule will be similar to the past two years with a specific focus on Joe Martin Stage Race, Tour of America’s Dairyland, and a shot at besting his 2009 3rd place at the Glencoe Grand Prix.

You can follow Brian's race schedule and results here.

BikeRumor Has It!

Check out what BikeRumor.com had to say about the Velocite Magnus!

CONCLUSION: "I give this bike a solid five thumbs up!  The Magnus is a thing of beauty that performs incredibly well whether you’re dropping the hammer in a sprint, climbing for the sky or just tooling around on a group ride with friends.  At the risk of sounding overly enamored with this bike, I have to say it pretty much goes like their website says: “Ride Velocite, Feel Invincible.”

Don't stop reading there, click here to read the complete review:

For a limited time we will be offering 15% off all Magnus bikes.  To take advantage of this discount enter the code "RumorHasIt' when checking out.

This offer is not valid with any other sale or promotion.

Velocite Magnus Review - Muscle & Adrenaline

After 2 months, a handful of races, and a thousand or more miles, I can’t say enough positive things about my new Magnus! Stiff and quick would be understatements. The chainstays are massive (as called out by my LBS one day after stopping in to use their floor pump)… the bike surges ahead with the slightest power input.  I was riding a fairly stiff aluminum bike before, but I never knew how much better it could be. This being my first experience with a carbon frame, I was curious how ride comfort would compare to my previously mentioned aluminum frame. Some might say the Magnus is so stiff that you suffer a bit of compliance. Not me! It rides like a dream!

Stylistically, the Magnus is a bit understated from my perspective. Having purchased the Selene for my son at the same time, I would say the Selene is the “Beauty”, while the Magnus is the “Beast”. It just looks like muscle and adrenaline packaged into a stealth, black frame. It’s the tough bad-boy on the block.

While I don’t have the lightest build on this bike, it still comes in just a bit over 16lbs. I’ll continue to make component upgrades to bring it down even further. Never-the-less, I couldn’t be happier. Chad has been fantastic to work with, and very responsive to any questions or concerns. His customer service is top notch! I’m excited to see the Velocite brand grow in the coming years, and have been lobbying for a Cyclocross model in the very near future (hopefully before next cross season!).

I really can’t wait to put a full season of training/racing in on this bike! I hope to see more Velocite bikes out here in the Pacific Northwest. You can’t go wrong with this brand.

Dean -

Portland, OR