First Look: Factor’s unreleased aero bike is even more eye-catching in the flesh

At the Critérium du Dauphiné earlier this month, all eyes were on Factor's radical new aero bike. With its razor-thin head tube ballooning out into an incredibly wide fork, the bike is unlike anything we’ve seen ridden in the pro peloton. 

But only one rider was lucky enough to ride it. Britain’s Jake Stewart of Israel-Premier Tech piloted it to win stage 5 of the Dauphiné, beating favourite Jonathan Milan of Lidl-Trek to the line.

At this year’s Eurobike, which closed yesterday, we were able to get a closer look at the aero bike, which was proudly on display at Factor’s stand – even if the brand wasn’t willing to say anything about it. 

What we do know from the trade show is the aero bike is still only a prototype, but the UCI’s rules around using prototypes in competition should mean we’ll see a final version of this bike released in the next year.

Beyond finalising the bike, Factor will have to use that time for a bit of word searching. That’s because the new aero bike is yet to be named, or so we were told at Eurobike. 

The bike – whatever it's eventually called – shares similarities with Factor’s Hanzo time trial bike. 

As we’re seeing on many of the best road bikes, the seatstays turn to an almost horizontal plane, in a similar – but less aggressive – fashion to the Hanzo. The aero bike also has a chunky bottom bracket area and deep seat tube, like the Hanzo. 

The bike’s front end also appears to be heavily inspired by the Hanzo, where the fork extends as one piece into the extremely narrow head tube to reduce drag. 

While the Hanzo’s fork is wide, this aero bike’s fork is wider still. It even beats the Hope HB.T Paris track bike on width. 

It also has a slightly different design at the bottom of the fork, with the triangular design positioning the disc brake caliper at an extreme angle, presumably to smooth airflow. 

Simon von Bromley speculated in his Dauphiné tech gallery whether the wide design was to put the fork legs in cleaner airflow, therefore reducing turbulence.

There was some speculation about whether Factor’s aero bike would fall foul of the UCI’s new 115mm limit on fork widths that is due to come into effect next year. Apparently, the rule had been established before the Dauphiné and Factor has remained on the right side of cycling’s governing body by 1mm, at 114mm. 

The Factor is also eye-catching up-close, thanks to its clear lacquer – which shows off the carbon layup. You can see how Factor has used different carbon sheets around parts of the frame that need reinforcement, while others – such as a broad seat tube – almost ripple. 

Another striking aspect of the bike is its gull-wing bar. This seems to be a developing trend, with the design echoing the Colnago Y1Rs and the leaked Cervélo S5.

These two bikes will certainly animate the Tour de France, which gets under way next Saturday, because they’re ridden by Tadej Pogaçar and Jonas Vingegaard. 

But will Factor’s new machine make its way to the Grand Boucle? With Stewart heading to the race, the bike’s stage-winning potential proven and the media furore it has already caused, we can almost certainly say yes.