Rose has announced the Shave – its new aero road bike platform, said to marry the best aspects of aero race and endurance road bike design.
Claimed to be 4.7 per cent more aerodynamic and up to 10 per cent lighter than its predecessor, the XLite, Rose has created three distinct versions of the Shave.
The standard Shave blends the aerodynamic performance of an aero road bike with the comfort-oriented geometry of an endurance bike, while the Shave FF and its lightweight variant, the Shave FFX, feature longer, lower riding positions.
As is typical of Rose – a direct-to-consumer brand – the prices look excellent value on paper, starting at €3,600 for a build equipped with Shimano 105 Di2.
The range tops out at €8,500 for the flagship Shave FFX, which is claimed to weigh only 6.6kg, with SRAM Red AXS and carbon spoked-wheels.
AergoConcept
According to Rose, the key idea behind the new Shave platform is ‘AergoConcept’ – which it says combines the low drag of a modern race bike with the “ergonomic advantages” of endurance bike geometry.
Although somewhat rare, we’ve seen a few aero bikes lean into this philosophy.
Factor launched its new Monza race bike last year, for example, which featured a more 'democratic' fit geometry compared to its pro-level race bikes, the Ostro VAM and One.
Likewise, when Cervélo launched the first iteration of its S5 aero bike way back in 2011, it added 14mm of stack height to the front end compared to the outgoing S3 – the idea being that fewer racers would need to run spacers above the headset (and that uncompromising pros demanding slammed setups could simply run -17-degree stems).
Some riders are now theorising that high-stack riding positions – as seen commonly on time trial bikes in recent years – may even be faster than the slammed ones, too.
Nevertheless, the Rose Shave takes things further than either of those bikes. It has clearance for tyres up to 36mm wide and a setback seatpost that slackens the effective seatpost angle and helps shift the rider’s weight back, and off the front end of the bike.
It also gets a fully integrated carbon handlebar with flared drops, as featured on plenty of modern gravel bikes, and a layup designed to dampen vibrations without compromising stiffness.
Shave FF and FFX
While the standard Shave uses an endurance-style geometry, the Shave FF and FFX get a more traditional race-bike style geometry.
This means a lower stack height and longer reach to the handlebar, and a steep set tube angle of 74.5 degrees (paired with a zero-offset seatpost) to put the rider more forward and over the bottom bracket.
Tyre clearance is also capped at 35mm – 1mm less than the Shave.
The Shave FFX is pitched as the “most exclusive” version of the bike, with a premium construction focused on minimising weight.
Built using Torayca M40X high-modulus carbon fibre, Rose says the Shave FFX is “almost 10 per cent” lighter than its predecessor, the Xlite, and that a complete bike weighs only 6.6kg in a size medium without pedals – less than the UCI's infamous minimum bike weight limit.
The Shave FF and FFX builds feature all-new wheelsets developed by Rose, with an aero-focused 55mm-deep and 33.5mm-wide rim up front, and a “narrower and tapered rear wheel” designed to reduce weight.
These wheels are paired with Schwalbe’s Pro One Aero tyres, which are claimed to produce around 20 per cent less drag than the brand’s Pro One TT tyres at 45kph.
On the Shave FF, the RC55 wheelset is built with alloy Sapim CX Ray spokes, but carbon spokes are used on the Shave FFX in order to cut weight and improve stiffness.
Overall, Rose claims its wind-tunnel testing showed the Shave FFX, paired with the new RC55 wheels and Schwalbe Pro One Aero tyres, produced 205 watts of aerodynamic drag at 45kph, compared to 215 watts for the Xlite with Rose RC60 wheels and Continental GP5000 tyres.
Rose Shave range and prices
The Rose Shave is available in four models, starting with a 105 Di2-equipped build costing €3,600 and rising to €5,200 for a build with SRAM Force AXS. All models in this range come with single-sided power meters installed.
The Shave FF and FFX are available in two models each, with Shimano Ultegra Di2 (€5,600) or SRAM Force AXS (€5,900) groupsets, and Shimano Dura-Ace Di2 (€8,000) and SRAM Red AXS (€8,500) groupsets, respectively.
Shave FF builds also feature single-sided power meters, while FFX builds are upgraded to dual-sided models.
Hot on the heels of the news that it is re-entering the UK market for the first time since 2020, Rose also confirmed it plans to make the Shave platform available there, although the brand says it doesn't yet have "a fixed date" for when this will happen.
