Ambrosio Celcius review

Better known in the UK for its quality rims and complete wheels, Ambrosio has more recently introduced a portfolio of other products such as bars, stems, brakes and cranks, all of which can be found on this elegant full carbon monocoque frame.

Ride & handling: comfortable & responsive

Aesthetics and function merge throughout, as the flowing joints, elegant ovalised tubing and sinewy wishbone seatstays combine to produce a ride that is comfortable and responsive, with ample resistance to flex when stomping on the pedals.

The matching carbon blade and steerer fork does a good job at keeping up appearances, with an elegant curve and some aerodynamic sculpting, but doesn’t hold its own in the rigidity stakes.

A higher than normal amount of torsional flex coupled with a nearly 74 degree head angle made handling a real mixed bag. Quick, precise changes of direction were possible when using hips and body positioning as input, but any attempt at ‘steering’ the bike through the handlebars resulted in wallow.

Over 25mph, the gyroscopic effect of the wheels helped iron out some of the shake, but reaching into a back pocket or grabbing a water bottle required a steady hand to keep things smooth.

Frame: high modulus carbon

Produced under licence exclusively for the UK by RSI, the Celcius is made of high modulus tubing provided by Nervex. It features an oversized fully integrated headset, aluminium sleeved head-tube and bottom bracket, replaceable gear hanger, slotted external cable stops and down-tube gear cable adjusters.

Equipment: Campagnolo plus full Ambrosio suite

Weighing 8.54kg, our bike was specced with 10-speed Campagnolo Centaur Ergo levers and derailleurs, complemented by a complete group of Ambrosio products.

The excellent carbon-wrapped anatomic bar, with thin walled 7075 aluminium at its core, is ultra light with enough flex for comfort.

A full carbon Stelvio seatpost and Velo titanium-railed saddle are particularly comfortable.

The icing on the cake is the Excellence wheels, providing reliability and high performance in an easily serviceable package.