Vuelo Velo

The newest Vuelo Velo “Di2″ is called the Vuelo 8.

The Vuelo 8 is designed for road rider’s around the world that want to have something that’s new and special. It still draws on decades of race experience in this, the most durable of materials – Titanium.

This design is specifically aimed at the rider who wants a bike that is fast and responsive. The build you see in CyclingNews, VeloNews and BikeRadar is 6.3 kilos / 13.9 pounds. The frame weighs 1095 grams in a 55 TT.

Light, rigid, long lasting performance.

Vuelo 8 in the media
• VeloNews Vuelo 8 gallery with Di2 Sprint Shifters
• BikeRadar First Look at the Vuelo 8
• CyclingNews First Look at the Vuelo 8

Vuelo 8 Design Philosophy

The curved seat tube facilitates as short a rear end as is possible, within reason with derailleur gears.

While a conventional longer chain stay offers a more sedate ride the Vuelo 8 is built specifically around the notion of lively response, it’s all about heightening your sense of awareness, the connectedness to each moment. Infinitesimal control, like an F1 car.

A short rear end feels fantastic climbing, sprinting or carving a tight line in a sharp corner, it actually gives you an advantage. A shorter wheelbase needs to be lent over less to get through a given corner at a given speed. The curve also induces a touch of cantilever movement due to the compliance of the Titanium at that more laid down seat post exit angle. The exit angle is 69 degrees, the actual seat angle on the pictured bike is 73 degrees at the pre specified rider seat height.

Each Vuelo 8 is custom, every detail tailor-made to rider weight, power, use and size. But as an inbuilt benefit this increased seat post exit angle actually means that as the seat goes up it puts the rider back a little more than a conventional straight seat tube. The same is true of dropping the saddle, which brings the rider further forward. So it’s actually an auto adjust (inherent within the design) that’s appropriate to the longer or shorter femur bones of taller or shorter riders.

The seat stays are curved to allow a little compliance/shock absorption. This Vuelo 8 uses a butted 44 mm Feathertech down tube and butted 35 mm top tube and suits a powerful rider.

We can build with a wider version of Pressfit30, or BB86 Ti shells. This means the BB shell is almost 20 mm wider than a conventional BB shell or the standard BB30. Of course the “Q” factor is unchanged from standard, but the bearings are enclosed in the wider BB shell. We do this to facilitate a broader chain-stay setting (attachment width) on the Bottom Bracket. This creates a greater mechanical leverage advantage at the heart of the matter. Think of a tree root or a structural foundation of any kind, it is stronger in its length or height if it is broader at its base.

The pictured Vuelo 8 has been assembled by Nick Legan from The Service Course – Nick is also the Velonews Tech Editor and a ProTour mechanic (RadioShack and Garmin). See the photographs of the bike posted on Velonews (and below).

Nick has fitted the first set of Shimano Di2 Sprint Shifters for review (thanks to Shimano North America). The bike also features an internal Calfee Design Di2 seatpost battery. It is fitted with SRM Dura Ace 7900 cranks and Power Control 7, Mad Fiber wheels (view video),  Enve Composites Road 1.0 fork, bar and stem, and some Tune lightweight parts too.

The bike has been test ridden and photographed by James Huang and Matt Pacocha of Cyclingnews and BikeRadar (UK).

RoadBIKE (Germany) featured it in their Dreambike Starshot feature.

The Vuelo 8 is available with any components.

Photographs by Brad Kaminski for VeloNews.

Shimano Dura-Ace Di2 Sprint Shifter (first media release on this bike).