2024 Factor Ostro sighted

[cyclespeed]

Interesting that their stock white color for the second gen is half white which is rather nice. Full white could weight a ton.

Yes, let's not forget that the OStro I weighed was only HALF white, which suggest fully painted would be more in the 950g range.

As far as I know there was NEVER a 780g Ostro V1. My Flickr was one of the lightest at 826g, a friend's also bought early 21 was 824g. Later, the weight went up, even for Flickrs.

If I buy a Porsche with stated 400hp but it only has 350, I would complain.

If I bought a dishwasher rated at 42dB, but it was 55, I would complain.

How come the bike companies can get away with it? By sowing confusion with paint colours, sizes, etc.

Anyway, my mind is made up; having scoured the Internet I've found and ordered an SL8 frame in Ready to Paint in 52. Hoping this will be around 675g and the fork less than 350. This would be almost 400g lighter than an Ostro V2. As for durability, it's an American company so I would hope they have confidence in their product. I know we have seen recalls from Speech in the past, but they seem to be have been handled well.

[wheelsONfire]

I'd have to surmise that we have reached the point where a lighter carbon frame gives up durability. With the SL8 frame weighing 200g less I'd think that we are at that point?

Looking at the SL 8 frame you can see they have reduced the BB area, slightly thinner down tube, etc, so quite obvoiusly less material on that frame.

6-8 watts in savings @45km/hr adds a bit of weight as we can see in the S5 and now the Ostro. Dissapointing that Factor (and the other companies) cannot quote actual weights.

Well, if Factor wants to sell more Ostro’s and especially to previous owners, they’ll have to make improvements to the newer frameset including weight. I myself would be interested if it was lighter than my first gen Ostro

It feels stupid to write this since you are to well aware of some facts.
But do you consider stiffness, durability and such when you come to that final decision?
If we honor the designer and yes, i write this even though i consider weight, but i would seriously rather pick +50g than a frame that end up as a warranty issue.

The only problem here is the advertised weight and real world weight do mot match and Factor has a history of not being able to meet the advertised weight. It could weight 600 or 900 for all I care if Factor delivers as advertised. It will still be a good bike. A product this expensive should at least deliver what it advertised not 100g heavier than claimed.

Second - i haven’t seen a bike like aethos break or get a recall yet. It’s probably safe to assume we can have a safe and performant light bike.

Third - from a first gen ostro owner perspective, this new Ostro doesn’t seem like an enticing upgrade given from the two samples we have here, they are both heavier than my first gen ostro frame. The first gen already a really good bike. For those that jump from another brand, this Ostro is probably a good option for an aero bike.

One thing i agree on, the frame module cost to much. As does many premium bikes. The outcome we foresee is simple. These companies pave way for asian brands to cut in big at the market. So all in all, for those more into cycling than showing off, the companies will lost likely see a change over the next coming years.

[ichobi]

As far as I know there was NEVER a 780g Ostro V1. My Flickr was one of the lightest at 826g, a friend's also bought early 21 was 824g. Later, the weight went up, even for Flickrs.

There absolutely was, but in 52cm though, which I think is the same as your size. This is mine.

But just like your friend's, my team bought essentially 10 Ostros, none was weighted as light as mine even in the same color. The later batch went to almost 900g for the 52cm in Flickr. Guess I was lucky.

Anyway lets get back to topic. Hope to see more new version got weighted!

[alanyu]

Interesting that their stock white color for the second gen is half white which is rather nice. Full white could weight a ton.

Yes, let's not forget that the OStro I weighed was only HALF white, which suggest fully painted would be more in the 950g range.

As far as I know there was NEVER a 780g Ostro V1. My Flickr was one of the lightest at 826g, a friend's also bought early 21 was 824g. Later, the weight went up, even for Flickrs.

If I buy a Porsche with stated 400hp but it only has 350, I would complain.

If I bought a dishwasher rated at 42dB, but it was 55, I would complain.

How come the bike companies can get away with it? By sowing confusion with paint colours, sizes, etc.

Anyway, my mind is made up; having scoured the Internet I've found and ordered an SL8 frame in Ready to Paint in 52. Hoping this will be around 675g and the fork less than 350. This would be almost 400g lighter than an Ostro V2. As for durability, it's an American company so I would hope they have confidence in their product. I know we have seen recalls from Speech in the past, but they seem to be have been handled well.

They had to reinforce the frame and the fork, twice, not only once on OSTRO v1, otherwise high possibility of failure. That resulted in the current weight shown on their website as 830 g for v1

[cyclespeed]

But just like your friend's, my team bought essentially 10 Ostros, none was weighted as light as mine even in the same color. The later batch went to almost 900g for the 52cm in Flickr. Guess I was lucky.

Anyway lets get back to topic. Hope to see more new version got weighted!

Wow, that must be the lightest Ostro in the world!

[kode54]

Ii never weighed mine...which is a Prisma Studio paint. Literally, matte clear on carbon.

[wheelbuilder]

As far as I know there was NEVER a 780g Ostro V1. My Flickr was one of the lightest at 826g, a friend's also bought early 21 was 824g. Later, the weight went up, even for Flickrs.

There absolutely was, but in 52cm though, which I think is the same as your size. This is mine.

CleanShot 2567-02-20 at 21.24.09@2x.jpg

CleanShot 2567-02-20 at 21.24.14@2x.jpg

But just like your friend's, my team bought essentially 10 Ostros, none was weighted as light as mine even in the same color. The later batch went to almost 900g for the 52cm in Flickr. Guess I was lucky.

Anyway lets get back to topic. Hope to see more new version got weighted!

Nice third hand tool on that peg board behind the frame. Haven't seen one of those for a while.

[Mr.Gib]

Though it has been mentioned, is it known for certain that the flicker paint job is lighter than the black chrome paint? Doesn't make financial or marketing sense that a company would have two light weight black colour schemes. The black part of my black chrome Ostro just looks like raw carbon with clear coat. I can see seams, wrinkles (sort of), funky reflections, and other details that look like carbon pressed in a mold. Very few spots are uniform black. It looks just like my O2 VAM that was raw carbon with clear. Noteworthy that black chrome also seems to be the colour choice for sponsored teams.

I am working from the assumption that the logos are not the issue, but...

[ichobi]

There should be no reason that flickr and chrome weights differently. They are both just nude carbon with gloss coating. If chrome is heavier it’s because of what alanyu said - revision adding more layup for strength/stiffness reasons.

Thinking about it it’s probably complaint from the pros? No way the frame of this size and shape can be that light and stiff enough for pros. Ostro is a rather complicated looking frames with many intricate shaping. I don’t have the power to flex it of course.

[Mr.Gib]

There should be no reason that flickr and chrome weights differently. They are both just nude carbon with gloss coating. If chrome is heavier it’s because of what alanyu said - revision adding more layup for strength/stiffness reasons.

Thinking about it it’s probably complaint from the pros? No way the frame of this size and shape can be that light and stiff enough for pros. Ostro is a rather complicated looking frames with many intricate shaping. I don’t have the power to flex it of course.

That was my assumption - difference is due to re-inforcement of later production and not the paint difference. I know it's heretical around here, but I am probably better off with the 100 grams heavier, stiffer frame.

[RDY]

There should be no reason that flickr and chrome weights differently. They are both just nude carbon with gloss coating. If chrome is heavier it’s because of what alanyu said - revision adding more layup for strength/stiffness reasons.

Thinking about it it’s probably complaint from the pros? No way the frame of this size and shape can be that light and stiff enough for pros. Ostro is a rather complicated looking frames with many intricate shaping. I don’t have the power to flex it of course.

I highly doubt any of the pros ever used stock Ostros from the line in China. They ride the made in TW specials. They were using the original stock cockpit for a time, though, which numerous riders including Froome complained about - lack of stiffness.

[miOdiO]

Local LBS has a pear white, size 54, frame and fork at 1283g (no picture, no idea if any hardware was attached)

[Mr.Gib]

I highly doubt any of the pros ever used stock Ostros from the line in China. They ride the made in TW specials. They were using the original stock cockpit for a time, though, which numerous riders including Froome complained about - lack of stiffness.

Ostros are made in two different factories? You're going to need to back that up with some evidence.

One of the partners in the company owns a factory in Taiwan. It would be a pretty strange business decision to invest everything you've got into a factory and producing the best bike you can, only to farm it out with all the risk to quality control and intellectual property that that entails, plus adding a layer of cost, while leaving your main factory to produce only a handful of bikes that are different somehow.

And one IPT pro here just took a stock black chrome frame from our LBS when he crashed one of his, so you can change your doubt from "any" to at least one.

[sigma]

I highly doubt any of the pros ever used stock Ostros from the line in China. They ride the made in TW specials. They were using the original stock cockpit for a time, though, which numerous riders including Froome complained about - lack of stiffness.

Ostros are made in two different factories? You're going to need to back that up with some evidence.

One of the partners in the company owns a factory in Taiwan. It would be a pretty strange business decision to invest everything you've got into a factory and producing the best bike you can, only to farm it out with all the risk to quality control and intellectual property that that entails, plus adding a layer of cost, while leaving your main factory to produce only a handful of bikes that are different somehow.

And one IPT pro here just took a stock black chrome frame from our LBS when he crashed one of his, so you can change your doubt from "any" to at least one.

I recall this interview with Rob Gitelis from Cyclist in 2019:

"Factor’s set-up is indeed small and specific, yet this is not its sole premises. While we are looking around Factor’s HQ in the Taichung Industrial Park, a few hundred kilometres away lies another arm of the business. ‘Our frames are made in our factory in Xiamen, China, 259km from here. In Taiwan we do the research and design, testing, sanding, paint and assembly, but Xiamen is where our factory makes our raw product.’ To that end, the Taiwan HQ comprises everything but the production line. The design and sales offices are here, the showroom, the warehouse full of sparkling new framesets and components all lined up to be inspected, boxed for shipping or assembled into full bikes."

So it sounds as if all the frames are produced in China then shipped off to Taiwan for finishing. So not exactly made in two factories in parallel but two factories are used to make all the frames supporting your assertion there is no higher grade coming from Taiwan exlcusively.

[RDY]

I highly doubt any of the pros ever used stock Ostros from the line in China. They ride the made in TW specials. They were using the original stock cockpit for a time, though, which numerous riders including Froome complained about - lack of stiffness.

Ostros are made in two different factories? You're going to need to back that up with some evidence.

One of the partners in the company owns a factory in Taiwan. It would be a pretty strange business decision to invest everything you've got into a factory and producing the best bike you can, only to farm it out with all the risk to quality control and intellectual property that that entails, plus adding a layer of cost, while leaving your main factory to produce only a handful of bikes that are different somehow.

And one IPT pro here just took a stock black chrome frame from our LBS when he crashed one of his, so you can change your doubt from "any" to at least one.

It's widely known. They semi-regularly do marketing stuff at the Taiwan place, implying bikes you buy are made there, but these days no longer explicitly stating it. Froome's latest marketing video from there showed the tiny line ... it's just for pros and protos and isn't big enough to do any more than that. But people who don't know any better are impressed by it.

I don't see what you think the latter is proof of ... He needed a bike because he crashed. Watch Froome's video - there aren't hundreds of spare frames coming off that line.