Factor Bikes, the relatively young premium bike manufacturer born out of American Rob Gitelis' longtime career as a factory owner in Taiwan, has been gathering status and growing in prominence in the past few years. Its work with Human Powered Health and Israel Premier Tech has led to numerous WorldTour wins, and the Ostro VAM came out at the top of a very competitive pile in our wind tunnel test of 11 race bikes.
It appears the brand isn't ready to slow down anytime soon, as it looks to have another new aero bike on the way.
In an email to Cyclingnews from a reader who wishes to remain anonymous, images of what appear to be an all-new aero bike have been shared, with stickers suggesting it will be called the Monza.
We reached out to Factor's recently appointed Brand Director, David Millar, and although he was shy on the details, he confirmed this was indeed a new bike.
Despite Millar's coyness, there's a good deal we can infer from the images alone, and right off the bat, it's clear this bike is designed with aerodynamics in mind.
The head tube and fork blade appear deeper than even the Ostro VAM, but the brand's flagship aero bike certainly isn't due for an update.
It only launched last year, so it's hard to see this Monza stepping in as a replacement for that. The same can be said for the O2 VAM, which is only a year older, and the deep head tubes here certainly don't suggest this is a featherweight.
You could argue the Ostro Gravel is slightly longer in the tooth, coming up to its third birthday later this year, but the road groupset and tyre clearance shown here rule out any possibility of this replacing a gravel bike in Factor's range.
That, along with the new 'Monza' model name, suggests to us that this is a new bike to the Factor lineup. But where does it fit?
There's a potential gap in Factor's lineup for an endurance bike, but the geometry certainly doesn't stand out as particularly relaxed in these images. Of course, looks can be deceiving in just a handful of photos, so we're not ruling that out entirely.
We're not so sure, though, since the trend for endurance bikes is to get more tyre clearance, and the clearance here doesn't look much more than a typical race bike would get.
Alternatively, it could be a pure aero bike, designed to sit alongside the other two bikes in the range, not dissimilar to how the Colnago Y1Rs sits alongside the all-rounder V5Rs and the C68.
Interestingly, a conversation with Colnago at the recent V5Rs launch suggested their wind tunnel testing included two unreleased bikes, one of which actually beat the Y1Rs at certain wind angles. Of course, I wasn't told which brands they were from, just to expect another really fast aero bike to launch this year.
The most likely scenario in my mind is that the Monza fills the gap in the Factor range for something a little more affordable. The brand has forever focused on the premium end of the market, and unlike most of its competitors, it doesn't trickle down tech and use lower-grade carbon fibre to offer cheaper builds. It's hard to say from a handful of images whether this is that, but the Ultegra groupset could suggest that this isn't top-tier spec.
As is always the case, the leak has found its way onto forums too, and apparent digital renders of the bike, along with small amounts of information, have been shared. Factor was unwilling to clarify the veracity of these documents, but among them is an Italian sell sheet, which includes the mention of the words "eccelente rapporto qualità-prezzo" - translated: "excellent quality to price ratio."
If that document is indeed a legitimate Factor sell sheet and the new bike is aimed at offering Factor's excellent quality at a more affordable price, then the Monza could open Factor up to a much broader audience.
It would have the potential to give people a high-end aero race bike without the $10,000+ price tag. Multiple forum posters have already expressed their prospective interest, should this turn out to be the case.
On the subject of price, however, no such detail is yet available. We'll be sure to share the details when we have them.
