We took a look at new mountain bikes from Ghost a couple of weeks back just after we got back from Eurobike, but the German brand also had a sample of some interesting road bikes as well. Their current 2015 road line is fairly limited with the Nivolet being a single line with both carbon and aluminum frame versions. But with the addition of a carbon disc brake bike next year by way of this Nivolet LC Tour Disc 3, the Ghost lineup rethinks everything else in the line-up too, from a new lighter top-end model down to a revised aluminum entry bike. Jump past the break for a close-up of this pre-production bike, and an overview of the completely reworked Nivolet offerings…
The Nivolet Tour Disc is billed as the next step in road bikes for Ghost. With a strong background off-road, their engineers were happy to make the jump to discs for better braking and safety. To do so the Nivolet Tour Disc incorporates the road race geometry of the 2015 bike but completely redesigns both frame and fork with the idea of boosting comfort since the seatstays and fork crown don’t need to be overbuilt to handle braking forces.
While the top of the bike thins out, the bottom bracket and chainstays remain stiff and wide for power transfer and handling. The new Nivolet adds a bit of space around the wheels for more tire clearance, but it won’t likely fit anything bigger than a 28mm tire. This Nivolet LC Tour Disc 3 comes spec’ed with Mavic Ksyrium Disc wheels and matching 25mm Yksion Elite tires, with a comfortable room to spare, but on some wider rims a 28mm would be tight. The bike gets flat mount discs front and rear, with a 160mm front rotor and 140mm rear. Axles stick with QRs at both ends for now.
This bike made its way out to the Demo Day at the show, and its always fun spinning around on a bike with a prototype sticker like that on it. Apparently this was a preproduction bike that hadn’t been through testing yet, but looked (and felt) ready to go. The bike gets internal routing with a open guide under the bottom bracket, as well as an external Di2 battery mount. Without a rim brake caliper, Ghost went for a monostay that it claims has a good bit of flex to keep road vibration from making it to the saddle.
The LC (Lightweight Carbon) level disc bike will be offered in just two specs: this Ultegra hydraulic braking + mechanical shifting version with a claimed 8.1kg weight, and a 105 hydraulic braking + mechanical shifting version that claims to weigh just 100g more.
This year with the introduction of the new Lektor World Cup came a new higher level of ultra lightweight carbon. The revised Nivolet ULC Race incorporates the new material in a frame claimed at 880g that sticks with rim brakes, but goes to thinner, dropped seatstays to boost comfort. Two versions will be offered with SRAM Red and Force builds and claimed weights of just 6.1kg and 6.7kg, respectively.
Ghost carries the new updated frame design down the line into the working-man Nivolet Tour series. It sticks with the LC material for 5 carbon bikes ranging from the Dura-Ace Nivolet LC Tour 6 down to a 105 version. Two aluminum versions will be available for 2016 as well. The frame looks to be mainly a carry over from this year, but adds another option with either an Ultegra build or this Tiagra spec’ed Nivolet Tour 2. All the bikes are up on Ghost’s site now, so click on over for more spec details.
