Jamis has updated their 650B line, which has completely replaced the 26″ models for 2013, and added a fantastic looking new alloy crit racer that’s looking to sprint in the pack against the Cannondale CAAD10 and Specialized Allez S-Works. They also showed off the new Supernova carbon disc brake cyclocross bike, and we grabbed pics, details and actual weights for all of them.
The Icon, above, is their new alloy crit racer. It’s basically their top line carbon Zenith race bike in aluminum form. Two and a half years in development, the bike is designed to be as snappy and fast as the Zenith SL but cost way, way less and ease your mind when lining up at the local crit series.
The PFBB30 bottom bracket gives them more room to weld the other tubes to it, yielding better stiffness.
The Icon Pro will retail for just $1,600 with 105 and the Elite gets Ultegra for $2,600. Both get Mavic wheels (Aksium and Equipe, respectively). They’ll also be available as a frameset, but pricing and date on that isn’t set yet. Same full carbon fork as the Zenith Team.
This one came in at 16lb 15oz, and there’s a lot of room for improvement if you wanted to get it lighter. For the price, it’s impressive. Jamis’ road/’cross product manager says the low weight comes from more attention paid to the construction. Frames are hand built in small batches from a different supplier than their standard frame and use 6000-series alloy. Claimed frame weight is 1150g (56) raw (add about 30-50g for ano and 100g for painted models).
The Dakar XCT 650B full suspension mountain bikes get bigger top and downtubes and taller chainstays to stiffen up the frame. The prior top tube was skinny and swoopy. The new one is straight, but makes better use of the weldable surface area on the head tube. These changes come with no claimed weight gain, though, so it’s all upside.
There’s no longer a 26″ model for 2013. That means the carbon XCT goes away…for now. A 650B version is in the works.
Complete bike weight plus some dust is 27lb 7oz with a Crank Brothers cockpit, Rockshox suspension and SRAM X0 drivetrain, American Classic wheels and Schwalbe tires.
Across the range, all full suspension 650B bikes get full Rockshox suspension, hardtails will mix in some X-Fusion and White Brothers. All will use Schwalbe’s Racing Ralph tires.
The Dragon (steel, above) and Nemesis (alloy) 650B hardtail bikes just get spec updates. They have a very nice looking carbon Dakota D29 hardtail, look for something in the 650B size in the near future.
Nemesis alloy 650B hardtail in a rather small size.
Not shown, the Dakota dropped 3/4 of a pound from the frame for 2013 and about another 1/4 pound from spec, making it a full pound lighter out of the box. Savings come from switching to a full hi-modulus carbon frame from the hi/mid mod mix from before. It also got stiffer, and because they stick with a M30/M40 (number is the fiber weight, higher becomes more brittle but is stiffer) it’s still durable enough for mountain biking.
We spotted a prototype of Jamis’ carbon Supernova a while back, then they announced the alloy Nova series, and now the carbon version gets official.
The frame is mechanical and electronic ready, just swap cable port caps.
It doesn’t get the ENVE carbon fork, opting instead for a Jamis branded piece.
The top tube has a nice flat bottom for virtually the entire length of the tube. Downstairs is the BB386EVO standard, which should make things pretty stiff and light.
The complete bike comes in at 18lb 11oz.
