Based in Taiwan, Culprit’s direct-to-consumer approach has thus far been hampered by shipping and import duty fees jacking up the otherwise very competitive pricing. Now, they managed to bundle those fees into the complete bike and frameset pricing, eliminating the price penalty. And, as usual, there are several bonuses thrown into the complete bike purchase that make it more tempting.
Each bike comes with a Culprit jersey and bibshort, mini-torque tool and your choice of trim colors and matte or gloss finish. The free-shipping-to-anywhere has a few limitations, but covers all of Europe, North America and most of Asia, and it’s offered on all of their 700c road bikes…
The RoaDi (above and top) is their disc-brake-only alloy crit racer. It’s available in three complete builds (pricing below) and a frameset for $1,175 that includes frame, fork, headset, stem and a carbon seatpost and handlebar.
Both the RoaDi and Croz Blade now ship with 15mm thru-axle compatible full carbon forks.
The Croz Blade, which we reviewed when it first came out, is their rim-or-disc brake road bike. The frame’s stiff and fast, using aero tube shapes and hidden brake mounts to slip through the air.
Its design makes it a good option for budding triathletes that need something normal to train on, but something that’ll convert to a more aggressive, aerodynamic position for race day.
The youth bikes (Junior and S1/2) do not include “shipped anywhere” pricing, but they remain some of the best spec’d kids bikes we’ve seen. Check our review here.
Culprit teased their upcoming Legend triathlon/TT bike at the Ironman World Championships in Kona this year. Designed to be the ultimate triathlon “superbike”, it can run rim or disc brakes, flat mount or standard, direct pull or a set of custom designed TRP brakes that aren’t even announced yet. That versatility gives you the ability to run whatever wheels you’ve invested in while being heavily future proofed, and it means easy-to-find repair parts no matter where you go.
Now, they’ve taken it to the wind tunnel and say it’s faster than everyone’s favorite benchmark, the Cervelo P5, in both rim and disc brake configurations. Part of the story’s on their website, but look for full wind tunnel test data to be made public later this year.
One feature not shown in the original info was the hidden compartment for a multitool, which puts everything you need to reassemble the bike at your race destination in easy reach. The bike’s designed to require minimal disassembly for travel and be so easy to put back together that (wait for it…) even a triathlete could do it.
