The all-new BH Ultralight EVO once again blurs the line between a lightweight climber’s road bike and an aerodynamic sprinters bike as a light aero road bike. Reshaping their Ultralight once more, BH has created a more versatile road racer, adapting the kinked aero fork, aero tube profiles & dropped stays of their pure aero road bike, without compromising on weight.
2023 BH Ultralight EVO lightweight road bike goes aero
BH says that first, their new Ultralight EVO still is a lightweight & responsive road racing bike. But now thanks to an aerodynamic overhaul inspired by their aero road Aerolight, it’s going to be much faster overall. And in a somewhat surprising twist, those aero upgrades also mean the new BH Ultralight EVO is both more comfortable for the rider and boasts improved drivetrain & handling stiffness.
What’s new?
The previous Ultralight EVO already got a bit of an aerodynamic update two years ago when it moved to fully internal cable routing and a hidden wedge-style seatpost clamp. Now it takes aero to a new level with a silhouette that looks a lot like a pared-down version of BH’s Aerolight.
Up front, the new lightweight bike almost duplicates that aero bike’s unique Air Bow fork with its kinked forward crown and aerofoil cross-sections to its legs. The new fork also brings with it more widely-set legs that provide more space around modern wider aero wheels for smoother airflow & lower drag. This newest iteration also gets a closed axle cap and incorporates’ BH’s tool-free hidden Quick Lever retractable thru-axle levers.
Out back, the new Ultralight also looks to copy much of the Aerolight’s rear end. The new lightweight bike gets dropped seatstays for lower frontal area, with the side benefit of more rider-comfort compliance. Plus, it moves to beefy horizontal chainstays, that angle up just before the dropout – again with a Quick Lever & closed thru-axle.
The revised seat cluster also gets completely reshaped. The previous generation of the Ultralight already had an integrated clamp. But this new bike now moves to a proprietary D-shaped aero seatpost, and also tucks the wedge expanded further out-of-sight – now hidden & accessed under the toptube.
Updated geometry
Much of the new bike’s core road race geometry has been updated, even though core head & seat angles are mostly unchanged. Now there is a fifth size (XS-XL) as fits have been reshuffled to accommodate more riders. The range of frame Reach has increased dramatically adding much shorter and longer frames to provide better fit options. At the same time, headtube length and frame Stack have come down across the board, with a wider overall Stack range but smaller steps from size to size.
The new geometry also includes size-specific fork offset to balance the ride with respect to head angles that change with size. And all bikes now get a bit longer chainstays for improved high-speed stability, up to the same 410mm as their aero road bike.
New accessories
Much like the aero bike, this light bike is said to work with BH’s integrated aero bottle & toolbox concept, which pairs 2 aerodynamically shaped water bottles with a bottle-like tool carrier that tucks under the two for smoother airflow. It’s not entirely clear how this setup is attached though, as the bike appears to only get two standard pairs of bottle bosses inside the main triangle.
The new Ultralight also gets an integrated Planck red rear taillight for added visibility. The new light snaps onto the flat-backed seatpost with a magnetic mechanism, so you can quickly install or remove it as needed.
Tech details
BH is a little vague on some details like weight & tire clearance, beyond saying that the new upgrades to the bike result in “greater stiffness with no increase in weight whatsoever.” The previous Ultralight EVO frame weighed just 750g, and this has the same “ultralight” focus and shares the same top-tier hi-mod carbon & HCIM hollow core mold tech as before, so we’d have to assume weights will be similar. BH describes increased “wheel clearance” but doesn’t mention tires, so we guess it’s still a generous max of 30mm tires (all bikes come spec’d with 28s).
The completely internal cable routing does go through an oversized FSA ACR 1.5″ headset, and it still features a wide PressFit BB386 EVO bottom bracket, flat mount disc brakes, and 12mm thru-axles with integrated hidden levers.
2023 BH Ultralight EVO – Pricing & Availability
Four complete bike builds are available of the new 2023 BH Ultralight EVO.
The top-spec 13,000€ Ultralight 9.5 gets kitted out with a full SRAM Red eTap AXS groupset, a FSA/Vision Metron 5D ACR cockpit, and Zipp 454 NSW carbon wheels.
Next on the list is the 10,000€ Ultralight 9.0 which still gets a complete premium Shimano Dura-Ace Di2 build, FSA/Vision Metron 5D ACR bar+stem, and BH’s 3rd generation house brand EVO 38 Disc aero carbon wheels.
For 7000€, the Ultralight 8.5 takes another big step down in price, with complete Ultegra Di2, a one-piece BH house brand EVO Monocoque carbon bar & stem combo with ACR routing, and Vision TC40 carbon wheels.
Lastly, the ‘entry-level’ to the Ultralight now includes the full internal routing & 1-piece cockpit thanks to the more affordable Shimano 105 Di2 groupset. The 5700€ Ultralight 8.0 pairs the complete105 Di2 to that EVO-brand bar and Vision Team 35 alloy wheels.
The new Ultralight is offered in five color options, or you can customize paint & spec through the BH Unique online configuration tool. The new bikes can be pre-ordered now through your local BH dealer, with availability expected in early 2023 depending on model, size & customization options.
