The ultra-premium product of Ivan Basso & Alberto Contador’s bike company Aurum, their carbon Magma road bike just got a bit more accessible with the new Aurum Magma Essentia. Essentially a lower-cost layup of the same versatile, semi-aero, all-rounder race bike, the Essentia model lops off 1/4 of the starting price while promising the same Magma ride quality.
Aurum Magma Essentia carbon road bike
Aurum launched their Magma road bike almost two years ago behind the names of Basso & Contador, targeted at cyclists with fat wallets looking for a single do-it-all premium road bike. The Magma mixes the lightweight of a dedicated climber’s bike, the bigger tire comfort & control of modern disc brake road bikes, and a bit of aero-optimized shaping & integration.
But a 4100€ frameset price and premium 10,000€ complete bikes limited the pool of potential buyers. Aurum has since added a couple of more affordable Ultegra Di2 & SRAM Force AXS builds with lower-cost carbon wheels starting as low as 7500€, but that’s still pretty high-end.
So enter the Magma Essentia.
What’s new?
Aurum is vague with the details, telling more of what is the same than what is different. But it essentially boils down to a lower-cost carbon layup in their Taiwan factory that brings the price down. Aurum doesn’t mention Essentia weight other than to say that they kept it low “for a lively ride feel and energy savings, without compromising stiffness and comfort. ”
The only real noticeable difference that shows Aurum had to tweak their carbon molds, are slightly larger diameter seatstays, slightly bigger chainstays, and revised dropout to accommodate the extra material necessary to deliver the same performance targets.
What’s the same?
Otherwise, frame shaping remains the same as the original Magma with truncated D-shaped NACA airfoil aero headtubes, downtubes & toptubes. There’s also still the extra tidy integrated (not quite fully) internal cable routing that enters a “Head Tunnel” cable port just in front of the headset.
Aurum says the lower carbon spec still delivers a bike that expertly balances optimal stiffness for excellent power delivery and fast & confident cornering, yet all-day comfort so riders can always deliver their best effort no matter how long the ride.
Like the more expensive layup, the Aurum Magma Essentia shares the same geometry in a broad six sizes (48-61cm). It also keeps the same size-specific fork offsets, to give consistent handling for all riders.
The Magma Essentia still features a 27.2mm seatpost with an integrated wedge seatpost clamp, tapered 1 1/8″ to 1 3/8″ headset, BB386Evo bottom bracket, flat mount disc brakes, lightweight CNC-machined 12mm thru-axles, and clearance for up to 30mm road tires.
Aurum Magma Essentia – Pricing, options & availability
The new Aurum Magma Essentia is only available as a complete bike (no framesets) with mid-level SRAM or Shimano builds in two color options – Stone Grey or Cyan Blue.
The SRAM Force AXS complete bike starts at 5700€ with Zipp 303 wheels, or 6400€ with ENVE Foundation carbon wheels. Shimano Ultegra Di2 builds start at 6300€ with Zipp 303s, or 7000€ with ENVE Foundation wheels.
Aurum claims they “transferred the incredible unmatched riding performance” of their original Magma to the new Magma Essentia, just at a more affordable pricing level. They’re calling it a new ‘gateway’ to the brand, and the race-ready performance envisioned by Contador & Basso.
