Earlier in the week we took a look at some big carbon updates to Stevens’ mountain bikes coming next season. And while the changes we’ve been shown on the road seem to be relatively minor, it is interesting to see that with each of these 3 updated frame lines, the frames get lighter and their prices go down at the same time. That’s not a trend we often see. Take a closer look as we check out the second generation lightweight Comet, a peek at its upcoming disc brake sibling, a redesign of the more affordable Xenon, and some updates to the Arcalis/Arcalis Disc frames…
Comet 2.0
The tag line for the Comet 2.0 is slimmer, stiffer, lighter, more comfortable. That’s not a bad place to start, and certainly dropping the frameset price by more than 10% doesn’t hurt either. The new frameset is completely redesigned with the aim to improve pretty much every character of the bike. That means the bike is now more laterally stiff at both headtube and bottom bracket, as well as more vertically compliant at the seattube.
The new bike was able to use some slimmed down frame shapes with an upgrade of the raw carbon and construction methods used, which helped trim the weight a bit but also is thought to slightly improve aerodynamics. Of course a big part of the comfort improvement is thanks to slimmer, flattened seatstays, but also to chainstays that taper towards the dropouts. Tubing shapes now transition more through their lengths going from round to rectangular where more lateral stiffness is desired. Both down and seattubes expand out to meet the newly wider bottom bracket.
The bike also gets some reshaping to allow clearance for up to 28mm tires, which both adds comfort and more flexibility. That is said to be a feature that Stevens will build into ALL of their road bikes as the are designed or updated from the 2017 model year forward. The standard Comet complete builds still tend towards the lightweight and get spec’ed with 23mm tires, but by opening up the chainstays a bit and mounting the brakes as high as possible to fit in big tires is commendable.
Cable routing has been updated with the external routing of the rear brake to save weight, and entries for the internal shift routing having been revised that better grip the cables for a rattle-free ride. The bike sticks with a tapered headtube, full carbon fork, and pressfit BB86.
A raw version of the new frame is said to weigh just 770g for a 58cm, a small savings of around 30g over the current bike. But the biggest difference in the frameset may be its 300€ drop in price. Now just 2000€, the updated Comet offers even more value in a top stiff and lightweight road frame.
The complete bike we had a chance to weigh on our own scale cam in at 6.22kg for a large frame with a Dura-Ace Di2 group, Ritchey WCS kit and DT Swiss RC28 Mon Chasseral clincher wheels. Pricing for complete bikes has not been announced, but the Comet will come in even frame sizes from 50-60cm, and be customizable through Stevens’ dealer configuration tool.
Comet 2.0 Disc
We haven’t had a chance to see the disc version of the Comet yet, but it is said to feature the exact same geometry and ride quality, just with improved and more reliable braking. This will be Stevens’ fourth disc brake road bike, and they feel pretty confident that the improved braking will eventually supplant rim brakes from endurance road bikes, right up to the top of racing performance. The Comet Disc gets a flat mount brake setup and the move to easy to use 12mm quick release thru-axles front and rear. The switch to discs was also claimed to add just 50g to the frame making it one of the lightest road disc options out there at 820g.
We’ll expect to get a detailed look at the bike at the end of the month at Eurobike.
Xenon 2.0
While the Comet improves so does the Xeon. Stevens’ Xenon has been essentially a more affordable version of the Comet with mostly the same tube shaping and geometry, just with lower priced carbon and sometimes lower tech manufacturing methods. That remains for 2017, so the new Xenon 2.0 benefits from the same lighter, stiffer, more compliant updates to the top-tier bike. The Xenon is neither a slouch nor an anchor, with the new bike claimed to weigh just 905g, and paired with a 320g full carbon fork. Not much other detail is available, but a Ultegra Di2 complete will be available for 3600€.
Arcalis & Arcalis Disc
On the Arcalis aero bike front Stevens has just minor updates, besides a bright new hi-vis paint scheme. The frame has been slightly updated with a reshaped bottom bracket that has been optimized to play nicely with SRM and Pioneer powermeters that had clearance issues with the current shaping of the area. The redesign also has the side benefit of trimming about 80g off of the frame. And like the Comet and Xenon, complete bike pricing looks to stay the same or come down a bit, for example the rim brake mechanical Ultegra complete drops 100€ to 2500€.
For the disc brake the new Arcalis Disc gets a big upgrade moving from quick release and post mount brakes to 12mm thru-axles and the newer flat mount standard. While complete bikes will be spec’ed with 160mm rotors, flat mount adds the versatility to use 140mm rotors for improved aerodynamics.
