We finally have this excellent ICAN Aero Frameset fully build completed !
(This model is called the AER 007 by ICAN, btw.)
The finish on the Frame & Fork are matte black, which looks very stealth / understated, and could be painted later on.
This set also includes the proprietary, nicely designed seatpost & seat clamp.
The frameset is nicely aero designed, with a very smooth appearance and nice internal cable routing – the cables slipped nicely thru the openings & came out where expected.
The only challenge was to get the correct headset (bearings, etc) as they are a tapered arrangement, 1 1/8″ top & 1 1/2″ bottom.
Beware, not all such items fit, as we tried the Origin8 ‘tapered headset’ and it was just too shallow, about 1mm shy, which caused the fork & headtube to contact. So, we contacted this manufacturer, ICAN cycling via Email and they kindly sent the correct model headset.
It fit perfect & we then proceeded to build the bike fully.
(Lesson: Order the correct ICAN headset along with the Frameset…..it can’t be more than $20 and will insure no delays !)
But….how does the bike ride & function ?
Perhaps first I should detail the equipment we used to complete the build:
Wheelset: 38mm Tubular Carbon aero rims with pilar aero spokes & Novatech Hubs, w/ sealed bearings.
Shifter Group: Microshift 10 speed Centos (akin to Ultegra or SRAM Force level) F & R Deraileurs & brake lever shifters.
Drivetrain: KMC x10 speed chain + Tiagra 10 speed 12-28 cassette
Giant Contact 110mm + FSA Omega Compact Road Handlebars
SRAM Apex Brakes
SRAM Apex Compact road crankset 50/34
Wheels Manufacturing Pressfit BB 86/92 Bottom Bracket
Blue Jagwire cable set + inline cable adjusters
Blue SRAM cork bar tape
With it’s Matte black frameset color, it’s nice to add a splash of color using matching cable housings, bar tape & bottle cages. One could even do saddle & tires, but that might be overdoing it a bit.
Once built it was time for a road test…..and some tuning as the cables stretched for the first 2 or 3 rides.
This is definitely a sport oriented ‘race bike’ – and that is what I wanted.
I have my other ‘sport touring / cyclocross / anyroad’ bikes, but for this one I was wanting a race oriented bike that I can use for fast training, club rides and Cat 4/5 races, too.
The ride & handling is just superb. It just carves the turns like a well tuned sports car. The braking is smooth & no chatter or instability at all.
You do tend to feel road imperfections, which I think most folks with decent roads won’t mind.
We live in rural East Texas where only 20% of our roads fit this description
Thankfully the locations we race tend to have far better pavement.
For our rough rural roads, I am playing with the bike setup to make things tolerable.
I’m still in the ‘testing & tuning’ phase, but so far I’ve tweaked 2 things towards ‘ride comfort’ side of things:
1) Air pressure.
On most of my road bikes I’d run at 120 psi.
On this super stiff race bike, I’m doing 100 psi, instead.
Funny how just 20 psi less softens those sharp blows.
And I don’t notice any slowing at all !
2) Saddle.
My son (our expert mechanic & ‘real’ racer guy) mounted a super race seat – the kind with minimal padding.
I switched it after 1 ride, to my ‘old standby’ which is a Zefal Sport Comfort seat – far better. It’s firm, not at all squishy.
Yes, it’s probably 6 ounces heavier than the ‘race seat’ but miles more comfortable – essential on a bike this stiff !
A potential 3rd change could be to a more padded bar tape, or just do 2 wraps. I’ll wait on that, for now.
The bike handles very responsively, and now any harshness due to the stiff race oriented geometry is very muted.
Each pedal stroke is rewarded with a near perfect propulsion as the rider is thrust forward.
It’s a great feel in terms of efficiency.
I had prior used a circa 2006 GT Pro Carbon bike, not a bad bike, but this geometry & materials is far lighter & more modern design.
This bike weighs around 1.5# less than the GT & more stiff & responsive, so this is a very good thing.
I have only had 2 rides so far, both solo & about 20 miles each, not a lot of climbing & no group rides due to bad weather.
I am greatly looking forward to riding with our 12 regular Saturday club riders.
We tend to really push each other & I know how I was faring on my older bikes, so this next Saturday ought to be about 40 miles of vigorous riding with hills – that ought to tell me how big a performance boost this bike is.
Please take a look at the attached pictures and let me know what you think of the build & features.
After a few longer rides I will get a better feel for the bike, how it handles in a pace-line or in a race peloton.
Thanks for reading…any questions, just post in the comments below.
David in East Texas
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