KUALIS

KUALIS

July 26, 2014

Report from Hong Kong/ KUALIS Ti road


 Eddie Lam x KUALIS. From RDFX in Hong Kong http://rdfx.cc/
 
Eddie is one of the sponsored riders of RDFX. His machine is a Kualis Ti with Shimano Ultegra group set. Sit back and enjoy where Eddie and Kualis "Machine For Riding" take us.
After about 1,000km riding on the Kualis Ti frame, Eddie comes up with the following review:
The Kualis is the 2nd Titanium bike which I have ever ridden on. So far, I have around 1000km with this bike....
Thanks to the material and geometry, the bike can be so buttery smooth on a rough road, yet still climb the way it does. (especially when riding on the crazy roads in China) I love long rides and this bike has always been a joy to be on. I'm the kind of rider who just goes - if the perfect route on the map turns to dirt and sand in real life, I don't care I just keep going. Been hit by a car, jumped off the road a few times, a couple of falls - no matter. This bike performs well on any surface, and at any speed.

People like to talk about stiffness when discussing a frame. I’d say the Kualis is stiff in the right places, the right amount of compliance in other places. The solid chain stays give it ample stiffness when out of the saddle in climbing (although not quite as much as the racing carbon frame like my Colnago C59, but believed this can be modified upon customized request). The oversized headtube helps in sharp steering too.
The only issue will be sudden acceleration and very steep climb. I am not so sure whether it is weight and riding style. The test bike I am riding with is not in a feather light built. The existing setup is around 8.4kg with Shimano Ultegra 6700 and a pair of customized aluminum wheels. Extra efforts need to be paid when having a sudden acceleration in big group ride and very steep climbs (average gradient over 20%). With my Colnago, I can handle pedal harder to speed up quickly with greater power while with the Kualis, I prefer to speed up with higher cadence. But the bike performs actually well on most of the climbs in Hong Kong.

Details and photos/ https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.878912912138793.1073741858.144962305533861&type=1

Thank you for the report/ Eddie and Brian!

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