Van Nicholas

Barbes

I'm looking to buy a Van Nick (probably a Euros) frame and get LBS to build it up with probably Campag Centaur group and hand built wheels. Budget's £1300-1400. Anyone here ride a Van NIck (or an Airborne) or have any views on Ti vs Carbon.

Thanks

Fresh Air Rider

Hi Barbes,

Fat Birds (www.fatbirds.co.uk) at Hunstanton are supposed to be excellent for all things titanium and Van Nicholas in particular.

You might be interested to read the following thread:-

http://www.bikeradar.com/forums/viewtop ... t=12540183

fizz

I've got a Van Nicholas Vardar, really nice piece of kit, IMHO, its lovely to ride really smooth and gives a comfortable ride, its really responsive to.

I'm really pleased with mine done nearly a 1000 miles on it since I bought it including a sportive and I find it comfy for 4 - 5 hour rides no problem.

Its carbon fork and rear seat stays with alu frame, frame is compact so might not be what you're after, but as a brand I'd definately buy one again.

HTH

term1te

I've got an Euros, had it just over a year and heading to 6000 km, and am very happy with it. I got it to replace a steel frame, which was a joy to ride, but soaked up energy on the hills we have over here. The titanium frame is just as smooth to ride and seems a lot more ridged when going for it up a hill. Of course this is relative, my old steel frame may have been extra flexi, but I've certainly seen an improvement. Broken all my PBs since I got it.

I got mine from Van Nic through a LBS, with hind sight I would have upgraded the wheels at the time rather than thinking about 6 months later. But that is the only regret.

driverpm

Hi Barbes,

Fat Birds (www.fatbirds.co.uk) at Hunstanton are supposed to be excellent for all things titanium and Van Nicholas in particular.

You might be interested to read the following thread:-

http://www.bikeradar.com/forums/viewtop ... t=12540183

Hi Barbes,
the thread above was started by me, I'm now another couple of weeks and a couple of hundred miles down the road i'm still really happy with the VN Zephyr - i find it as comfortable to ride as my MTB with slicks but a whole lot quicker/responsive/more fun on the road Fat Birds were good too

Barbes

Thanks for the feedback and good to hear positive things about Van Nicholas. It’s a wide choice at my price point so I’m keen to get it right and I’ve always had some doubts about carbon. I’m upgrading from an old Reynolds 531 based bike that I had built a couple of years ago with an Ultegra group and DCR S Touring wheels. This was my starter into road cycling and will turn into a winter / tourer / Audax and the plan for the Euros is that it will be used for summer fun in the hills near where I live.