Van Nicholas frames

ugo.santalucia

I was looking into titanium frames and I came across this Dutch manufacturer.

Van Nicholas frames, beside the top of the range model, appear very reasonably priced for Titanium (800-1200 pounds), which nomally retails around 2K frame only.

Anyone is a happy/sad owner of one or has a friend in such a position?

aberdeen_lune

I have a VN Amazon frame and I'm happy with it. Its nowhere near as fast as my carbon race bike or as light but its very very comfortable. It also looks as good as new after a year and a halfs use. The racier frames will no dount be lighter and quicker. Quality is first class.

bomberesque

there are a couple in the bike shed at my work (near the dutch border...) The owners seem happy.

They look well enough made and I agree the prices are nice. One reason for the pricing is that they are chinese made titanium frames. The company used to be called Airborne (or Airborne sourced from the same manufacturer, not sure which) but they get good reports either way. Alsmost bought the SS one (Zion?) myself, but went for something else in the end.

maddog 2

Airborne owner here. Very happy. Good welding, good tubesets, good details and very good pricing - see fatbirds.co.uk

flasher

I'm a very happy VN Euros owner, Centaur group, Ritchey finishing kit, rides like a dream.

I'm fully expecting the frame to outlast me and I shall be bequeathing it to my children

softlad

VN Chinook, with mostly Ultegra, Easton and FSA kit. I've never ridden a carbon bike, so can't compare it, but the ride quality is excellent and at 18.5lbs it is light enough. It could go lighter if I spent more, but I don't feel the need...

ugo.santalucia

Thanks guys... you all seem to agree that they're value for money. Chinook seems the most classic frame design.

Chinese made? I was sort of expecting them to be made in Holland, but maybe I'm asking too much in the 21st century

andyrr

I know a rider who has had cracked at least 1, possibly 2 of the VN/Airborne (as they were) frames. He won't be buying another.

softlad

ugo.santalucia wrote:

Chinese made? I was sort of expecting them to be made in Holland, but maybe I'm asking too much in the 21st century

Chinese made, and the quality is good. There is a lifetime guarantee on new frames - sadly no use to me as I bought mine secondhand and the warranty is not transferable...but I'm not worrying...

T.C.

i have a chinook , bought it in march from hewitts, aksium wheels , centaur triple £ 1800 all in, very nice bike, happy,

ugo.santalucia

andyrr wrote:

I know a rider who has had cracked at least 1, possibly 2 of the VN/Airborne (as they were) frames. He won't be buying another.

A serial cracker... did he get refunded with a new one?

andyrr

ugo.santalucia wrote:

andyrr wrote:

I know a rider who has had cracked at least 1, possibly 2 of the VN/Airborne (as they were) frames. He won't be buying another.

A serial cracker... did he get refunded with a new one?

I think he had 1 std road frame replaced with another then when it failed he asked for, and got, a C-X version thinking that it might be a bit sturdier. I think that one is still ok but can't swear to it. He is no heavyweight either, prob 11stones or so, so not someone that should be overstressing a frame, ti or whatever.

topdude

Very satisfied VN Euros owner here
Nice semi compact frame, excellent smooth welds, curvy seat and chain stays, brushed Ti finish. The geometry is somewhere between a road and sportive bike and very comfy.
Very good for the price

yakk

Have an Airbourne Zepplin - very comfortable and not that heavy. It's an older one with a 1" steerer (2002??), still going strong.
Yak

ugo.santalucia

Thanks guys for the replys... so everybody happy except one, who was however offered a new frame twice... which is a promising sign...

Now let's see if I get a fat bonus...

Spikedhope

I used to have an Airborne, but sold it and bought a Specialized....much better geometry for my style of ridding. However, something to point out is the reaction of your local bike shop. When I first took my Airborne in...they were interested...but also disgusted...why hadn't I supported my local business?? Which, in hindsight was a fair point. Sure you can get better deals online for all kinds of gear....but, when you need good advice...or a workshop, being an insider with your local shop really does pay off. In addition I found that purchasing online = great customer service until you pay, thereafter go and screw yourself. Not good.
If you really want titanium, skip the middleman and buy direct from China...if you search about you will find the factory and they do sell direct...and will also do custom. This will save you a lot of cash.

softlad

Spikedhope wrote:

When I first took my Airborne in...they were interested...but also disgusted...why hadn't I supported my local business?? Which, in hindsight was a fair point.

I bought mine as a frame only and bought most of the rest of the kit from the LBS - they were happy enough....

ugo.santalucia

Spikedhope wrote:

I used to have an Airborne, but sold it and bought a Specialized....much better geometry for my style of ridding. However, something to point out is the reaction of your local bike shop. When I first took my Airborne in...they were interested...but also disgusted...why hadn't I supported my local business?? Which, in hindsight was a fair point. Sure you can get better deals online for all kinds of gear....but, when you need good advice...or a workshop, being an insider with your local shop really does pay off. In addition I found that purchasing online = great customer service until you pay, thereafter go and screw yourself. Not good.
If you really want titanium, skip the middleman and buy direct from China...if you search about you will find the factory and they do sell direct...and will also do custom. This will save you a lot of cash.

I do agree with you... in time I have learned to do most of the jobs myself, which saves me some cash and keeps my bike always in good shape... unfortunately MY experience with local shops in UK is not very good. I'm sorry to say this, but they're always trying to sell you parts you don't need. You go there to tune the gears and they start with the music... new chain, new cassette, rear mech worn out, new cables... bla bla bla... I try to stay away as much as possible.

I was used to my LBS in Italy, where parts are slightly more expensive than here due to lesser competition with online retailers, but they were doing me a lot of small jobs for free and hardly pushing to sell me un-needed new cassettes/chainsets/chains/bottom brackets/headsets unless I asked for.

Then I am aware there are very good and honest mechanics around, but as I said, this is MY experience.

pianoman

The titanium range from Van nicholas has plenty of different offerings.

I initially thought of getting the Euros as it was the cheapest and came with Paul Hewitt's recommendation (he also likes the Yukon) but in the end I wanted something a bit more lively and "fun" to throw around and plumped for the Chinook. I got the frame from Cyclesense in Yorkshire and then had the rest done at my LBS.

Another thing: the Chinook and Yukon have much more classic, timeless shapes than the Euros, which also suffers from the dreaded "sportive" label in the catalogue. Being a bike snob, I turned the page immediately :P

(and before you ask, the same goes for the new Ribble - why did they have to call it "sportive" and pimp it with that awful red saddle and handlebar tape?)

paul_smith_srcc

To initially repeat what I said in this post I have two Van Nicholas bikes, a ‘Yukon’ and ‘Chinook’, the latter I use for special occasions on sunny days when I want to feel like Lance Armstrong and I also use it for the occasional race; which sadly normally means I feel less like him!

I chose Chinook over Euros for two reasons, firstly I do still race a little and the Chinook is set up to be slightly stiffer with more focus as a race bike, the Euros is set up to be slightly less stiff and aimed more at the ‘sportive’ market, I have my Yukon for that style of riding. Secondly I keep my bikes for years, the Yukon replaces the red Audax frame that was twenty years old that can be seen in some of my tour articles below and the Chinook replaced a thirty year old Gios, the Chinook has slightly more classic lines than the Euros so I felt it look contemporary for longer.

I did write a review of my 'Yukon' that may be of interest:







With the increasing popularity of Audax, Etape riding and fast day rides, along with 'credit card' tours where only light luggage is carried, it follows that the demand for bikes that are specifically aimed at fast paced, high mileage rides yet offering an element of comfort has also grown.

Most manufacturers will have a model that tries to cater for this demand in slightly different ways. From the larger manufacturers we have, for example, the fair weather Specialized Roubaix range and Trek currently have their Pilot range to name just two. The smaller specialist European titanium manufacturers like Enigma and Van Nicholas, tested here, make theirs for the European market, with slightly larger clearances to take narrow guards as well as a pannier rack.

Fundamentally it is the frame geometry that make these bikes what they are; the seat tube angles are similar to what you would find on a full-on race bike, whereas the head tube will have a slightly shallower angle to give a bit more comfort. The 56cm Yukon here has a 73 degree seat angle with 72 at the head; a race bike would normally be 73/73.
As Van Nicholas offer a custom service where you can choose each and every component to suit both your budget and requirement, I will concentrate more on the bike's riding characteristics than each component.

The Yukon frame is designed in Holland by the company's founder, Jan-Willem Sintnicolaas and built using 3AL/2.5V grade Titanium. The workmanship is first class; so much so that it can take some by surprise when they discover they are actually built in China, which is why of course the price is so competitive. Alloy bars and stem plus carbon forks are also Van Nicholas branded, the latter with a gradual rake. With SKS narrow guards fitted allowing for 700 x 25 tyres (with just enough room for a light 28c tyre) there is slight toe overlap which again shows that this is no long wheelbase, heavy-duty touring bike, the emphasis being more on performance.

Cruising along, it feels comfortable and stable. Unloaded and riding on a flat level road, it feels quick; never quite as quick as a full on race bike but relatively fast nonetheless. If I had to highlight the difference of riding this style of geometry makes over a race bike, then personally I would say I only notice a slight drop off in performance when climbing or sprinting out of the saddle. The rest of the time it is much closer, which is exactly what they claim it is designed to be.

Titanium lends itself well to bikes like these, which by their very nature seldom lead a precious life that many race bikes enjoy. In many ways an evolution of steel, relatively light, durable, robust and very comfortable, won't even rust, titanium is as near a bike for life as it is possible to get; this one hasn't even got any paint to chip! In conclusion, if you want a well made, fast, mile eating, weather-resistant, durable bike, then the Van Nicholas Yukon is worth considering.

There are now quite a few Ti Audax bikes, including the Enigma Etape , Sabbath September, Burls Audax, Planet X Sportive and Condor Gran Fondo plus Xacd.

Note Xacd are a frame and accessory manufacturer who you can deal with direct, so expect the service offered both before and after purchase to differ to that offered by the other more traditional suppliers listed. As such you won't be able to get them to build it into a complete bike, expect much advice regarding specification or sizing, not to mention the usual access to after sales. On the plus side if you are confident enough to place an order in the correct size and specification then they are currently the cheapest of those listed and the build quality is such that they do represent good value; which is of course not quite the same as saying that the build quality is the same as the others listed.

Paul_Smith
www.corridori.co.uk