Ti Frames - Van Nicholas specifically

pkripper

I'm getting a Van Nicholas (it has to be one of them for various reasons), but am trying to decide which one. I can get any of the three:

Ventus
Aquilo
Astraeus

I quite like the thought of the astraeus, but has anyone ridden one / owned one? is it that much of a step up from the Ventus, as pricewise it is..

bmxboy10

I had a mistrial which was nice but really quite springy. Why not call fat birds in Norfolk or coridoori in Epsom as they will both give you an honest opinion. Chances of finding someone who has ridden both will be slim.

mfin

I'm just getting an Aquilo, it's not that expensive as a Frame n Fork purchase. Here's a couple of reviews....

http://road.cc/content/review/61298-van-nicholas-aquilo

http://www.bikeradar.com/road/gear/category/bikes/road/product/review-van-nicholas-aquilo-12-46021/

pkripper

Thanks chaps - it's to replace a euros, so really just trying to work out whether i'll see any material difference going up the range vs. just replacing like for like with the ventus.

am off to corridori shortly, as it's them i'll get it through anyway as they're a great (local) shop.

bmxboy10

Good brand knowledge but staff don't have the best attitude imo

pkripper

Mfin - you don't happen to know the main differences between the aquilo and ventus do you? Geometry looks identical aside from the internal headset and bb86

yellowv2

solboy10 wrote:

Good brand knowledge but staff don't have the best attitude imo

They were really helpful and completely unbiased, when I bought my Euros from them, although I dealt with Paul Smith who, has since left. Not sure what the other staff are like but most people seem to speak highly of them. Don't know what they are like now though.

sloppyschleckonds

I found the Aquilo a nice ride, but a little dull and unexciting.

A 'sportive' type bike I'd suggest

mfin

pkripper wrote:

Mfin - you don't happen to know the main differences between the aquilo and ventus do you? Geometry looks identical aside from the internal headset and bb86

I did speak to someone about this quickly, I think the method of tube forming was different (?), I was told it was stiffer, the mechanical Aquilo has internal cable routing for gears (both going in on left side of downtube by the looks of it!), see below, can't remember or tell from the pic if the rear brake is internally routed too, looks like it might be... hope some of that helps if a little vague!

HT looks less on the Ventus oddly for the marketing, but this is mostly negated by the external headset I suppose.

By the way, I'm going to be talking to someone about these tomorrow, so will ask some more questions, at the moment I am working on an assumption that the SE is the mechanical version and that's the only difference, although I don't get why they'd call it an SE, bid odd to me, SE I thought would mean 'Special Edition' or something... also it appears the rear brake is not internally routed on the current pic on their website, so my photo might be fooling me, but the angle of exit on it almost looks like it might be, dunno. If I find out more I will re-post.

mfin

Just found a Van Nic magazine and looking at the photo of the Aquilo in that which has a Sram Red Mechanical groupset on it, the rear brake cable cannot be seen under the top tube, and the entry angle definitely looks like it is internal, so I defintiely think it has full internal cable routing now. (This means on the their website I guess that their photos are out of date and it used to have partial internal cable routing and now has full... I think this will be the case).

sloppyschleckonds

A size 54 Astraeus has just popped up on ebay if thats your size.

I found the Astraeus a fantastic ride, very agile and nimble, stiff but not harsh.