Kinesis Aithein

dwanes

Just finished today, This is my new 'all year round' bike, after an incident with my Giant TCR.

I didn't fancy another carbon frame so went Aluminium.





Kinesis Aithein Frameset: Size 56 (Aluminium Frame + Full carbon Forks)
Colour: Sick Green

105 Shifters
Ultegra Chainset
Ultegra Rear Derailluer, chain and cassette.
Thomson Seatpost
Maddison Prime saddle
Deda Stem and Handlebars


Weight as seen 7.8 Kg

Will post some more picture soon.

slowandsteady

I like that, nice and clean.

I hate it when people do this but is your right hand shifter not a bit lower than the left?

dwanes

That's funny! Yes, this is the only bit of the bike build I didn't do myself! I left the shifters and setting up to someone else.
I have just literally finished adjusting that right hand shifter, It annoyed me too.

Silly Old Hector

You need to plumff that right hand cushion.

Nice bike, BTW.

M4VERICK

Really like that! Nice job!

declan1

That looks really nice!

Do you mind me asking what the incident was with the TCR?

canny_lad

Slowandsteady wrote:

I like that, nice and clean.

^^This. Really like that colour.

diamonddog

Very neat build.

logitech208

That's really nice, I like the clean simple look.

styxd

Your back tyre is touching the frame

dwanes

styxd wrote:

Your back tyre is touching the frame

It is very close, they are 25mm tyres and I am sure it will not take any bigger, but is is designed as a race bike. In fact it is very similar geometry to the Giant TCR that I had before it.

styxd

dwanes wrote:

styxd wrote:

Your back tyre is touching the frame

It is very close, they are 25mm tyres and I am sure it will not take any bigger, but is is designed as a race bike. In fact it is very similar geometry to the Giant TCR that I had before it.

Well they arent actually 25's. Measure them! My "25c" conti GP4000s were about 27mm! They are also very tall, mine nearly caught my brake caliper. Put some 23's on, they're better

dwanes

Been on my first ride on it today, the 25mm tyres weren't close enough to cause a problem and I must say I was impressed with how smooth it felt. I will change back over to 23mm tyres when the nights get lighter in spring.
I run on 25mm tyres during winter because it is difficult to spot all the potholes so makes for a less harsh ride on me and the wheels.

The Slim forks (which only weigh 330g) must take out a lot of buzz, and the back end felt well planted and power transfer felt stiff. From things I hear in bike reviews I was expecting to feel a little beat up at the end of the ride, but I was far from it.

I have only the TCR to realistically compare it to but this aluminium frame felt better.

RideOnTime

nice clean lines...

buzzwold

dwanes wrote:

Been on my first ride on it today, the 25mm tyres weren't close enough to cause a problem and I must say I was impressed with how smooth it felt. I will change back over to 23mm tyres when the nights get lighter in spring.
I run on 25mm tyres during winter because it is difficult to spot all the potholes so makes for a less harsh ride on me and the wheels.

The Slim forks (which only weigh 330g) must take out a lot of buzz, and the back end felt well planted and power transfer felt stiff. From things I hear in bike reviews I was expecting to feel a little beat up at the end of the ride, but I was far from it.

I have only the TCR to realistically compare it to but this aluminium frame felt better.

I seriously considered this for a build this year but the reviews put me off. What sort of riding do you intend doing on it? The fact that you had a TCR suggests to me that you're at the racing whippet end of the spectrum.

dwanes

I must admit I don’t ride at a leisurely pace, it’s full on effort all the way for me! but don’t let that put you off, it is more about what you feel comfortable on. I tend to ride up to 50 miles regular at a 'fast' pace (not so much this winter though).

The trouble is too many people (including myself) read web and magazine reviews and take this information on board. When it comes to bike reviews they generally talk a load of rubbish. But I can’t fault them for this, they have to write something, and it tends to be Aluminium=Harsh etc. Defiantly not the case here! ( mind you, any road bike will feel harsh if you are new to it)

There is probably a 1000 times more difference changing from 23mm to 25mm tyres than difference between any road frameset.

Again, marketing will talk about Comfort fit, Sportive fit, Racy fit etc. Again it can be a bit nonsense really because it should be about what fits you best to your body proportions and your general fitness.
I happen to feel more comfortable on this frame geometry rather than a Spec. Roubaix style bike due to my body proportions and reasonable health.

I say buy the frame you like the look of and get the correct size and then tweak to get the best fit.

buzzwold

Thanks. I totally agree with your sentiments. After much soul searching I eventually decided to stick with upgrading the kit on my current frame and then migrate that at another time giving me some opportunity to properly explore my options. By the way, my son thinks the sick green is "sick" (I understand that's a compliment).

dwanes

Thanks, The paint has a nice metalic finish to it which doesnt show up when photographing it. It is also difficult to get the right shade of green in the photo.

explosifpete

dwanes wrote:

I must admit I don’t ride at a leisurely pace, it’s full on effort all the way for me! but don’t let that put you off, it is more about what you feel comfortable on. I tend to ride up to 50 miles regular at a 'fast' pace (not so much this winter though).

The trouble is too many people (including myself) read web and magazine reviews and take this information on board. When it comes to bike reviews they generally talk a load of rubbish. But I can’t fault them for this, they have to write something, and it tends to be Aluminium=Harsh etc. Defiantly not the case here! ( mind you, any road bike will feel harsh if you are new to it)

There is probably a 1000 times more difference changing from 23mm to 25mm tyres than difference between any road frameset.

Again, marketing will talk about Comfort fit, Sportive fit, Racy fit etc. Again it can be a bit nonsense really because it should be about what fits you best to your body proportions and your general fitness.
I happen to feel more comfortable on this frame geometry rather than a Spec. Roubaix style bike due to my body proportions and reasonable health.

I say buy the frame you like the look of and get the correct size and then tweak to get the best fit.

well said that man. colour looks really different to the pre production version I saw last year, this looks like mushy peas!

dwanes

I think the strength of the green depends on the computer screen. I processed the image on my laptop to get the colour right but on viewing it at work, yes, it did look like mushy peas!

The first original image looked more realistic on my monitor at work.

m3ta1head

Gorgeous build dwanes, very classy. Love the contrast of the green frame & black components.

jbwilliamz

I've got an old TCR and wanted to build an Aithein up. Out of interest, how tall are you & what size was the a TCR?

Vandiesel

dwanes wrote:

Just finished today, This is my new 'all year round' bike, after an incident with my Giant TCR.

I didn't fancy another carbon frame so went Aluminium.





Kinesis Aithein Frameset: Size 56 (Aluminium Frame + Full carbon Forks)
Colour: Sick Green

105 Shifters
Ultegra Chainset
Ultegra Rear Derailluer, chain and cassette.
Thomson Seatpost
Maddison Prime saddle
Deda Stem and Handlebars


Weight as seen 7.8 Kg

Will post some more picture soon.

That's lovely but what in earth happened to the TCR??

dwanes

I was doing a steep climb with quite some effort when the rear derailleur hit the spokes, sheered off and ended up cracking the seat stay as it went round my wheel.
I will send it off for repair at some point and keep it as a spare.

Giant offered a replacement frame for the same price as this Kinesis, but i always fancied going back to aluminium.
This Kinesis is near identical in geometry to the TCR which I always liked.

btiratsoo

Lovely bike. Thought about one myself but I'm too "heavy" for it apparently. I've spoken to kinesis about being heavier than their limit. Was it something that you knew about or was mentioned to you? I still fancy one and for the price it can't be beaten but I'm concerned about the weight thing and what that actually means in the real world!

Ben

dwanes

I had heard that there was a weight limit, but I am 73kg at my heaviest (during winter) so should be no problem.

Similar to you, I could not find anything to match it for the price.

Also I considered this: Deda strada Aegis Alluminio (at the bottom of the page) http://www.chickencycles.co.uk/index.ph ... =129&ord=2 maybe worth a look if you fancy aluminium.

ugo.santalucia

It's a nice bike... I do love the colour of the frame, reminds me of the Look I had a few years ago

dwanes

Thanks Ugo,
This below is similar to what I had around 25 years ago (but in Columbus SL tubing) so maybe i'm sub-consciously reminiscing.

davep1

Really interested in these frames; the lairy orange one at the Bike Show caught my eye. Still enjoying it?