Kinesis Aithein

powenb

Hi all

Just wanted to introduce you to my new Kinesis Aithien.
This is my 'if' bike.
'If' I go to the Alpes, I will take this.
'If' I do a bit of racing this year, I will use this.
'If' I just fancy a blast....you get the jist of it!





I built it up using bits I already had.
It has
Bontrager RL bars
Bontrager RXL stem
Kinesis UD Carbon seatpost
Fizik Arione saddle
Shimano Ultegra 6700 groupset and pedals
Mavic Ksyrium SLS wheels
Conti GP4000s tyres

I must say I expecting it to be quite a harsh ride but I have to say its very comfortable, it absolutely flies up the hills and is a joy to ride. Also the colour in the sun is AMAZING 8) !
I have always been a massive fan of Kinesis and their products, and I have to say this is superb! I love it all!

Apologies for the grass and the not level cranks and valves!! :oops:

earthvspace4XTuUWcX

Looking nice. I rate Kinesis bikes, Im on my second now, a Pro6, in sick green, that colour really ¨sings¨ in the sun too.

napoleond

Yep. Like that!
I'm now allowed one too if I want as I've lost my naughty weight

powenb

xdoc wrote:

Looking nice. I rate Kinesis bikes, Im on my second now, a Pro6, in sick green, that colour really ¨sings¨ in the sun too.

I had a Crosslight before and have a Racelight TK2 as my winter bike and can't fault either of them.

ratsbeyfus

Mmm... I like that frame. 'If' my CAAD9 frame ever cracks an Aithein could be the replacement.

ritchiel1707

Powenb, that is a sweet looking ride, well done. Im considering one of these at the moment. Where did you get yours from?

angry_bird

Gaah I've had my heart set on a CAAD10, a mate mentioned these to me the other day and I wasn't really paying much attention until now, that's gorgeous! Seriously nice looking bike you've got there.

Time to have another think about options...

powenb

ritchiel1707 wrote:

Powenb, that is a sweet looking ride, well done. Im considering one of these at the moment. Where did you get yours from?

To tell the truth I can't remember the name of the shop now.
I knew what I wanted so searched for the best price online.
I believe Merlin are doing them at a good price at the moment.
It really is a cracking bike and even more so when you can get the frameset for around £550!!

RideOnTime

Nice, like that

wilkij1975

Nice bike. I'd like one myself but being about 15kg over the rider weight limit, I don't think it'd be wise to get one

d_o_g

Looks very nice. Particularly like the fact the cable mounts on the headtube, will prevent rubbing. Simple, effective and innovative design. If they can be arsed to think about that, then they must have paid attention elsewhere.

ratsbeyfus

D O G wrote:

Looks very nice. Particularly like the fact the cable mounts on the headtube, will prevent rubbing. Simple, effective and innovative design. If they can be arsed to think about that, then they must have paid attention elsewhere.

But...

My CAAD9 has cable mounts on the headtube, but like the Aithein they aren't threaded for cable adjusters. It's actually a real pain, as you need a cable adjuster for setting up a front derailleur properly so you're forced to have an inline adjuster instead. Also, the rear brake cable housing still rubs the headtube just as it would the Aithein.

Matthewfalle

Very cool - liked these a lot since they came out - be even cooler with some nice deep rim carbons.

dwanes

Nice Build, I've got the Aithein in Sick Green and always wondered whether I should have gone for Orange. Still not sure which looks best. :?

I have the Ultegra wheelset but if I were to get a new set of wheels I think I would go with Mavic Ksyrium SLS.
Do you find any flex in them when climbing?

Have you got a weight for the bike as shown? It looks the same size as mine.

Yellow Peril

wilkij1975 wrote:

Nice bike. I'd like one myself but being about 15kg over the rider weight limit, I don't think it'd be wise to get one

Yes I looked at one a while back but its "weightism" means it's a no-no. They look great though

powenb

Matthewfalle wrote:

Very cool - liked these a lot since they came out - be even cooler with some nice deep rim carbons.

I do agree but it's meant to be a climbing bike really for trips away so the SLS's are perfect.

dwanes wrote:

Nice Build, I've got the Aithein in Sick Green and always wondered whether I should have gone for Orange. Still not sure which looks best. :?

I have the Ultegra wheelset but if I were to get a new set of wheels I think I would go with Mavic Ksyrium SLS.
Do you find any flex in them when climbing?

Have you got a weight for the bike as shown? It looks the same size as mine.

I went for the orange mainly because our club kit if yellow and I thought the green would be a bit clashy! 8) So pleased!!
The SLS's are excellent. These have the carbon rear spokes are there is absolutely zero flex in them. They are great climbing/sprinting wheels. Saying that, a heavier or more powerful rider might say otherwise.

I've just weighed it using the very unsophisticated me then me + the bike on the bathroom scales and it came out at 16.5Ibs
That doesn't sound very light to me but it feels lighter than that on the road.

Calpol

I really like this. Of course I hate it too as I wish I had waited and got it as my winter frame instead of my Orange fm029. Orange is the new black.

Seriously that's a really nice build.I hope you are enjoying it.

dwanes

powenb wrote:

I've just weighed it using the very unsophisticated me then me + the bike on the bathroom scales and it came out at 16.5Ibs
That doesn't sound very light to me but it feels lighter than that on the road.

Thats about 7.5 kg which sounds about right with pedals and is lighter than a lot of expensive 'off the shelf' bikes out there.
Yes, It feels quite stiff in the bottom bracket when climbing or putting down some power which adds to it feeling lighter.

napoleond

My Colnago Extreme power with Super Record and 50mm carbon wheels is 7.5kg. It's light enough!

IShaggy

Very nice build. I've been after a orange aithein frameset for a few months now. Can't get them for love nor money. But a little birdie tells me there's some new stock coming May 9th. Similar to you, my aim for the build is to have a light, sharp-handling, bike to take out when I want to ride hard.

Regarding the weight, 7.5kg is pretty much spot on for a lightish frameset, wheels, and ultegra. And regarding positioning the cable bosses on the head-tube. Apparently this is because the downtube is too thin to have the cable bosses without affecting integrity.

ratsbeyfus

ratsbeyfus wrote:

Mmm... I like that frame. 'If' my CAAD9 frame ever cracks an Aithein could be the replacement.

...and I discovered a crack in my CAAD9 frame yesterday. :-( Going off aluminium now.

IShaggy

Here's mine -





Complete with super-lightweight chain

Built it up at the weekend, but wasn't willing to christen it in the rain. So can't comment on how it rides.

This week's cycling weekly has a review, and they sum the bike up nicely saying that it's the equivalent of a hot-hatch. So a bike to ride fast and race around on.

Weight is approximately 7kg. Can't be more exact than that as I weighed it using the bathroom scales.

Part of me can't wait for the maiden voyage, but part of me want to put it off just in case it doesn't live up to the hype.

Bordersroadie

Lovely bike. Loving the orange cable covers - good to see you sticking with black/grey for everything else!

Matthewfalle

Cool. You going to level seat and slam that stem.

IShaggy

Bordersroadie wrote:

Lovely bike. Loving the orange cable covers - good to see you sticking with black/grey for everything else!

Jagwire cables, and although not obvious from the pics then inners are anodysed black, which contrasts really well with the orange.

IShaggy

Matthewfalle wrote:

Cool. You going to level seat and slam that stem.

Erm, no and no.

Seats fine as I prefer to sit on the sit bones and don't like any pressure on the perineum.

And I may or may not remove some spacers depending on how it goes. No point in slamming the stem and then only being able to ride on the drops for a short amount of time due to neck strain.

IShaggy

Christened the bike, and I'm very very happy.

An aluminium frame with aluminium bars and aluminium seat-post. I'd heard good things about the ride but I was still expecting it to be little harsh, particularly as my commuter is steel and my Sunday best is Ti so I'm used to 'soft' rides. But I was wrong. the ride quality was superb. Very little road buzz and it soaks up the bumps in the road as well as any road bike I've ridden.

Out of the saddle, the bike is stiff and responsive. It's a little twitchy when setting off or when riding slowly. But I'm sure I'll soon adapt to that, and when up to speed it fine. Both BB and front end feel solid - although I'm only 73kg so certainly no heavy weight. As for it's cornering and descending abilities, I'll find out tomorrow as I'm going to take it for a long one in the Surrey hills. But given how solid the front end is and how well it soaks up the bumps,I have a feeling it'll excel.

I suspect that my Sunday best Ti bike, which I love to bits, may end up gathering dust.



EDIT - Just got back from a hard ride in the Surrey Hills. For those of you who have never experienced the Surrey Hills, let's just say that it's the perfect testing ground for ride quality, as the roads are truly awful. If you have fillings then best avoided. I said above that the ride quality of the Aithein is superb. I still stand by that. But an aluminium frame it is. So it's not a plush ride. It copes very well with the bumps, but you feel some road buzz when the road surface is rough. But then I was riding on 50mm carbon rims. When accelerating and when descending it's a little skittish, but not so much that it's off-putting. I felt confident from the start descending, and when cornering. And overall had a very enjoyable ride. I suspect that the Aithein will be my weapon of choice on Saturday morning's when riding tempo round Richmond Park, pushing hard up the drags and accelerating hard out of the corners. As for Sunday rides in the Surrey Hills the jury is out on whether I will choose the Aithein of my Lynskey made Ti bike. The Ti bike being more forgiving over the rough stuff.

My verdict is that for £550 it's superb value and well worth considering if you like riding hard and fast.

dwanes

Thanks IShaggy, I also have the Aithein and your write up reflects my thoughts on the frameset.
As you say, it certainly isn't harsh, and is as smooth as my previous carbon framed bike.
It does sometimes feel a little skittish on the front end when descending hard and fast on rough roads, and I have to back off a little, probably because the forks are quite slim and light.
I am a touch over 70Kg and there is no feeling of flex in the BB area which makes is great for climbing.

And riding hard and fast is what I use it for, and have absolutely no desire for a more expensive Carbon frame.

calex30

Another orange!

I've been watching this one for a while and finally took the plunge last week with my first build. Finished it at the weekend so have only been out for a tentative quick run on the local hills in Durham. It feels really 'solid' compared to my old steel bike (but not harsh) and, true to form, it loves the climbs... Very happy so far.






Build includes

Fulcrum Racing 3s
Ultegra 6800 groupset
Zipp Service Course seat post, stem and bars
Charge Spoon saddle
Continental Grand prix tyres 23c

dwanes

Nice build calex, Ultegra seems to be the choice of groupset for most Aithein's I have seen. I guess it makes for a fairly light bike.

calex30

Cheers. Nearly pressed the button on the 105 as it does the job just fine on my other bike but the ultegra kept nagging away! Quick weigh on baggage scales shows it at 7.9kg. Just need to get out on a proper ride now....