German weight weenie specialist AX-Lightness has announced an exceptionally light new road bike from its in-house bike brand Benotti.
With a frame made in Germany, the Vial Evo Disc is claimed to weigh just 5.4kg for a complete bike in its lightest configuration.
That’s so light that, even with pedals, bottle cages and other riding essentials, it should be comfortably under the 6.8kg UCI minimum weight for racing.
Pricing for the ‘Climbers Limited Edition’ Vial Evo Disc with this shiny red paintjob starts at €12,299 with SRAM Red 22 HRD and tops out at €13,999 with SRAM Red eTap AXS HRD.
You can also roll your own with a €4,299 frameset and Benotti will be offering more affordable builds starting at €7,499, featuring slightly more everyman components and alternative colours.
Benotti Vial Evo Disc: seriously light, built for the everyday
AX-Lightness says the Vial Evo Disc's frame weighs just 750g for a medium, a figure achieved by “over 30 hours of handicraft” in its German factory.
Despite the stunning headline weight, the Vial Evo Disc has a rider weight limit of 120kg and its design apparently focused on “lightness, stability and comfort… without compromising suitability for everyday use”.
German brands in particular love to cite stiffness-to-weight numbers, and AX-Lightness says the new Vial Evo Disc’s frameset is 62 per cent more laterally stiff and 22 per cent stiffer at the bottom bracket than “the current market’s benchmark”, giving an overall stiffness-to-weight figure of 159.83 N/mm/kg.
The 5.4kg figure is apparently for the Shimano Dura-Ace Di2 and SRAM Red HRD versions of the bike, while the SRAM Red eTap AXS (with power meter) model comes in at 5.6kg.
You don’t hit numbers like this without seriously light components and finishing kit, and AX-Lightness specs the bikes with a whole suite of its own componentry as follows:
- Wheels: AX-Lightness Ultra Disc 25T with Extralite SPD-3 hubs (840g claimed weight)
- Stem: AX-Lightness Rigid
- Bar: AX-Lightness Ergo 4200
- Seatpost: AX-Lightness Europa
- Saddle: AX-Lightness Leaf Comfort Anti-Slip
Despite the focus on weight weenieism, the Vial Evo Disc apparently has clearance for 32mm tyres, although the bike pictured here is wearing super skinny Tufo tubulars.
The “Christmas bauble” red paintjob is a €1,500 option on the Climbers Limited Edition, which is available to order now (lead time is approximately 50 days) in the following builds:
- SRAM Red 22 HRD (5.4kg): €12,299
- Shimano Dura-Ace Di2 R9170 (5.4kg): €13,199
- SRAM Red eTap AXS HRD with power meter (5.6kg): €13,999
Do you fancy an outrageously light road bike with discs? How would you spec yours?
