Aero features and a race build at the UCI weight limit for Factor's latest climbing bike
(Image credit: Factor)
Factor has officially launched the updated O2 VAM, which we spotted and took a close look over at the Tour de France Grand Depart in Bilbao.
Factor claims a 730g frame weight for the new O2 VAM in size 54 and that a complete build can weigh a UCI-busting 6.2kg. That’s with Shimano Dura-Ace and the latest Black Inc 26//33 carbon spoked wheels, which themselves have a featherweight 1,146g claimed weight for a set.
It’s the fourth iteration of Factor’s lightweight bike, which was launched in 2017 and acquired its VAM moniker with the 2019 model - a play on the Vertical Ascent in Metres' acronym - while the 2021 model added cable integration.
Factor Bikes supplies the O2 VAM to the Israel-Premier Tech pro team, who asked for a bike that in race trim, complete with pedals, transponder and race number weighed under 7kg. Factor says that it’s achieved this, with a race-ready build that’s right on the 6.8kg weight limit. We saw Simon Clarke's bike at the Tour, and it weighed 6.92kg.
It says that the new bike is geared for riding in the mountains or hills, allowing quicker climbing, more confident descending and greater speed on the flat. Factor points out that no ride is just climbing and aerodynamics are important on the way down and on flat sections. It also says that, for the pros, aero remains important even on climbs at a gradient of around 8%, due to the speeds they maintain.
Factor has aimed to combine the benefits of a lightweight pure climbing bike and an aero all-rounder bike with the new O2 VAM (Image credit: Factor)
Its market assessment showed that a bike such as the S-Works Tarmac SL7, while aero and designed for mixed climbing routes, wasn’t as lightweight as a pure climbing bike, such as the S-Works Aethos. But pure climbing bikes often lack cable integration and have round tube profiles.
Its aim with the O2 VAM was to develop a bike that achieved both climbing bike weight and aerodynamic gains, while upping frame rigidity, again at the behest of the pros, who said that these factors were limiting the use of the previous model in races.
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In response, Factor claims that the new O2 VAM is 12 watts faster in its wind tunnel tests across yaw angles between +/-15 degrees, about halving the difference between the Ostro VAM aero race bike and the previous model O2 VAM. At low yaw angles, Factor claims that the new O2 VAM is only five watts slower than the Ostro VAM and faster than any other lightweight bike available.
Factor says that it’s also increased the O2 VAM’s frame stiffness by 35%, making it as stiff as the Ostro VAM. There’s a maximum tyre clearance of 32mm, although Factor says that the frame, as with the new Black Inc 28//33 wheelset, is aero-optimised for 28mm rubber.
Factor says that the top tube and seatstays are at the UCI's design limits (Image credit: Factor)
At the same time, it claims that the new design increases ride comfort, with a separate seatpost that slides externally over the seatmast, eliminating the seatpost clamp to save weight.
The ultra-thin top tube tapers to just 10mm in height, which Factor claims allows controlled saddle deflection over rough surfaces and, along with the 10mm wide seatstays, is the minimum allowed by the recently updated UCI frame geometry rules.
Factor has also tweaked the geometry, increasing stack height by 10mm and mirroring the handling-related geometry numbers of the Ostro VAM. That includes using four different fork offsets, which allows a consistent 57mm trail across all seven sizes offered.
New production techniques
Factor says that its new design facility has allowed it to reduce the time to prototype new frame designs and that it’s used state-of-the-art cloud-based CFD modelling to design the bike, which has allowed it to incorporate the effects of spinning wheels and a rider.
The fibre mix in the new frame is similar to the Ostro VAM with T1000, M60J Pitch and TeXtreme fibres, with a new compaction technique used to produce complex shapes without additional weight. Boron is incorporated into the seatpost to improve its strength-to-weight.
New Black Inc 28//33 wheelset continues the lightweight theme
The new Black Inc 28//33 wheelset has been designed specifically to work with the O2 VAM (Image credit: Factor)
Also released today, the latest 28//33 wheelset from Black Inc, Factor’s in-house component brand, is a hooked bead tubeless clincher with a 1,146g claimed weight and a 23mm internal/28mm external width. As you’ll have guessed, there are differential 28mm and 33mm rim depths. Like the O2 VAM, the wheels are aero optimised for 28mm tyres.
The Black Inc 28//33 wheelset is priced at £2,900 / $2,899 / €2,799 / AU$4,690.
Factor O2 VAM colours, sizes and prices
The new Factor O2 VAM comes in seven sizes from 45 to 61cm and is available in three stock colours, Storm Grey, Red Velvet and Chrome/Raw Carbon, as well as Prisma Studio custom paint. The O2 VAM frameset is priced at £6,300 ($6,299, €6,049, AU$9,990).
There are also full builds with the latest Black Inc 28//33 wheelset and Dura-Ace, Ultegra, Red AXS or Force AXS groupsets, including a power meter for the SRAM options. Prices range from £9,900 to £12,200 ($9,899 - $12,199, €9,499 - €11,699, AU$15,999 - AU$19,690).
Early impressions of the Factor O2 VAM
Josh Croxton
Having received delivery of the Factor O2 VAM late last week, a full review of the bike is currently in the works.
The model I'm testing is equipped with SRAM Red eTap AXS and 40cm wide handlebars. Having built it up, my 58cm bike weighed an impressive 6.71kg in a full ready-to-ride state (Ultegra pedals, a single lightweight bottle cage). This is somehow lighter than Clarke's smaller frame mentioned above, but admittedly with a different set of scales.
My model is the £11,800 model that comes without a power meter. To add a Quarq option to the SRAM Red crank, the price will grow to £12,200. It's good that the option is there, but it does seem crazy to me that a near-£12k bike can come without one.
I had to spend a bit of time building it before I could ride it, and everything was straightforward, although thankfully the brake hoses had already been handled prior to shipping. I'm not allowed to cut the steerer tube to #slamthatstem (not that my lower back could handle it these days) but the spacers can be split so at least I wouldn't have to cut the hoses too.
The seatpost clamp is made up of two small magnetic pieces, that are placed inside the seatmast topper and slide into the groove on the back of the mast itself. Two grub screws are used to expand the pieces, and having been for a couple of rides so far, it's not slipped at all.
Talking of riding it, the bike's feathery weight and increased stiffness was immediately noticeable on the steep climb from my front door. The descending also felt confident, even if I did need to recalibrate myself to narrow bars having spent the past few months mainly on gravel bikes. Many will liken the O2 VAM to the Giant TCR due to the seatmast, and in honesty, they ride quite similarly too. I prefer the clean and integrated front end of the Factor, and I presume that'll make it slightly better aerodynamically too. The one-piece cockpit is actually one of my favourite parts of this bike. It's shallow, so looks sleek and in line with the shallow frame tubes here too. It's comfortable, albeit I've not tried it on long rides or really rough roads yet, and it's stiff enough that it doesn't feel like it's absorbing power in sprints.
Factor said in a presentation of this bike: "price is not really important on the list of things when making the best bike," and while I get the point they're trying to make, I'm not sure I agree. This price is very much in line with the best road bikes on the market, so it needs to compete among them.
I'll save the detailed opinions and verdicts of whether it does for when I've spent more time with the bike, but first impressions are positive.
Paul has been on two wheels since he was in his teens and he's spent much of the time since writing about bikes and the associated tech. He's a road cyclist at heart but his adventurous curiosity means Paul has been riding gravel since well before it was cool, adapting his cyclo-cross bike to ride all-day off-road epics and putting road kit to the ultimate test along the way. Paul has contributed to Cyclingnews' tech coverage for a few years, helping to maintain the freshness of our buying guides and deals content, as well as writing a number of our voucher code pages.
