Mapdec Product Review
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Lightness
The Sika frame weighs 690g in size M, placing it among the very lightest in the world for a bike with 40mm tyre clearance and aero optimisation. A sub-7kg build, with pedals, is easily achievable with no extreme components.
What’s more, lightness was never the sole focus. This figure was achieved while also hitting our high targets for lateral and torsional stiffness, and with aero-optimised tube shapes. The key to this lies in the high grades of carbon fibre we selected.Read more on that below.
Handling
One word sums up the Sika’s handling – confidence. It’s precise, stable and planted, whether on a fast Alpine descent or broken back roads. We gave the Sika the same dynamic and assertive handling that is a hallmark of our custom bikes, with short trail and longer chainstays.
Through our custom bike programme, we design more frame geometries each year – over 100 – than even the biggest brands do in a decade. What’s more, our bikes are tailored to our customers, not dictated by the demands of pros. We know what real riders want and we know how to deliver it.
Ride quality
The Sika is a bike to ride all day on all roads. The rear triangle is closely derived from our custom bikes, where it’s well proven to ride with velvet smoothness. Add to that, a 27.2mm diameter seatpost that’s able to deflect over bumps, a compliant fork, and capacity for tyres up to 40mm and the result is a bike that floats over bad roads.
This smoothness is achieved without sacrificing performance thanks to the very high grades of carbon fibre used and tireless development to get the best from them. The frame shapes play a key role, too. The aggressively truncated profile of the downtube delivers the lightness, comfort and stiffness of a round tube, with the aero
benefits of an airfoil. The bottom bracket shell is maximised upwards and in width to boost stiffness in this key area.
Aero
While the Sika is not an outright aero bike for racing, it is aero-optimised to reduce drag without compromising ride quality or lightness. The tube shapes are derived from proven NACA profiles with truncated airfoils – like a tapered D-shape – which are very effective at reducing drag while preserving lightness and ride quality.
Why include aero if the bike isn’t for racing? On the flat, around 80% of your effort is fighting air resistance and if your bike is more efficient, then you save energy to spend going further, higher or faster. Additionally, with nearly all bikes now aero- optimised to some extent, we didn’t want to leave performance on the table and put you at a disadvantage on a group ride.
Chat With Our Team
Our team of mechanics are also passionate riders and are here to help you with any bike questions you have.