AJ1515

Full review time for this beautiful bike. Let's do this.

I had been looking at Ti single speeds since my time in Boston. Here, I feel in love with single speed riding--thank you Charge Bikes for still making the plug in 2015--and with titanium. Like I said in a previous post, my school was right down the road from FireFly cycles, and those guys and those bike are beyond great. Shout out to all things bike related in Dorchester.

During the shut down, I started pricing out a ti build, and doing my research, I came across Aphelion. Their internet presence is pretty minimal, but anyone I could connect with who had one of their bikes was very happy. Their sales team was also extremely easy to work with as we figure out custom geometry and shipping details. I took the plunge, handed over $1735 for a full bike, and 11.5 weeks later, the 1985 built to my size arrived in all of its titanium glory.

The Not So Good:
I knew going into the build that a number of the stock parts needed immediate upgrading; this I had budgeted out. As expected, the saddle, pedals, wheels, and tires had to go. Not sure this is a complaint, as I saw it coming, but that's the bad...

The Neutral:
I've got some weird body geometry--5' 6", stumpy legs, long torso--and, since the bike is a custom build, Aphelion had my stats. Still, the integrated seat post, plus two titanium spacers, put the saddle JUST at the proper height. Like, within 2-3mm. Lord knows I am not growing anymore, but if I did, this bike would not fit like it does now fit; it'd be a shade small. So, at 32, I am not expecting any new growth, and I am already very flexible in terms of getting my palms onto the ground and getting more aero on the bike. The build fits like a gloves--seriously, the fit is excellent--BUT 2-3mm shorter and we would have had some issues with saddle height.

Also, I had been planning to pop a Relente Aleena on top of the ISP. I should have spec-ed this out better, but the Aleena's rails ended up being too narrow for the ISP's clamping system. At some point, I may get a friend to lathe down some of the alloy, non-titanium bits that don't fit into the Aleena, but to make things work, I put my trusty Charge Spoon on the new bike, put the Aleena on my Plug--which, after a wheel set upgrade, shed, like, 4 pounds--and boom, the new bike was ready to ride. All pictures in my library are with the Charge Spoon saddle.

The (Very) Good:

This may go on for a while. Sorry, everyone.

The packaging was exceptional. At around 8pm during the second week of August, the bike arrived. The frame, which I knew was going to look good, was STUNNING out of the box. I mentioned this in my first post, but Aphelion do themselves a disservice with the pictures they keep on their website. Their frame finishing--brushed--is exceptional, and the understated though extremely well done graphics make the finish look so damn professional. The handle bars and fork--both with their respective carbon weaves visible under a clean coat--are likewise gorgeous and allow for an exceptionally comfortable ride. I got everything set up on the frame--stem and bars connected, ISP on with Spoon--and then moved onto the wheels. I had found a great deal on some new Mavic Ellipses through LordGun. Those got wrapped in some 25cc Gatorskins. I tightened on a Shimano single speed cog, figured out how to get the chain tight and stable with the Aphelion chain tighteners, screwed in some Crank Brothers Egg Beater 2s, wrapped some bar tape, and boom, the bike was ready and weighing in at just under 8.3kg. Not bad for the total price, which, upgrades included, was just under $2300. Plenty pricey, but hey, I had my dream titanium single speed, and neither my wife, my son, nor I had had to sell a kidney. Life was good.

And boy has it been. This bike is fast--On a flat, I think I've maxed out around 32-35 mph when I am being silly--and I've been working toward a 29:30ish ten mile. On a 45 second climb, I've maxed out at +650 watts, and I am trying to see if I can extend that power to the full minute. The best complement I can give Aphelion and this bike is that anything I want to try on the bike--hard time trials, hill interval workouts, work commuting in rural upstate New York--the bike is up for it. If I put more in--and this thing, with it's track geometry, is begging for me to put more power through the drive train--the bike responds. I am living the single speed dream: Go faster; pedal harder.

I am not looking to spend any more on the set up in the next 6 months--maybe in the future I'll upgrade the brakes to something lighter and swap out the Eggbeater 2 for some ti 4's, and I am playing around with buying some Wabi Sub15 in the Spring to decrease the weight for future hill climbs. However, right now, I could not be happier. Huge shout out to Aphelion for their attention to detail, easy communication, and damn fine bike building. $1730ish for frame, fork, carbon bars, stem, headset, brakes and levers, and drive train is by no means cheap, but I very much feel like I got my money's worth. The upgrades have just made the ride that much better.

Alright: Enough gushing. I'll be updating my archive with some new pictures after riding today and/or tomorrow. Signing off.

samkl 

Oops

AJ1515

Sorry, samkl, I should have been more clear. The model of the bike is called the 1985: The bike itself was a custom frame, fork, ISP, and bars made in 2020, year of our pandemic.

AJ1515

I just uploaded a whole mess of new pictures from a morning ride. I also adjusted the spacers a bit on my steerer tube, and that made the bike fit even better. It no long feels on the razor's edge of too small.

Moderators, any pic assists to this thread would be very much appreciated!

jay4usc

you should upgrade to white industries freewheel, one of the best upgrades on my bike.

AJ1515

I love me some White Industries anything. Back when I couldn't find a company to make a ti bike with horizontal dropouts, I was all about the WI eccentric hub.

jay4usc

do they customize the ISP height base on your measurements? Can you make adjustments on the height?

AJ1515

So you can adjust, but it is a much smaller amount of adjustment than on a regular seat post. And because I am short, my ISP is pretty small.

Also, Hooray! Ten posts. I can upload pictures:

jay4usc

that’s a gorgeous build man! I would keep those wheels, no need to change them. Are those stock handle bars that came with the bike?

AJ1515

So Aphelion has those bars made in the far east for their ti frames, so they are stock for the company, but not "stock" like the seat and wheels were. And know, too, that I love the ellipses. The only reason I may get a set on Sub15s is that .5kg less weigh sounds wonderful on some of the hills I work out on...

jay4usc

you have to remember he Sub15s are very narrow wheel sets. Their inner width is only 12.6mm and often they need to be trued. But they are very light And nice wheels.

I may consider this bike in the near future. Do they make one that’s more for upright position?

AJ1515

Yes. There 1982 model is more upright (https://aphelioncycles.com/Bikes/Aph...m-Carbon-Fibre)

samkl 

Ha, I was totally confused. Thought I was in the C&V forum. Nice review anyway!