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TECH NEWS

Fondriest reveal TFDisc disc-equipped road bike for 2015

Italian brands launches new disc-equipped carbon road bike for 2015

Disc brakes are sweeping through the road cycling industry and the latest to offer a disc-equipped road bike is Fondriest, the Italian brand revealing the new TFDisc for 2015. The framesets costs £2,199 and the complete Ultegra mechanical and hydraulic disc model as pictured is £4,399.

Fondriest has constructed the frame and fork from carbon fibre and claim a 990g weight for a size medium, a respectable weight for a frame modified to take disc brakes. The new fork, which slides into a tapered head tube, weighs a claimed 380g.

It’s one of the cleaner looking disc-equipped road bikes we’ve seen, with the rear brake caliper mounted on the chainstays and the brake hoses and gear cables internally routed. The frame is compatible with electronic groupsets with interchangeable plugs in the frame.

Shimano recommended minimum 415mm chainstays for bikes with disc brakes, to ensure a clean chain line with the wider rear axle of a disc frame, and that’s what Fondriest has specced on the TFDisc. Other important numbers includes a 100.5cm wheelbase, 55cm head tube and 73 degree head angle and 73.5 degree seat angles.

Most carbon road frames are specced with press-fit bottom brackets these days, but Fondriest has bucked the trend and instead used a conventional external threaded bottom bracket. The company has also stuck with convention with the wheel axles, using quick releases rather than adopting a bolt-thru axle approach.

Fondriest UK importer Impact Cycle Trading will mainly be selling framesets, which will set you back £2,199. They’ll do complete builds as well, and the Shimano Ultegra mechanical 11-speed with hydraulic disc brakes as pictured on this page will cost £4,399. With that groupset a pair of Vision Metron Disc Carbon wheels, Fondriest reckon you’ll be looking at a 7.1kg bike weight. Impressive if that is the case.

This is very much a bike we look forward to swinging a leg over soon.

For more info check out www.fondriestbici.com and www.impactct.co.uk

David worked on the road.cc tech team from 2012-2020. Previously he was editor of Bikemagic.com and before that staff writer at RCUK. He's a seasoned cyclist of all disciplines, from road to mountain biking, touring to cyclo-cross, he only wishes he had time to ride them all. He's mildly competitive, though he'll never admit it, and is a frequent road racer but is too lazy to do really well. He currently resides in the Cotswolds, and you can now find him over on his own YouTube channel David Arthur - Just Ride Bikes

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19 comments

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Iamnot Wiggins | 9 years ago
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I'm not saying it's the best though. I was commenting on how all groupsets are as easy as each other to set up and one shouldn't be more troublesome than the other. Perhaps one should read things before sticking his oar in  3

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crikey | 9 years ago
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 36
campag is lovely stuff but I've never got the whole which is best argument.

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crikey | 9 years ago
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See?

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Iamnot Wiggins replied to crikey | 9 years ago
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crikey wrote:

See?

 41

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crikey | 9 years ago
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Campag users are a bit like Zulus, they don't like it up 'em....

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crikey | 9 years ago
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Quote:

However, as we all know Campagnolo is rubbish and never works or that is according to all the people who have never used it think.

Hey but wants to follow the crowd.

You seem to be making up imagined slights so you can stamp your lickle feet.

The Shimano/Campag argument has thankfully died a death ever since people realised that the groupset you buy has no effect on anything at all.

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crikey | 9 years ago
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That 'big and incredibly ugly' bit is the reservoir for the hydraulic system; it's gotta go somewhere...

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il sole | 9 years ago
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is it just me, or are the latest shimano oversized hoods just getting ridiculously big and incredibly ugly??!!

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DeanF316 replied to il sole | 9 years ago
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No it's not only you. I have thinking the same but as you know Shimano is perfect in every way and no cycling journlist can say otherwise.

However, as we all know Campagnolo is rubbish and never works or that is according to all the people who have never used it think.

Hey but wants to follow the crowd.

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joules1975 replied to DeanF316 | 9 years ago
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DeanF316 wrote:

No it's not only you. I have thinking the same but as you know Shimano is perfect in every way and no cycling journlist can say otherwise.

However, as we all know Campagnolo is rubbish and never works or that is according to all the people who have never used it think.

Hey but wants to follow the crowd.

Hold on, the standard 11speed non-hydraulic disc shimano levers are smaller than the older 10 speed, it's the reservoir that causes the issue for the hydraulic levers, but it has to go in the levers and they aren't that different in size to the older 10 speed shifters. A bit taller, but not much, and nothing like as daft as the SRAM hydraulic levers.

As for campag, in our experience in our workshop, I'm afraid to say that shimano definitely takes it, as campag stuff just seems less precise and more sensitive to cables with a little too much friction or chains that are just every so slightly worn or such like. Very nicely made though campag is, I wouldn't have it.

And finally, fondriest didn't have much choice with this bike, as if they wanted to fit mechanical groupset with hydraulic discs, shimano is currently only show in town.

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Chasseur Patate replied to joules1975 | 9 years ago
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joules1975 wrote:

As for campag, in our experience in our workshop, I'm afraid to say that shimano definitely takes it, as campag stuff just seems less precise and more sensitive to cables with a little too much friction or chains that are just every so slightly worn or such like. Very nicely made though campag is, I wouldn't have it.

Horseshit. If that's your experience then your 'workshop' isn't very good. It's incredibly precise, from Veloce all the way through to SR.

Shimano from Tiagra up, Sram from the bottom up, Campagnolo from the bottom up. It all works perfectly, just in different ways. As long as you set it up properly.

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joules1975 replied to Chasseur Patate | 9 years ago
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Chasseur Patate wrote:
joules1975 wrote:

As for campag, in our experience in our workshop, I'm afraid to say that shimano definitely takes it, as campag stuff just seems less precise and more sensitive to cables with a little too much friction or chains that are just every so slightly worn or such like. Very nicely made though campag is, I wouldn't have it.

Horseshit. If that's your experience then your 'workshop' isn't very good. It's incredibly precise, from Veloce all the way through to SR.

Shimano from Tiagra up, Sram from the bottom up, Campagnolo from the bottom up. It all works perfectly, just in different ways. As long as you set it up properly.

Wow, hit a nerve there with a couple of you guys. We have been open for four years and seen maybe a dozen campag equipped bikes in the workshop, all of which presented issues, so to be fair I was perhaps making a sweeping statement based on very small sample of fairly well used bikes, but the new custom bike we built up with veloce didn't seem quite right at the time either.

Oh, and suggesting our workshop is poor based on our experience with campag is a little out of order - yes maybe our experience with campag is poor, because we hardly ever see it, but that's like saying a local car garage is crap based on their lack of experience of alpha Romeos. Feel free to suggest we need to train up better with campag, but you have no clue what are capabilities are otherwise.

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Chasseur Patate replied to joules1975 | 9 years ago
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joules1975 wrote:
Chasseur Patate wrote:
joules1975 wrote:

As for campag, in our experience in our workshop, I'm afraid to say that shimano definitely takes it, as campag stuff just seems less precise and more sensitive to cables with a little too much friction or chains that are just every so slightly worn or such like. Very nicely made though campag is, I wouldn't have it.

Horseshit. If that's your experience then your 'workshop' isn't very good. It's incredibly precise, from Veloce all the way through to SR.

Shimano from Tiagra up, Sram from the bottom up, Campagnolo from the bottom up. It all works perfectly, just in different ways. As long as you set it up properly.

Wow, hit a nerve there with a couple of you guys. We have been open for four years and seen maybe a dozen campag equipped bikes in the workshop, all of which presented issues, so to be fair I was perhaps making a sweeping statement based on very small sample of fairly well used bikes, but the new custom bike we built up with veloce didn't seem quite right at the time either.

Oh, and suggesting our workshop is poor based on our experience with campag is a little out of order - yes maybe our experience with campag is poor, because we hardly ever see it, but that's like saying a local car garage is crap based on their lack of experience of alpha Romeos. Feel free to suggest we need to train up better with campag, but you have no clue what are capabilities are otherwise.

You haven't hit a nerve, just stitched yourself up. All groupsets work without issue if set up correctly.

I'm afraid that sweeping statement regarding Campag speaks volumes as to your capabilities.

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Iamnot Wiggins replied to joules1975 | 9 years ago
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joules1975 wrote:

Wow, hit a nerve there with a couple of you guys. We have been open for four years and seen maybe a dozen campag equipped bikes in the workshop, all of which presented issues, so to be fair I was perhaps making a sweeping statement based on very small sample of fairly well used bikes, but the new custom bike we built up with veloce didn't seem quite right at the time either.

Oh, and suggesting our workshop is poor based on our experience with campag is a little out of order - yes maybe our experience with campag is poor, because we hardly ever see it, but that's like saying a local car garage is crap based on their lack of experience of alpha Romeos. Feel free to suggest we need to train up better with campag, but you have no clue what are capabilities are otherwise.

What issues did you experience, if I may? What didn't seem "quite right" about the Veloce groupset? Admittedly, the shift feel isn't as smooth as say Shimano - is this what you're referring to? As I said before, there's no difference in adjusting one groupset compared to another brands groupset i.e you shift & adjust accordingly until all runs smoothly or replace the cables if worn. If you can't set up a Campag groupset, I'd perhaps question your ability to set up a groupset full stop!

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joules1975 replied to Iamnot Wiggins | 9 years ago
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Iamnot Wiggins wrote:
joules1975 wrote:

Wow, hit a nerve there with a couple of you guys. We have been open for four years and seen maybe a dozen campag equipped bikes in the workshop, all of which presented issues, so to be fair I was perhaps making a sweeping statement based on very small sample of fairly well used bikes, but the new custom bike we built up with veloce didn't seem quite right at the time either.

Oh, and suggesting our workshop is poor based on our experience with campag is a little out of order - yes maybe our experience with campag is poor, because we hardly ever see it, but that's like saying a local car garage is crap based on their lack of experience of alpha Romeos. Feel free to suggest we need to train up better with campag, but you have no clue what are capabilities are otherwise.

What issues did you experience, if I may? What didn't seem "quite right" about the Veloce groupset? Admittedly, the shift feel isn't as smooth as say Shimano - is this what you're referring to? As I said before, there's no difference in adjusting one groupset compared to another brands groupset i.e you shift & adjust accordingly until all runs smoothly or replace the cables if worn. If you can't set up a Campag groupset, I'd perhaps question your ability to set up a groupset full stop!

The speed of the shift seemed pretty slow, I.e the chain seems to take a moment to move across the sprocket. Each shift indexes nicely, just takes time to actually change the gear. We are talking less than a second, but it was noticeably slower than virtually all the SRAM and shimano group sets. Interestingly, the customer himself noticed the difference between his new veloce and much older campag on his other bike (can't recall group name but it wasn't any of the top end ones).

Re other poster, sorry but fail to see how making a sweeping statement based on the small experience we've had with a product that we rarely see compared with the alternatives has any indication of our ability with those alternatives. You clearly love campag in the same way that some apple 'super fans' won't hear a bad word about Apple, but unlike apple, campag is increasingly rare, and so smaller shops like us don't see the worth of getting specialist training on campag and so our only experience is when we very occasionally see it in the shop. Yes I'm not a fan because I don't like the feel, but I do appreciate the look and engineering, and I would have still expected it to work as well as shimano 105 or better, but the ones we saw indexed fine but the indexing/movement of chain across block was a little sluggish.

It's just come to me that we haven't had specialist training on SRAM either, and have seen their group sets even less than campag, yet we set them up perfectly in a matter of minutes with no issues. So, given that and the fact we have done hundreds of shimano groupsets, again usually in a matter of minutes with perfect fast shifting every time, either we are missing something or campag just isn't quite as crisp.

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Chasseur Patate replied to joules1975 | 9 years ago
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joules1975 wrote:

Re other poster, sorry but fail to see how making a sweeping statement based on the small experience we've had with a product that we rarely see compared with the alternatives has any indication of our ability with those alternatives. You clearly love campag in the same way that some apple 'super fans' won't hear a bad word about Apple, but unlike apple, campag is increasingly rare, and so smaller shops like us don't see the worth of getting specialist training on campag and so our only experience is when we very occasionally see it in the shop. Yes I'm not a fan because I don't like the feel, but I do appreciate the look and engineering, and I would have still expected it to work as well as shimano 105 or better, but the ones we saw indexed fine but the indexing/movement of chain across block was a little sluggish.

It's just come to me that we haven't had specialist training on SRAM either, and have seen their group sets even less than campag, yet we set them up perfectly in a matter of minutes with no issues. So, given that and the fact we have done hundreds of shimano groupsets, again usually in a matter of minutes with perfect fast shifting every time, either we are missing something or campag just isn't quite as crisp.

You answered your own question. You're missing something.....

Veloce noticeably slower than 105? Honestly, you and whoever set it up in the first place are doing something wrong.

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Iamnot Wiggins replied to joules1975 | 9 years ago
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joules1975 wrote:

As for campag, in our experience in our workshop, I'm afraid to say that shimano definitely takes it, as campag stuff just seems less precise and more sensitive to cables with a little too much friction or chains that are just every so slightly worn or such like. Very nicely made though campag is, I wouldn't have it.

I did genuinely laugh out loud at this! Your mechanics must be fresh out of school or you teach them incorrectly.

Having set up & maintained Shimano, Sram & Campag bikes on a professional basis, no one gruppo is easier to set up & maintain than the other and they're all very much identical apart from the brand name on them. Cable tension will affect ALL groupsets (apart from di2 or similar) as will a worn chain.

Employ more experience instead of cheap labour!

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Iamnot Wiggins replied to joules1975 | 9 years ago
0 likes
joules1975 wrote:

As for campag, in our experience in our workshop, I'm afraid to say that shimano definitely takes it, as campag stuff just seems less precise and more sensitive to cables with a little too much friction or chains that are just every so slightly worn or such like. Very nicely made though campag is, I wouldn't have it.

I did genuinely laugh out loud at this! Your mechanics must be fresh out of school or you teach them incorrectly.

Having set up & maintained Shimano, Sram & Campag bikes on a professional basis, no one gruppo is easier to set up & maintain than the other and they're all very much identical apart from the brand name on them. Cable tension will affect ALL groupsets (apart from di2 or similar) as will a worn chain.

Employ more experience instead of cheap labour!

Avatar
robert.brady replied to joules1975 | 9 years ago
0 likes
joules1975 wrote:

And finally, fondriest didn't have much choice with this bike, as if they wanted to fit mechanical groupset with hydraulic discs, shimano is currently only show in town.

https://www.sram.com/sram/road/family/sram-red

https://www.sram.com/sram/road/family/sram-force

https://www.sram.com/sram/road/family/sram-rival

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