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TECH NEWS

SpeedX secures $22 million investment

Chinese bike brand will use funding to develop R&D and production capabilities, and there’s a new bike coming next month

Chinese bike brand SpeedX says that it has secured a second round of investment totalling US$22 million (£17.9 million) that will be used to build on its existing R&D programme and expand its production capabilities.

We first covered SpeedX here on road.cc back in March when it launched two aero road bikes, the Leopard and the Leopard Pro, with inbuilt technology that measures and displays your performance data as you ride. The bikes were offered on crowdfunding websites and smashed their funding targets.

SpeedX Leopard Pro - riding 1.jpg

We reviewed the Leopard Pro here on road.cc recently and we thought that it was “more miss than hit”.

Check out our SpeedX Leopard Pro review here. 

SpeedX Leopard Pro - stem and computer.jpg

Dave Atkinson said, “Heavy and stiff aero bike with subpar performance and integrated electronics that feel like a work in progress.”

We said that there’s plenty of room for improvement, and it looks like SpeedX is working on that with its new investment, although the source of that funding has not been disclosed. The initial investment in SpeedX was US$15 million (£12.2 million).

The company has been developing a new product, a road bike called Unicorn (main pic) that’ll be launched via Kickstarter in January 2017.

We’re told that the bike “will include many cutting edge technologies and components”, the nature of which will be disclosed next month. You can see from the pic that it features disc brakes.

For more on SpeedX go to www.speedx.com.

Mat has been in cycling media since 1996, on titles including BikeRadar, Total Bike, Total Mountain Bike, What Mountain Bike and Mountain Biking UK, and he has been editor of 220 Triathlon and Cycling Plus. Mat has been road.cc technical editor for over a decade, testing bikes, fettling the latest kit, and trying out the most up-to-the-minute clothing. We send him off around the world to get all the news from launches and shows too. He has won his category in Ironman UK 70.3 and finished on the podium in both marathons he has run. Mat is a Cambridge graduate who did a post-grad in magazine journalism, and he is a winner of the Cycling Media Award for Specialist Online Writer. Now over 50, he's riding road and gravel bikes most days for fun and fitness rather than training for competitions.

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14 comments

Avatar
janusz0 | 5 years ago
0 likes

Where are the high quality Chinese components to match the frame?  I'm always tempted by Shimano-free bikes.

Avatar
aegisdesign | 5 years ago
1 like

I'm not buying it unless it shits glittery poo.

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cborrman | 5 years ago
0 likes

both store and main web address go nowhere and fb page not updated for a year?

Avatar
dgmtc | 7 years ago
1 like

Ah yes. Company that sold sh!t bike through kickstarter  attracts extra investment yet launches new (probably sh!t) bike through kickstarter instead of taking actual risks.
Gotta love the new business models.

Avatar
Huw Watkins | 7 years ago
1 like

Others got to that design a long time before GT

 

 

Avatar
JumboJuice | 7 years ago
2 likes

The current wave of money splashing is just part of the crazy China capital outflow. In fact, they don't know how to design a bike. Forget it.

Avatar
davel | 7 years ago
6 likes

This one's got disc brakes and a built-in Commodore 64.

Avatar
Stef Marazzi | 7 years ago
1 like

It's the GT Triple Triangle! I sense a lawsuit.

Avatar
BeatPoet replied to Stef Marazzi | 7 years ago
1 like

cyclesteffer wrote:

It's the GT Triple Triangle! I sense a lawsuit.

It has 2 triangles. You didn't really look did you?

Avatar
davel replied to BeatPoet | 7 years ago
2 likes
BeatPoet wrote:

cyclesteffer wrote:

It's the GT Triple Triangle! I sense a lawsuit.

It has 2 triangles. You didn't really look did you?

Kudos: it's been a while since I had a Thursday night so large that I couldn't count to 3. I tend to lose the ability to post on Web pages a while before then, too.

When you sober up you might want to check the main pic of 'the new unicorn'. The bog standard aero bike has been reviewed and slated in a review not a million miles from here.

Avatar
pruaga replied to davel | 7 years ago
1 like

davel wrote:
BeatPoet wrote:

cyclesteffer wrote:

It's the GT Triple Triangle! I sense a lawsuit.

It has 2 triangles. You didn't really look did you?

Kudos: it's been a while since I had a Thursday night so large that I couldn't count to 3. I tend to lose the ability to post on Web pages a while before then, too. When you sober up you might want to check the main pic of 'the new unicorn'. The bog standard aero bike has been reviewed and slated in a review not a million miles from here.

 

2 triangles and a wonky pentagon. yes

Avatar
gsavill90 (not verified) | 7 years ago
0 likes

They sure know how to design an ugly bike!

Avatar
BeatPoet replied to gsavill90 | 7 years ago
1 like

gsavill90 wrote:

They sure know how to design an ugly bike!

It looks like a pretty bog standard aero bike to me. None of them are very pretty - and the logo is definitely crap. Having said that you'll probably buy one within 5 years as they undercut Canyon and add better component bling.

Avatar
gsavill90 (not verified) replied to BeatPoet | 7 years ago
0 likes

BeatPoet wrote:

gsavill90 wrote:

They sure know how to design an ugly bike!

It looks like a pretty bog standard aero bike to me. None of them are very pretty - and the logo is definitely crap. Having said that you'll probably buy one within 5 years as they undercut Canyon and add better component bling.

 

I think it's the headtube I have an issue with.
Look at the new Unicorn bike, it makes it look like the fork is at an odd angle.

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