As we look forward to the return of the pro road races next week, one bike that we’ve all got our eyes on is the Factor Ostro VAM of grand tour specialist Chris Froome. Here is his 2021 setup.
Factor says that the Ostro VAM is an aero disc-brake bike that combines the low weight of its O2 VAM with the aero performance of its ONE model. This follows the general 2020 market trend of combining two bikes into one and you’ll find everything that you’d expect to find on this carbon racer.
The front end is fully integrated with all of the brake and gear cabling hidden inside the handlebar, stem and headtube.
On Froome’s bike, that front end is going to be hiding the Shimano Dura-Ace Di2 wires and hydraulic brake hoses and if you catch him staring down at his stem, he’ll probably have his eyes fixed on the data on his Hamerhead head unit.
That data will be coming from a 4iiii power meter and should Froome look back just a little bit, his eyes will be drawn to a rather chunky integrated bar/stem from Black Inc.
Froome is rather famous for climbing at his own pace and using small gears to keep his legs spinning. From the images that we’ve seen, the Osymetric chainrings that he used at Ineos are gone in favour of the standard Dura-Ace round chainrings. We will likely see Froome using everything from a 34-tooth inner chainring right through to a 56-tooth outer depending on the day’s terrain.
At the rear of the bike, Froome will have the option to use a CeramicSpeed OSPW system. The claimed wattage savings are not to be sniffed at, and we know Froome is a fan of the small details.
Another non-standard choice that the Israel Start-Up Nation riders are using is SwissStop disc brake pads and rotors, and this will be Froome’s first full season of racing on disc brakes.
Wheels come from Factor’s in-house brand Black Inc. The riders have a choice of 30, 45 or 60mm deep tubular race wheels. Maxxis provides the tyres in both tubular and tubeless form.
The team is supplied with Selle Italia saddles, which will be a move away from Froome’s usual perch of choice, Fizik.
1 thought on “Bike at Bedtime – Chris Froome’s 2021 Race Bike – Factor OSTRO VAM”
Have to say I’ve been
Have to say I’ve been delighted with my Factor O2. I was a bit sceptical at first, as you could easily buy a decent Specialized or Pinarello with the money, but I wanted something different.
I did a lot of review scanning to try to ensure that I wasn’t wasting my money, but even so there wasn’t a great deal out there at the time. In the end it was the fact that it was AG2Rs’ climbing bike that has also been used on Paris-Roubaix convinced me that it would thrive on our pot-holed roads.
I’ve not been disappointed. It has never missed a beat: it is stiffer, but as comfortable as my C50 and handles just as well. Of course, the C50 is 16 years old, but it still a benchmark product in my mind, at least. The 02 is not as planted, or on rails as the C50 seems to be, but it’s equally stable when cornering at speed and more agile without being flighty.
The wheels are <1400g and have taken a pasting without incident – and the handlebars are so comfortable. I won’t say much about the Ceramicspeed bearings as I’m not a washing machine and am not convinced I need them, but the fact that they are ‘thrown in’ with the price means that the whole package seem remarkable value for money.