Tifosi SS26

With its 'Luminous Red' and matt black paint job, the Tifosi SS26 not only looks stunning but rides like it too – and all for a rather impressive price, considering the spec. With such phenomenal handling and superb comfort, it's a bike you'll never tire of riding hard and fast, whether that's around the local crit circuit or descending European mountain passes.

So why SS26? Well, according to Tifosi it's all to do with the opening scenes of the original Italian Job movie, where a Lamborghini Miura is being driven around the mountain road to the backing of Matt Monro's On Days Like These – that road is called the SS26.

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As soon as you ride the Tifosi you'll see the connection – or, more precisely, feel it. Those sorts of roads, a mountain pass with tight hairpins and long sweeping bends, are in its blood. Whether you are climbing them or, more importantly, descending.

Unfortunately a European trip for testing wasn't an option, but flinging it around as many local hills as I could find, the SS26 is pretty special.

Precision handling

The handling on this bike is unbelievable. The front end is so tight and direct that it'll hit the line you want it to with pinpoint precision every single time. The geometry, with its steep head angle, short wheelbase and long top tube, creates a bike that feels so balanced and surefooted underneath it really lets you hang it all out for maximum speed.

Coupled with the grip supplied by the Vittoria tyres, the lean angles you can achieve will see you close to removing skin from your kneecaps, with the real highlight being the speed at which the bike banks from left to right for a chicane. Picking it up from one side to flip to the other is easy and smooth, letting you keep the speed up – and explaining why riding this bike has increased my Strava KOM lead on my favourite test route by quite a large margin...

The SS26 never becomes flustered, either by rough road surfaces or by you going into a bend a little bit quicker than you think you should have. Be confident with the steering and it'll do exactly what you ask – don't worry about the possibility of exceeding its limits as I bet you'll find yours first.

Acceleration is brisk, too, thanks to the large bottom bracket junction, down tube and chainstays, which transfer the power as you push hard on the pedals. Nothing feels wasted here and the speed increases quickly, making you glad Campagnolo Chorus allows multiple downshifts from one push of the shifter so you can keep up.

Weighing just 7kg, the SS26 is no slouch when the road turns skywards, and thanks to that bottom end stiffness you really can lay all the power out on the climbs if you wish.

It's not all about limits and speed, though. Comfort is important if you want to ride fast for a long time and it's here that the Tifosi's designers have played a masterstroke with tube dimensions and carbon layup.

The thin seatstays help promote flex between the rider and the rear wheel. Pair this with the 27.2mm diameter seatpost, which flexes more than a 31.6mm model, and you have a very plush rear end that doesn't beat your muscles up. This becomes more noticeable as time goes on – I could happily ride the SS26 for three or four hours at around 20mph average and get off as if I'd been for an hour-long recovery ride.

Home grown

Tifosi might sound like an Italian brand but it's actually owned by UK distributor Chicken Cycle Kit, and a full-on race bike has been on the cards for a long time.

Wanting to put something back into grass routes racing, Chicken sponsored British elite amateur team Spirit Bikes and it was their riders who worked with Tifosi testing the early prototypes and equipment last year, with their feedback giving you what you see here in the photos.

The frame isn't from an open mould, so Tifosi hasn't gone down the route of adding its own branding to an off-the-shelf frame. The frame and fork are constructed from high modulus carbon fibre, which provides high stiffness and light weight; this medium test model has a claimed frame weight of just 950g – pretty impressive.

Tifosi has followed a pretty traditional route with tube profiling. A tapered head tube adds stiffness by increasing the cross sectional area, while the larger diameter also allows a bigger down tube to be used to resist twisting under hard effort.

The same happens at the other end, with the SS26 using an oversized press fit BB86 bottom bracket. This means the junction between seat tube, down tube and chainstays can increase in size for maximum power transfer.

All the cables are internal for a clean look, plus the SS26 will run either a mechanical or electronic groupset.

Italian ingredients

Chicken Cycles is distributor of both Campagnolo and Miche products so it's no surprise to see their components adorning the Tifosi.

You get a full Campag Chorus 11-speed groupset with carbon fibre brake levers, crankset and rear mech body, so it's certainly got the bling factor, and with a close-ratio 11-25 cassette and full size 53/39t chainset, the gearing is definitely for the racer.

If you are used to riding Shimano's latest iteration of gear shifters you might find the Chorus gear changes a little on the clunky side and actually quite 'finger fatiguing' on rolling terrain, but from personal experience of similar groupsets, Campag does wear in over the first 1,000 miles or so.

We tested the Miche SWR wheels on their own in 2014, and while they aren't the lightest carbon hoops out there for the money, they are very nice wheels; they don't give a rigid, harsh ride, more a solid yet plush kind of feel. The braking from the supplied Miche pads is very good too, even in the wet, helped by the awesome Chorus Skeleton brake callipers. 

Tifosi's blurb specs the 38mm versions but our test model came with 50s, and you do get a slight aero advantage. They are quite susceptible to crosswinds, though, making the steering a little twitchy at times.

The SWRs were paired with Vittoria's Rubino Pro tyres in a 25mm width (Tifosi specs 23mm), and what a great set of tyres they are. The soft compound offers plenty of grip and they roll quickly too, and while the wear rate might not be the best, I certainly didn't suffer any issues with cutting or punctures.

Keeping things Italian, Tifosi has specced Deda finishing kit from its high end Superzero (carbon seatpost) and Zero100 (stem and handlebar) ranges. The front end may be aluminium and very stiff, but the frame qualities take the sting out.

Topping off the seatpost is a Selle Italia SLR Flow saddle, which I found pretty comfortable for long distances and firm enough for those short sessions when you really want to get the power down.

Cost effective

Our test bike's build is the default from Chicken Cycles, and although £3499.99 isn't cheap, I think it still represents good value for money compared with many of the SS26's natural competitors. With a carbon fibre frameset as good as this, a carbon fibre wheelset, full Chorus groupset and Deda finishing kit, it's an impressive spec list when you add it all up.

The frame is the real star here, though, with the components being the icing on the cake. If you want to go down the frameset-only option, that can be yours for £1,249.99; compare that to, say, Canyon's new Ultimate CF SLX (a frame that, to my mind, shares all the qualities of the SS26) at £1999.99, and it shows how well priced the Tifosi is.

Conclusion

Overall, the Tifosi SS26 is an awesome piece of kit which makes riding very fast not only possible but hugely fun and engaging, as well as comfortable.

It's an all-round great package, focused mainly on speed, making it ideal for the racer or quick sportive rider. If you have three and a half grand to spend on a fast road bike, it should definitely make it onto your shortlist.

Verdict

The SS26 is a truly stunning race bike that is responsive, light and stiff – and comfortable