Just in: Rose Xeon CW-4400

This striking green-over-black head turner is the CW-4400 from Rose Bikes, a German manufacturer that sells bikes direct to customers. Like Canyon and other brands that also sell direct, this means substantial savings if you're happy buying a bike in a box. This SRAM Force and Mavic Cosmic Carbone-equipped bike costs just £2,844.12. That sounds like pretty good value for money.

At the heart of the CW-4400 is a frame designed with aerodynamics in mind. Aero is the hottest buzzword in the cycling industry this year. Or is it disc brakes? Anyway, the CW-4400’s frame has the requisite teardrop shaped tube profiles, with an exceptionally deep down tube and head tube junction, giving the bike a striking aesthetic. Rose don't give any aero claims with this bike though, so it will be interesting to see how we feel it performs against some of the other aero road bikes we've reviewed recently.

All cables have been routed internally, neatly finished in the large head tube.

It’s clear from the oversized chainstays and huge bottom bracket area that the bike has been designed to provide a stiff platform for fast riding and keen handling, while still attempting to slice through the air with less drag. The bottom bracket is a BB386 standard.

Frame weight is a claimed 1,150g, with this bike as it’s pictured weighing 7.53kg (16.6lb) on the road.cc Scales of Truth. That’s with a full SRAM Force groupset with a compact 50/34-tooth chainset. You might expect a 53/39-tooth setup on a bike built purely for going fast, and you can specifiy one using Rose’s online configurator. This allows you to completely customise the bike to any specification or price you want, so if you prefer different wheels, for example, you can make that choice. It’s a level of customisation that isn’t offered by many other big bike brands.

The wheels on our review bike are Mavic Cosmic Carbon SLE’s. They are a considerable chunk of the price tag, with a retail price just north of £1k, but are an £807 upgrade over the regular CW-4400. They have a 52mm rim made using an aluminium rim with a carbon fairing, with a 1,620g claimed weight for the pair. As mentioned, the online bike configurator allows you to spec other wheels if you prefer. Tyres are Mavic’s own.

Finishing kit is a slightly unusual pairing of a Ritchey WCS EvoCurve aluminium handlebar and Easton EA90 stem, with Rose supplying their own carbon seatpost. A seat clamp with twin rearward-facing Allen bolts contributes to the aero features of the bike. The post is topped off with a Selle Italia SLS saddle.

All that for under £3,000 makes this a competive package, and shows there are real savings to be had when buying direct. It does mean you have to recieve the bike in a box and assemble it yourself, but that's no obstacle if you're competent with a multi-tool.

For comparison purposes, the recently reviewed Ridley Noah Fast and Scott Foil. both leap out as being bikes that Xeon CW will be measured alongside. There’s a host of other aero road bikes, as we found when we rounded up 12 of the most popular on the market.