At first glance the Zephyr struck me as a great looking endurance bike, compared to other endurance or comfort bikes it looked more like a German sedan than a mom van. The question was how would it ride and would it's great looks make it suitable for a rider who still wanted to duke it out with the fast guys but needed a more relaxed position and smoother ride.
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The comfort/endurance category to me makes perfect design sense but here at Glory we live by the mantra "nobody wants less speed" so we don't often suggest this genre of bike. The Look 566 is one we have tested and found to be able to cross over as a race as well as endurance bike but some others just felt so sluggish and handle so slowly that we naturally steer away from them. The most popular of all endurance bikes "you know the one named after the bike shop in Canada" is just so Fugly looking that every time I see one I can't help but think it makes the rider look like a stay at home mom-man who gets to ride a little on the weekends.
On the road the NeilPryde Zephyr is a fantastic combination of stiff in the bottom bracket and smooth in the saddle, the headtube is really tall and the wheelbase notably longer than what I am used to which it put me in a different position. Since it was middle of winter and raining almost every day that I rode the Zephyr, this made some of the longer rides more tolerable. I also got a few gravel road rides in on the Zephyr and it really stood out here. Dropping down some of the fast twisty gravel sections near the famous Caesars Head this bike held its line beautifully and gave me a ton of extra confidence. The 27.2mm post, curved fork blades and cantilevered rear drop outs take a lot of the vibration out of the rough corrugations, it does the exact same on the road but it's so much more noticeable on the dirt.
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Group rides here in SC are not very fast, it's mostly the hills that dictate the pace so I did not get much of a chance to do anything like a crit or bunch sprint on the Zephyr but can say it's stiff enough to handle anything I can throw at it and the handling inspires enough confidence to hold a line in a tight bunch.
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The Zephyr's frame shapes are very pleasing to the eye and feel great to just run your hand over. The two paint schemes for 2014 compliment to frames shapes and the black/green IMHO is a real knockout color.
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Full internal mechanical cabling or Di2/EPS capable the Zephyr can be built up exactly as you want. With Super Record and some Bora's it would be under 15lbs (frame weight 1050g for size Large) and with Shimano 105 you could get it under $3K.
Zephyr is a endurance bike you could race if you wanted to, ride across the country on if you needed to and park in your man cave with pride. If you have the moobs to do it.
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NeilPryde Zephyr Frameset $2595
NeilPryde Zephyr Ultegra Bike $3695
The comfort/endurance category to me makes perfect design sense but here at Glory we live by the mantra "nobody wants less speed" so we don't often suggest this genre of bike. The Look 566 is one we have tested and found to be able to cross over as a race as well as endurance bike but some others just felt so sluggish and handle so slowly that we naturally steer away from them. The most popular of all endurance bikes "you know the one named after the bike shop in Canada" is just so Fugly looking that every time I see one I can't help but think it makes the rider look like a stay at home mom-man who gets to ride a little on the weekends.
On the road the NeilPryde Zephyr is a fantastic combination of stiff in the bottom bracket and smooth in the saddle, the headtube is really tall and the wheelbase notably longer than what I am used to which it put me in a different position. Since it was middle of winter and raining almost every day that I rode the Zephyr, this made some of the longer rides more tolerable. I also got a few gravel road rides in on the Zephyr and it really stood out here. Dropping down some of the fast twisty gravel sections near the famous Caesars Head this bike held its line beautifully and gave me a ton of extra confidence. The 27.2mm post, curved fork blades and cantilevered rear drop outs take a lot of the vibration out of the rough corrugations, it does the exact same on the road but it's so much more noticeable on the dirt.
Group rides here in SC are not very fast, it's mostly the hills that dictate the pace so I did not get much of a chance to do anything like a crit or bunch sprint on the Zephyr but can say it's stiff enough to handle anything I can throw at it and the handling inspires enough confidence to hold a line in a tight bunch.
The Zephyr's frame shapes are very pleasing to the eye and feel great to just run your hand over. The two paint schemes for 2014 compliment to frames shapes and the black/green IMHO is a real knockout color.
Full internal mechanical cabling or Di2/EPS capable the Zephyr can be built up exactly as you want. With Super Record and some Bora's it would be under 15lbs (frame weight 1050g for size Large) and with Shimano 105 you could get it under $3K.
Zephyr is a endurance bike you could race if you wanted to, ride across the country on if you needed to and park in your man cave with pride. If you have the moobs to do it.
NeilPryde Zephyr Frameset $2595
NeilPryde Zephyr Ultegra Bike $3695
