NEIL PRYDE - DIABLO & ALIZE REVIEW
Neil Pryde. You’ve heard of them. Windsurfing, right? Well, almost. To a range of boards, booms, masts, and sails, the adventure sports conglomerate has added bicycles: a tightly focused range of just two frames, available in factory and bespoke colour schemes, and with a choice of two high end, cut-no-corners specifications that serve as a statement of the manufacturer’s intent to be regarded as serious players in the bicycle industry.
We have both models: the Diablo (super stiff but surprisingly comfortable) and the Alize (lightning fast, ultra racy, and, thanks to an ingenious seatpost option, able to transform to a time trial/triathlon bike at the twist of an Allen key).
The degree to which Neil Pryde has hit the ground rolling with its bike range is, at first glance, astonishing. A string of impressive reviews may have left other, more established manufacturers grinding their teeth in frustration at the welcome extended to the industry’s top table by bike journos falling over themselves to bestow approval on their elegant creations, but a moment’s reflection renders their immediate success less surprising. Think about it: decades of working with carbon fibre and a collaboration with BMW’s Designworks USA team was always going to flatten Neil Pryde’s learning curve. And having established a reputation as market leaders on the water, they were never likely to squander their good name with an ill-advised foray into cycling.
Top of their small but perfectly formed range is the Diablo, described in the marketing blurb as an ‘all round racing and climbing bike’ - a fair assessment, in our opinion. This is a machine to ride hard all day. We found plenty of stiffness in the frame, but no discomfort. The FSA carbon seatpost was sufficiently compliant to allow us to pedal in comfort while the flex free bottom bracket did its job of transferring every ounce of our energy directly to the cranks. Handling was reassuringly neutral given the Diablo’s billing as a take-no-prisoners racing machine. We’d expected something more flighty, but were pleased to discover a Madone-like neutrality at the front end. The Diablo fairly shot up some of the steepest climbs in the Purbecks, and took off like the proverbial scalded cat on out-of-the-saddle sprints along the flat.
The Diablo’s frame is built around an ‘exoskeleton’. Continuous carbon fibres run through the junctions of each tube in the monocoque front triangle, while strategically placed strengthening ribs are found in the fork blades, chain stays, and seat stays. The result is the stiffness so evident on flat out sprints when every ounce of effort passed through the pedals is rewarded.
The Alize is allegedly less stiff than the Diablo but we searched in vain for flex. This is one of the fastest bikes we’ve ridden, responding superbly to power through the pedals on almost any gradient. We took an undulating back road from Swanage to
Corfe, and found that it flew up the climbs, remained steady on the downhills, and delivered an impressive kick while sprinting out-of-the-saddle in to the next rise. For those who like their bikes responsive, the Alize is the choice. You’ll find machines with more neutral handling (the sister Diablo model, or Trek’s superb Madone, for example) but for those averse to cruise control, and who welcome instant feedback through the bars and pedals, the Alize strikes the right chord.
At the heart of the Alize is an aero-profiled monocoque frame, whose heavily shaped downtube and seat tube (featuring the vaunted, flat-backed ‘extended kammtail’ design) are the results of extensive wind tunnel testing. They meet at a giant bottom bracket that screams stiffness and doesn’t disappoint. The top tube broadens towards the head tube, whose huge lower bearing is another weapon in the Alize’s war on flex. Conventional 'teardrop' tube shapes are in short supply, a result perhaps of Neil Pryde’s self-confessed ‘blank canvas’ approach to bicycle design. The downtube arcs around the rear wheel, shrinking the rear triangle and contributing to the Alize’s lightning acceleration.
But its secret weapon surely lies in a selection of aerodynamic, carbon seatposts. We rode the conventional post on our jaunt through the Isle of Purbeck, but for those engaged in a competitive outing, whether against the clock in a time trial, or in the cycling leg of a triathlon, a second post is available, creating a 78 degree angle that places the rider in a wind-cheating, low profile position. Simply add tri bars to complete the transformation.
In a breach with the cosy convention of established brands, both machines feature an impressively complete specification. The brochure’s promise of Shimano Ultegra components is met with a full 6700 groupset of front and rear mechs, brakes and levers, chainset, bottom bracket, cassette and chain, and not the sole Shimano component, someone else’s chainset, and own brand brakes made from recycled spoons offering common to manufacturers who believe their reputation is made. Add to the complete Ultegra groupset a Mavic Ksyrium SL wheelset shod with Hutchinson Atom tyres, a Selle Italia SL saddle, and FSA finishing kit, and you have a very complete bike indeed. We found the narrow FSA compact bars especially comfortable and spent almost all of our time on the shallow drops, or resting our hands on its flattened ‘wingtop’ during extended climbs.
Ride is among an exclusive first group of dealers handpicked to stock the new Neil Pryde bikes. Both machines are also available with Shimano’s range-topping Dura Ace groupset, Mavic Ksyrium SL wheels, and an FSA SLK cockpit. For those looking to build a dream bike, the framesets of both the Alize and the Diablo are offered with Lightweight’s uber special Standard III, deep section carbon fibre wheels. Nice.
We had a blast riding the Alize and the Diablo. We’d recommend the Alize for searing pace over shorter distances (it’s a natural for the Moreton criteriums, for example) and the Diablo for all day rides requiring comfort and speed. Both are available for demo, so give us a call and give them a try.
Timothy John
Post your comment
Comments
No one has commented on this page yet.
RSS feed for comments on this page | RSS feed for all comments
