Speed for the people

Factor's new Monza aims to make race performance more accessible

- Words Laurence Kilpatrick Photography Tapestry

Bike manufacturers are always looking for new ways to make high-performance bikes for professional riders that are both fast and deeply desirable.

For us mortals, though, something a few notches down is not only more financially realistic, but often more compatible with the kind of riding we do.

This is a point not lost on Factor, and it's something that ex-pro David Millar, Factor's brand director, says has strongly influenced the design of the new Monza.

'Our Ostro VAM is a full-on racing bike but it wouldn't be the bike you'd choose every day,' he says. 'So we wanted the Monza to have the same handling and not far off the same aerodynamic performance, but also be robust and practical.'

Built on the blueprint of the Ostro VAM aero race bike, the Monza - named after the legendary race track that hosts the Italian Grand Prix - shares many of its more premium sibling's traits. The truncated aerofoil profiles of the seat tube, down tube and head tube all bear close resemblance to the Ostro VAM, only the tube sections are slightly larger. The same is true of the seatstays and seatpost, which are a bit chunkier on the Monza compared to the Ostro VAM, and are designed to simplify the bike's fabrication for cost savings.