The brand from Schweinfurt has completely reorganised its racing bike portfolio for 2010. This includes the newly designed, formally independent aluminium frame of the "Q-Race" series. Its tubes were formed using the hydroforming process and change their profile several times during the process. It is not overly stiff, but thanks to the laterally stiff fork, the chassis does not give rise to any nasty surprises. The third chainring on the Ultegra cranks also takes the sting out of steep climbs; good tyres and a comfortable saddle ensure that you feel at ease on this sporty bike. One point of criticism is the handlebar-stem combination: If you stick to the torque specification of four Newton metres when clamping the handlebars, you can easily twist them. It was only really tight at nine Newton metres.
Purchase/info: Haibike, phone 09721/65940, www.haibike.de
Weight frame/fork/headset bearing*: 1,480/567/64 g
Frame sizes**: 48, 50, 52, 54, 56, 58, 60, 62 cm
Seat/steering angle: 73.5°/74°
Seat / top / head tube: 525/560/160 mm
Wheelbase/caster: 980/49 mm
Stack/reach***: 577/390 mm
EQUIPMENT
Fork: Haibike Carbon
Steering bearing: VP, 1-1/8 inch
Brakes/gears: Shimano Ultegra (52/39/30 t.)
Bottom bracket: Shimano Ultegra
Wheels/tyres: Mavic Aksium Race/Vredestein Fortezza TriComp tyres
Handlebar/ stem: Pro XLC
Saddle/post: Selle Italia XR/Pro XLC
*weighted weights; **manufacturer's specification; test frame size greased; ***stack/reach: projected vertical or horizontal dimension from centre of bottom bracket to top edge of headset cap
