Superlight Sportive

“This is what I should be riding, really,” Chris Boardman, the firm’s head of research and development, told RoadCyclingUK. “I currently ride the AiR, which has quite a low and extreme position. The geometry on the SLS is a little more relaxed but it’s still a super-light, race-worthy frame.”

The sportive bike market has seen huge growth over the past two years and the SLS is Boardman’s take. Andy Smallwood, the company’s operations director, described the SLS as an “endurance race bike” and that’s reflected in the geometry, with the 160mm headtube for a medium frame low by sportive bike standards but still 20mm taller than the equivalent size SLR (Superlight Racing) frame, while the low weight also marks this out as a frame with a performance edge. The top-of-the-range SRAM Red 22-equipped SLS 9.8 falls under the UCI’s 6.8kg weight limit at a claimed 6.6kg.

The SLS doesn’t have the show-stopping technology of a machine like the Trek Domane, which uses an ‘IsoSpeed’ decoupler to isolate the seattube and toptube to improve comfort, nor the weight-saving ‘Power Pyramid’ of the Cannondale Synapse, but instead relies on heavily-shaped seatstays to improve compliance.

Claimed frame weight is 850g – super-light for a sportive frame, where comfort typically trumps low weight – and the frame is paired with a 360g fork. The frame takes many of its design cues from the SLR (Superlight Racing) frame, with a huge downtube which morphs into an oversized, PressFit 30 bottom bracket and box-section chainstays, promising plenty of power transfer. All cables run internally and the frame is compatible with electronic and mechanical groupsets.

The SLS will be sold as a frameset only for £1,299.99, or in one of four complete bike builds, with Shimano 105 (SLS 9.0, claimed weight 7.9kg, £1,899.99), Shimano Ultegra (SLS 9.2, 7.4kg, £2,599.99), Shimano Ultegra Di2 (SLS 9.4 Di2, 7.5kg, £3,199.99) and SRAM Red 22 (SLS 9.8, 6.6kg, £3,999.99).