Few brands make bikes large enough to test for our occasional series, High and Mighty, but German brand, Rose, is among a handful that does.
Its extremely smart-looking Xeon RS-3000 is the latest to cross the threshold of RCUK Towers and while its 66cm frame places it some way beyond the scale of most of the machines we receive for test, it is not its proportions that draw attention so much as the super sleek, stealth black anodized finish. This is a seriously elegant machine. Tipping the RCUK scale at just 7.41kg, it’s also seriously light for a bike of this size (smaller sizes, unsurprisingly, are lighter, with Rose claiming 6.78kg for a 57cm frame).
A little on the Rose story before we consider the machine at hand. Founded in 1903 in the German town of Bocholt, the business has grown exponentially, and now operates from an 8,000 square metre logistics centre, where 150 bikes a day are assembled. A 7,500 square metre warehouse is about to be finished. Oh, and there’s a 6,000 square metre flagship store too.
Central to the Rose story is the operation of a direct sales model where bikes are spec-ed and ordered on-line and delivered by mail order by the customer. Readers will have their own views on the perceived advantages and disadvantages of the model, one operated by Canyon, among others. For some, the absence of a local bike shop from the supply chain will be a deal breaker. For others, the significant savings offered will be highly attractive.
Enough background. Let’s meet the bike.
The chassis
At the heart of the Rose Xeon RS-3000 is a triple-butted, 7005/T6-series aluminium frame, whose welds are uniformly neat, if not of the smoothed variety, on this anodized model, at least (on painted models, they are, we’re assured). Like several of the new generation of aluminium frames to win our seal of approval (the BB86-equipped Kinesis Athein, and the Pressfit 30-toting Raleigh Miltis Comp to name just two), it draws many of its design features from contemporary carbon bikes. The bottom bracket shell provides an unobtrusive home for a Shimano BB86 press fit unit, for example, while the headtube – at 230mm, the longest we’ve encountered – tapers from a 1.5” lower bearing.
Many of the tube profiles are rectangular, perhaps adding something to the stiffness as well as providing a pleasing aesthetic. We – or, to put it more accurately, our 208cm test pilot – will find out in the weeks ahead. The toptube is a case in point: one we measured at 61cm, with a flattened upper surface, and which broadens from 25mm at the seat-tube to 40mm at its junction with the headtube.
The downtube is oversized: another feature to follow the prevailing aesthetic of carbon frames. We also think its girth has been deployed in the use of a thin tube wall, so impressively low is the weight for a machine of this scale and material. It’s subtly ovalised at either end, but in opposing planes: vertically at its junction with the headtube and horizontally as it joins the bottom bracket. The tapered headtube provides sufficient material for the junction at one end, and the bottom bracket shell – large enough to accommodate the aforementioned press fit bottom bracket – offers a suitably large contact at the other. Both should offer stiffness, a quality this bike will require in abundance, given the watts likely to be thrown at it by our test pilot.
The flattened, pencil thin seat-stays provide a sharp visual contrast with the oversized tubes discussed above. The sudden switch from massive to minimalist, however, is unlikely to be the whim of the man at the Rose drawing board. Such slender profiles are frequently deployed in a bid to induce compliance in an area of the bike able to transmit shock from road to rider with depressing efficiency. Those on Cervelo’s R5, for example, are of similar appearance. We’ll be interested to hear from our man in the saddle about the effectiveness or otherwise of those deployed here in countering road vibration.
The 409mm chainstays have a robust appearance, and, like the toptube, a rectangular profile, that broadens to 30mm at the junction with the bottom bracket. This will be another area of the bike subjected to significant force from our 103kg test pilot, and so the stiffness will need to match their rugged appearance if his efforts aren’t to be squandered by flex.
We began by commenting on the understatedly elegant appearance of the Xeon RS-3000 and a close inspection reveals many subtle, but pleasing features. All of the cables are routed internally, for example. The rear brake cable disappears into the top-tube some 100mm from its junction with the headtube, and emerges from the toptube’s upper plane 80mm from the seat-tube. The gear cables disappear into small ports, one either side of the headtube, 70mm above the fork ‘crown’. The cable for the rear derailleur pops out at the end of the driveside chainstay, while the front mech cable emerges from the underside of the downtube and is channeled beneath the bottom bracket shell and up to the front derailleur by a plastic guide.
The components
We’ll cut to the chase: the specification for a machine costing just over £1435 is outstanding, and undoubtedly a legacy of the direct sales model described above. The full Shimano Ultegra 6800 mechanical groupset, our favoured Mavic Ksyrium Elite S aluminum clincher wheelset, and a no-corners-cut finishing kit supplied variously by brands including Ritchey and Selle Italia had us double checking the price.
A few more details on the finishing kit: the 46cm handlebar is Ritchey’s WCS Evo Curve, the stem is Ritchey’s WCS 4 Axis, and the seatpost is Ritchey’s WCS Carbon Monolink Flex Logic, topped, in the case of our test machine, with an adaptor for use with Selle Italia’s mono-railed SLS saddle. The only thing we’d change from the box would be the Mavic Yksion tyres, and as they’re supplied by Mavic with the wheels, Rose can hardly be blamed for passing them on.
If this description seems brief, then consider it refreshingly so. We do. Too many machines are supplied with half a groupset in our opinion, where brakes and chainset typically are substituted for unmatched, third-party offerings; Rose, by contrast, supply the Xeon RS-3000 with a full helping of Shimano’s second-from-top mechanical offering. Steering components and seatpost from the venerable Ritchey are matched, and the saddle is from one of the most respected manufacturers in the market. Chapeau, Rose.
The look
We began by commenting on the appearance of the Xeon RS-3000 and we’ll close this introduction to a bike we’ll be testing extensively in the weeks ahead in the same vein: it is one of the most elegant machines we’ve encountered for some time.
The black-on-black graphics, and the occasional use of a gloss finish on the anodized, and so matt frame, make this a bike that rewards close inspection. The impressively high standard of the components means there’s nothing to blight the appearance of this machine.
All that’s left to do is to ride. In the absence of step-ladder and stilts, we’ll be calling on the help of our regular High and Mighty test pilot. Check back soon for a full review.
Price: £1435.76
Size: 49cm, 51cm, 53cm, 55cm, 57cm, 59cm, 61cm, 63cm, 66cm
Colour: Black anodized
Website: Rose Bikes
