Tifosi have completed the set by adding a titanium frame to a line-up which already included steel, aluminium and carbon fibre. The CK8 Duro is Tifosi’s first Ti bike and has arrived at RoadCyclingUK for review.
The brand name may refer to the passionate fans of Italian cycling but Tifosi is a British company owned by Chicken Cycles, distributor of goods from Campagnolo, Selle Italia, Miche and Vittoria, among others.
Tifosi’s bikes are typically well suited to UK riding as a result, with mudguards a regular feature, and the CK8 Duro is no different – it’s billed as a winter/fast touring/audax bike and has eyelets for full ‘guards and a rear rack.
The CK8 Duro is made from 3Al-2.5V titanium – that’s the standard grade of titanium alloy used for most bicycle frames and is a composite of 94.5 per cent titanium, three per cent aluminium and 2.5 per cent vanadium.
The frame’s understated tube profiles give it a classic look. The oversized downtube ovalises gently at its junction with the BSA bottom bracket, while it’s round tubes all the way for the toptube and seattube. Up front it’s a mix of old and new, with a straight-through 1-1/8″ headtube paired with a full carbon fork.
The CK8 Duro is essentially a titanium version of Tifosi’s existing, aluminium-framed CK7 which we enjoyed riding last year, and so it shares the same compact geometry. On our medium test bike (four sizes – S-XL – are available) that means there’s a 55cm toptube, 54cm seattube, and 72.5 and 74 degree headtube and seattube angles.
While the frame is at the heart of the bike, the CK8 Duro is also a showpiece for the rest of the brands in the Chicken Cycles stable, but that’s no bad thing.
The 10-speed Campagnolo Veloce groupset is the Italian component manufacturer’s entry-level offering but it’s a setup we’ve enjoyed using in the past, most recently on the De Rosa Milanino Training, and its combination of durability and affordability, combined with efficient shifting, make it a good choice for a bike of this ilk. The compact 50-34t chainset and 12-25t cassette should provide a fair spread of gears, though we typically see a 28t sprocket on a bike like this.
The only deviation from that Campagnolo Veloce groupset are the Miche Performance long-drop brakes, which provide room for the SKS Bluemels mudguards and, Tifosi say, 28mm tyres, though the CK8 Duro is initially specced with 23mm Vittoria Zaffiro rubber.
Campagnolo also provide the Scirocco 35 wheels, which, as the name suggest, are 35mm deep and, as a result, are pitched as “aerodynamic and yet easy to handle, responsive and light.” Claimed weight is 1,725g for the wheelset. Finally, Cinelli supply the aluminium DNA handlebar, stem and 27.2m seatpost.
We’ve weighed our test bike at 9.17kg, which is respectable for a titanium winter/fast touring/audax machine in this spec. Now to see how it rides. Check back soon for a full review.
Price: £2,474.99
Sizes: S-XL
Website: Tifosi
UK distributor: Chicken Cycles
