• Factor

ABOUT FACTOR

Factor Bikes was conceived from a commitment to innovation, speed and performance through advanced engineering; our soul lives in the union of technology and integration, while our heritage stems from advanced motorsport and aviation.In 2007 Factor Bikes was born in an industrial unit in Norfolk, England. Originally an offshoot of bf1systems, Factor began as a leading engineering firm dedicated to working at the highest levels of design with some of the fastest, most prestigious brands in the world including Ferrari, Aston Martin, Lamborghini, Maserati and many F1, Moto GP, and WRC teams.We first entered into the cycling world in 2009 with the revolutionary FACTOR001: its unique take on the road racing bicycle was a marvel as much for its beauty as its unique sophistication. It was years ahead of its time. As we’ve continued to grow and evolve, our core commitment hasn’t wavered: our engineering team continually pushes the envelope of what is possible. More pioneering development ensued and in 2012, Factor launched a collaboration with Aston Martin – the Factor ONE-77 £25k Hyper Bike.In 2013, we unveiled our first production bike, the innovatively aerodynamic Vis Vires that utterly eschewed the UCI rulebook. Combining all that had come before in a stunning package, it included a bf1systems-developed power meter, our proven Twin Vane split down tube and a split external ‘Dual Bayonet’ fork. The Vis Vires ushered in a whole new era of Superbike; one combining aerodynamics, total integration systems and data in one mould-breaking package. Our Vis Vires platform debuted to unanimous critical acclaim from both the world’s cycling press and prestigious design award committees.Early the following year, our engineering team began developing our next generation of frames: the ONE, ONE-S and the O2. While we’d worked closely with pro riders in the past, we felt the changes we envisioned required a more critical, race-proven, eye. Enter Baden Cooke. Baden was a top professional for 14 years, an Olympian, winning over 50 races. In 2003 Baden sprinted his way to a stage win and the overall Green jersey in the Tour de France beating both Robbie McEwen and Erik Zabel. Baden rode for powerhouse squads such as Orica GreenEDGE and Saxo Bank.The more our engineering team worked with Baden, the more we realized his feedback was not only discerning and accurate but also the perfect match for Factor. As Baden worked more with our design team, he fell in love with Factor’s vision and ideal. Then came the day when Baden took the Vis Vires out for a test ride. His fate was sealed. Shortly after his first ride on the Vis Vires, Baden cultivated a partnership with some cycling industry experts and, along with Vis Vires engineer Rob Gitelis, purchased Factor Bikes from bf1systems.Designed with input from both Baden and David Millar – British Road and TT champion and multiple Grand Tour stage winner – the new generation of Factor Bikes continue to build upon this innovative heritage with no compromise luxury performance.


FACTOR STANDARDS
Convention and status quo are not in our wheelhouse. Our DNA as a company is in our standards and you’ll find our ethos ringing through every detail of our work, starting with manufacturing standards.Producing carbon fibre bikes comes with certain realities. If you want to make thousands of copies of a frame, you need a large number of well-trained staff and more generously cut sheets of carbon fibre to allow for a noticeable margin of error. That extra carbon fibre does nothing to increase the ride quality, reduce the weight or improve stiffness in any meaningful way. What it does do is allow workers to work faster, with less precision and still produce a reliable frame.That’s not what we do at Factor.Our purpose is to pursue unparalleled excellence. We don’t offer a less expensive version of our frames made with more layers of cheaper fiber. We make the best version of each bike we can, because to compromise is simply not the Factor way.

TECHNOLOGY
Designing an aerodynamic bicycle is maddeningly difficult. Compared to a plane or a car, there are a stunning number of surfaces and edges to evaluate. Worse, with each pedal stroke, a rider fundamentally changes the aerodynamics of the system. Planes don’t have to flap their wings. When we design, we consider the entire system—bicycle, rider, rider positions and wheels.The only way to deliberately design a bike immune to the wind is to use Computational Fluid Dynamics software (known as CFD). While most outsource, Factor’s modeling is performed exclusively in-house on powerful workstations that make a home computer look like a pocket calculator in comparison.To achieve superior performance, we devised our OTIS—One Total Integration System. OTIS includes a one-piece bar and stem for smoother airflow, a proprietary external steering fork to decrease frontal area whilst giving the wind more surface to follow and our Twin Vane split down tube.With our SLiCK, a triathlon and time trial bike, we left no trick untapped. We designed a specially optimized version of our Twin Vane down tube for the SLiCK to take advantage of the lessons we learned with the ONE. The Twin Vane down tube may look like an unusual response to aerodynamics, but in fact it is the best answer to the problem of creating an aerodynamic road frame that provides the stiffness and feel of a traditional road bike.Likewise, we also designed the frame and fork to be paired with our Black Inc. Three front-wheel and Disc rear wheel for the ultimate in slippery speed. For us, aerodynamics is a fundamental pillar of our work, not an afterthought.