The Mach2 is XLAB's latest tri bike, and I was surprised when I walked by the booth at last year's Interbike and noticed it, because the frameset looked too involved and intricate to be the work of a guy who owns one of triathlon's largest retailers as well as a distribution company. With all those jobs, plus the requisite husband/father duties, you wouldn't think Nytro Multisport's Craig Turner would bother himself with the 4:1 aspect ratio of a new, custom-shaped seat stay, yet the Mach2 includes features like that.
At $1995 you get an almost full Shimano Ultegra bike, with Profile's all-carbon ACD fork in a 1.125" diameter steerer and an integrated headset. This is a big jump up from the Hawi, the already-nice value in triathlon bikes XLAB used to sell.
The rest of the kit includes XLAB's aero seat post, which is nicely integrated into the aero (with a cut-out) seat tube, and the diameters of the seat tube-and-post complex are about the same all the way from the saddle to the bottom bracket. The bars are Profile Design's Aerolites, the saddle is Selle Italia Nytrox Gel.
There are three sizes of this bike imported into the United States, and these (53cm, 55cm, 57cm) are all built with 700c wheels (the wheels are, by the way, Bontrager). All the models have 76-degree seat tubes, and they've got realistically short top tubes. They are short enough, for example, that you'd be cramped if you tried to ride the Mach2 much steeper than 76-degrees. What I mean is, many 76-degree bikes are too long in the top tube to be ridden at 76 degrees. If you steepen them up to, say, 79 or 80 degrees, many of these bikes ride well, that is, they're 79-degree bikes masquerading as 76-degree bikes. The top tubes in the Mach2, on the other hand, are too short to be rendered shorter still. This means the Mach2 frames are ideal 76-degree bikes, they are fit to be ridden at their intended seat angle, and not to be ridden very much more steeply. If you really want to ride at 76 degrees, consider the Mach2. If you want to ride at 80 degrees, don't.
As you see these bikes around the country, you'll notice that about half of them have kits that don't conform to the one listed above (or the Dura Ace 10sp kit, which ups the Mach2's price to about $2800). This is because the Mach2 is also sold as a frameset, and quite of few of XLAB's dealers piece together their own tri kits. Just make sure that the kits are spec'd with bars that match the frame's geometry. The Mach2's head integrated tubes are just a touch over 12cm, 13cm and 14cm tall in 53cm, 55cm, and 57cm sizing, and these will yield low bar heights, especially for a 76-degree bike. This means the Profile Aerolite is probably the ideal bar, and if not that then a bar with a similarly high stack between the base bar and the top of the armrest. It would be hard to ride the Mach2 with an unstacked VisionTech or Hed bar. Keep that in mind with this bike.
The Mach2 carves its own niche. There are quite a few tri bikes priced between $1500 and $1700 that don't have a fork like the ACD, and aren't full Ultegra with aero frame features. Then there are bikes like QR's Caliente and Cervelo's P2K, which have famous sexy features and are among triathlon's most coveted models, but you can't get them for $1995. The Mach2 slides nicely between all of these and elbows a bit of well-deserved showroom floor space.
You'll find the Mach2 at Nytro Multisport in Encinitas (N. San Diego), of course, and also at Bikesport in Dearborn, Michigan, Richardson Bike Mart outside of Dallas, Swim Bike Run in Miami, Contender Bike Shop in Salt Lake, and elsewhere.
The Mach2 is XLAB's latest tri bike, and I was surprised when I walked by the booth at last year's Interbike and noticed it, because the frameset looked too involved and intricate to be the work of a guy who owns one of triathlon's largest retailers as well as a distribution company. With all those jobs, plus the requisite husband/father duties, you wouldn't think Nytro Multisport's Craig Turner would bother himself with the 4:1 aspect ratio of a new, custom-shaped seat stay, yet the Mach2 includes features like that.
At $1995 you get an almost full Shimano Ultegra bike, with Profile's all-carbon ACD fork in a 1.125" diameter steerer and an integrated headset. This is a big jump up from the Hawi, the already-nice value in triathlon bikes XLAB used to sell.
There are three sizes of this bike imported into the United States, and these (53cm, 55cm, 57cm) are all built with 700c wheels (the wheels are, by the way, Bontrager). All the models have 76-degree seat tubes, and they've got realistically short top tubes. They are short enough, for example, that you'd be cramped if you tried to ride the Mach2 much steeper than 76-degrees. What I mean is, many 76-degree bikes are too long in the top tube to be ridden at 76 degrees. If you steepen them up to, say, 79 or 80 degrees, many of these bikes ride well, that is, they're 79-degree bikes masquerading as 76-degree bikes. The top tubes in the Mach2, on the other hand, are too short to be rendered shorter still. This means the Mach2 frames are ideal 76-degree bikes, they are fit to be ridden at their intended seat angle, and not to be ridden very much more steeply. If you really want to ride at 76 degrees, consider the Mach2. If you want to ride at 80 degrees, don't.
