 In this video, I'm going to provide my first impressions on the Super Lightweight Factor O2 VAM, which I purchased as my own personal road bike at the start of this year and a bike that was built up with lightweight parts at Taylor Cycles in May this year. I'll link to my purchase and build video below if you want to check those out, but let's break this first impressions into five main parts. I want to share with you arguably the best thing about this Factor O2 VAM. Part number two, the numbers including weight and price. Part number three is geometry and design. Part number four is my riding experiences so far. And part number five is an extension of my riding experiences, which is a unique standout characteristic that I need to talk about. So part number one, arguably the best thing about this bike. Now, after Factor Engineering team are watching this video, which I doubt they are, but if they were, they would probably get a little bit defensive about point number one because the company has a heritage in highly complex motorsport engineering solutions. And they've carried that engineering pedigree into the way they make their bikes, including owning the manufacturing process out of Taiwan. However, despite all that, arguably the best thing about this Factor O2 VAM is that in 2021, and I believe beyond, you can purchase this bike in the magnificent rim brakes. And that is extremely rare these days. And can I just say this bike here out of the four I currently own is the quietest and least irritating of them all. So Factor, save the rim brakes, keep this train going. Part number two are the numbers including weight and price. So this Factor O2 VAM frame set with black ink bar stem combo, seat post, bottom bracket, and some other minor bits and pieces comes in at $7,800 AUD. I know that is a significant amount of coin. And for my build, you can add in some super lightweight decadence or Cayden 35mm carbon tubular wheels at $2,000 AUD, SRAM Red Mechanical 22, which came in at $2,750 AUD, tires, cages, smaller bits and pieces, totaled $750 AUD, totaling this bike at $13,300 AUD. So this is actually the most expensive bike I have ever owned in my 11, 12 year riding or cycling history. Is it the best? We'll have to wait and see. In terms of weight, and this is where Factor destroyed the field, the frame at a 54 centimeter level came in at 715 grams and the uncut fork, 266 grams, totaling 981 grams combined. The complete build without pedals, cages and mount was 5.6 kilograms and the bike fully loaded. The Factor O2 VAM came in at just over 6 kilograms, which is borderline ridiculous, but super fun up hills. Part number three is geometry and design. Looking at this bike, it's a traditional shape, which I like. Straight lines and seat stays, which meet the seat tube at a more traditional junction, unlike most of the industry these days, which is going for dropped seat stays. The forks are noticeably small and narrow, no doubt for weight savings and aerodynamic benefits, and the bottom bracket area is quite sizable for a bike that is focused on weight reduction. Now, achieving such a low weight target, according to Factor, they have used ultra high pressure molds in this frame, enabling the removal of excess resin from their base material, making the carbon stronger, lighter and more efficient. Factor also uses a blend of boron fibers in the seat tube, text-stream advanced carbon reinforcements used at the deepest layers of the frame and pitch carbon fiber and ultra high modulus solution in the top tube and down tube. Now, full transparency in regards to what I just said, I am no carbon fiber expert, but I have been reading and researching a lot of bike manufacturers' websites over the past four to five years since I've been reviewing bikes, and what I can say is Factor really seemed to be bringing their engineering practices into their marketing material, which I haven't really seen to this extent before, and I feel is a testament to the type of brand they are. Now, in terms of geometry, and this is quite an interesting one, if I compare the Factor O2 VAM to a typical all-round race geometry, being the BMC team machine, which I also own, the Factor O2 has one major standout being the wheelbase, close to 20mm shorter than the BMC team machine. This is quite a significant difference. Now, I find shorter wheelbases appear mostly on aggressive aero race bikes, and the reason why they appear on aggressive aero race bikes, because in most, not all, but most instances, a shorter wheelbase can be used as a tool to create a stiffer, more responsive frame that can also significantly reduce flex. And for me, the shortest wheelbase on a bike that I can recall riding in recent times is the Cannondale System 6, that's the Cannondale aero aggressive race bike. And what I find interesting is the Factor O2 VAM has a shorter wheelbase than even the most aggressive aero bike I have ever ridden, which is a really interesting topic we'll carry into points 4 and 5. So I've ridden the Factor now seven or eight times, including a big 155km ride on the weekend that's just been to really test this bike out. Now, before I share my experiences with you, just note that I'm a heavier rider, a lot of people ask me how tall I am, I'm 179cm in terms of height and I weigh about 80kg, just under 175lbs and I feel my weight could be playing a role in my anecdotal experiences I'm about to share with you now. But one of the big things that I have noticed with the Factor O2 VAM is it feels incredibly soft, particularly in the rear. As mentioned, I rode the Factor 155km on the weekend on harsh country roads and I got back feeling fresh. Some of the stiffer bikes I've ridden in the all-round race category, you'll go for a ride for three, four, five hours and you'll come back and you will feel a little bit of soreness or stiffness in the lower back and the neck and shoulders from being in that position for a long period of time and feeling the road come through the bike. But with the Factor O2 VAM, I was feeling fresh as I mentioned after 155km in the saddle and I would go as far as saying that this bike here is arguably just as if not more comfortable than the BMC team machine which is arguably the most comfortable all-round race bike in the all-round race category. Obviously, the Factor O2 is very nimble when climbing. I've never experienced a bike that is so easy to throw around underneath you. It's very responsive through the bottom bracket area and the fact that the bike itself is 25% lighter than most other bikes I have test ridden or owned. That lightness is not a small sensation you have to feel for. It is overwhelmingly obvious this is a light bike and as it should feel that way for a bike that is around $8,000 AUD just for the frame set. I also think the shorter wheelbase adds to the sensation of how responsive the Factor feels out of the saddle. So point number five is a unique standout characteristic. So I feel like I need to tread carefully on this one because a lot of people get fixated on stiffness. I get a lot of questions to my many inboxes because I review bikes about specific bikes and quite often the predominant question is how stiff is the bike? And look, stiffness is great if you're pumping out 1500 watts in a sprint or you like that sensation of an aggressive bike underneath you. But do we all need a lot of stiffness? I don't think so. And despite Factor implying the bike is stiff on their website and other reviews using the stiffness term more than I can understand, this is not a stiff bike. Now I know we shouldn't put this bike on an indoor trainer, but I want to demonstrate something to you to give you an idea visually of the flex in the rear. Let's compare an aero bike being the windspace T1500 on the trainer to the Factor O2VAM. And as you can see from the footage, I simply will not ride the Factor O2 on the trainer and on the road that visual you can see there. I can certainly feel that in the rear of the bike flexing side to side and back and forth while out on the road. Now having said that, there's certainly the right amount of stiffness coming through the bottom bracket area. So I'm not sensing a loss of power transfer or anything like that. More so the way the bike responds to bumps, divots and harsh road conditions, you'll definitely notice some flex. Keep in mind that the benefit of this flexing effect is the Factor O2VAM is very forgiving. It's a super comfortable ride. And obviously despite the technology factor used to make the frame so light and the shorter wheelbase design, there's less material in the frame which makes stiffness more challenging. So if you're the type of rider that likes stiffness, you're like aggressiveness, this is not going to be the bike for you. However, if you like to go long, you like comfort, you love hill climbing, that's an obvious one. Then assuming that you're not a heavy rider, I'm 80 kilograms, about 175 pounds as mentioned earlier. And I feel like I'm on the borderline of getting too heavy for this bike. So you're not pushing the boundaries of weight. You'll be hard pressed to find a bike that can give you this amount of comfort and nimbleness wrapped into one package. If you've gotten value out of this first impression today, please don't forget to give the video a like and I'll catch you in the next video.