Swift Hypervox First Ride and Long Term Review

Posted in: Blog, Cycling | Jul 17, 2017 at 1:38 PM

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INTRODUCTION

To date I have been riding the AX Lightness Vial Ultra – one of the lightest framesets in the world. As mentioned in my review, there is no doubt about its lightness. The only concern I have was how fragile it can feel and that thing is so harsh. Yet, there is actually no reason for me to buy a new bike. If I’m being honest, it’s the N+1 principal that causes me to want to buy a new bike.

I’m also participating in Letape du Tour 2017 – which, as of the writing of this article, happened yesterday on the 16th of July. There is no better avenue to make an excuse to get a new bike than to participate in a grand sportive like this. Therefore, long story short, I purchased a second-hand Swift Hypervox frameset through Ebay which sold for 1/3 of the RRP price and yet only used handful of times by a racer somewhere in London.

My trip to Briancon (start line of the Letape) was preceded by stops in London then driving tour around Scotland before finally making my way to Briancon. I figured that if I went all the way to Europe just to do the Letape then went home, it would be a very expensive exercise. Therefore, I decided to extend my trip a bit to make it worthwhile.

So there I went. I asked the seller to ship the frame to my wife’s sister house in London and it arrived safely. To save money, and plus I was so happy with my AX setup anyway, I decided to strip my setup (components and all) off AX and transferred them to the Hypervox. My bike was built by The London Cycle Shop – which was one of the best bike shops I’ve dealt with in a long time.

The bike build details are as follows:
Frame: Swift Hypervox Small
Groupset: Sram Red
Crank: FSA K-Light with Power2Max power meter, 33 round chainring and 50 allBlack oval chanring
Handlebar: Deda Elementi Superleggera Road Handlebar
Stem: MCFK 70mm with -17 degree
Brakes: ee brakes
Pedals: Crankbrother Eggbeater Ti
Saddle: Dash TT.7
Wheels: Chinese OEM 50mm, 760gr front, 900gr rear (without skewers)
Bottle cage: Elite
Cassette: 11-42 Shimano MTB M8000
Chain: Shimano Ultegra
Total weight: 7.8kg

Yes, it is about 1kg heavier than my AX, but given the stability and sturdiness I should be getting out of it, I don’t mind.

In this article I would like to share with you my first ride impression as well as the long term review (sort of) given that I have used the bike during the Letape. It has been about 2 weeks from the day I get it built.

COMFORT

First things first, this bike is a lot more comfortable than the AX hands down! It is still a race bike therefore you do not expect an armchair ride. If I can put a number:

AX – 2/10
Hypervox – 5/10
Roubaix S-Works – 7 to 8/10

It is not a high score, but given where I was coming from, it is a huge improvements!

I thought my cycling path in Perth was already bad enough until I rode around London! Oh my…there were so many bumps and the road surface was pretty bad. For big bumps, you would feel a thud, and yes, you would still be bouncing on your seat. However, it felt muted. That “mute” feeling was even more prominent in smaller bumps. If you rode on a chip-seal road, the vibration was a lot more muted compared to AX. I simply couldn’t imagine what it would be like to ride in UK on my AX!

STIFFNESS

The Hypervox felt very stiff. I didn’t have any issues in sprinting nor climbing. To be honest, that extra 1kg weight was not visible at all when I was climbing. This bike was good.

SPRINTING

I must say my AX felt a lot more “kicking” when sprinting from a stand-still position. As soon as you jump, AX jumped. I’m not sure if it’s the weight but the Hypervox felt as if it has that “turbo-lag” – similar of a diesel engine. I would like to test using a lighter wheelset and see if it would make a difference.

On an undulating terrain however, the Hypervox did not have any issue in accelerating. That “turbo-lag” was only experienced if you are sprinting from a stand-still position.

CLIMBING

The Hypervox had no issue with climbing at all. Both seated or standing, it felt very stiff and responsive. In fact, it felt a lot more solid with its chunky body. I remembered climbing on Madone 7 and Tarmac S-Works and somehow they felt chunky only at the bottom tube, while with Hypervox, it felt more balanced.

DESCENDING

With its longer wheelbase compared to AX, the Hypervox felt so stable descending no doubt. It was not wobbly at all even on a high-speed 60km/h+ descend. When I did the Letape, we descended both Col de Vars and Col d’ Izoard from 2000+m to 1000+m and I had no issue at all.

I felt very safe on the Hypervox.

CORNERING

On cornering, the Hypervox felt a bit slower than AX. However, it felt a lot more stable. As I’m not a crit racer, I would never need to do crazy cornering anyway. Therefore, my preference resides with Hypervox.

CONCLUSION

All in all, I did not regret my purchase. The AX is now ready to be sold and I’ve found a new lover. This is definitely a keeper. Compared to AX, this is a better all-rounder. If I can keep the weight down to let’s say 6.8kg, I would never look anywhere else for a better bike.

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