Pinarello

Razha K 105 Complete Road Bike - 2016

If your last name is Froome and you happen to have an ever-growing collection of yellow T-shirts on your wall, then you might knowingly nod your head when Pinarello refers to its Razha K 105 Complete Road Bike as "luxury entry level." If you're not a multiple-time Tour winner, though, the frame's Dogma pedigree and the surprisingly sharp action of Shimano's latest 105 shifting will likely have the same effect on you as they did on us. In short: we love it. We're hard-pressed to find any reason outside of every-gram-counts, world-class competition to ever go beyond it, price-wise. That's because it features many of the same technologies found in Pinarello's flagship road bikes, including the asymmetrical shaping of its Dogma big brother.

Pinarello's asymmetrical design involves building up the drivetrain side while slimming the non-drive side down, stiffening the frame where power is transferred and dropping grams where they won't hurt responsiveness. The Dogma also passed on its lower headset bearing, which allows a larger diameter steerer tube at the fork crown for a stiffer front end and more confident tracking through descents and corners. Another part of the fork design includes smooth, aerodynamic fork legs and a sculpted crown that integrates seamlessly into the down tube.

The Razha's frame composition is the big difference between it and the Dogma. The Razha is built with 24HMUD carbon, meaning that it's built to withstand 24 tons of pressure per square centimeter. While not quite as light and stiff as the carbon used in the Dogma line, 24HMUD is still exceptionally rigid, low in weight, and provides a smooth ride quality. Strong carbon, of course, allows for the use of less material as a whole, which results in keeping the overall weight as low as possible.