Price Paid:
$0.00 Bike Setup:
Frame/Fork: Aerocat ACR500 (60 cm)
Groupset: SRAM Rival
Cockpit: Ritchey Pro
Saddle: San Marco Selle Aspide
Wheelset: Reynolds Solitude
Tires: Michelin Pro3
Pedals: Shimano M520 (not included from Aerocat) Summary:
The Aerocat is a sharp looking bike. The slightly oversized frame and fork tubes are subtly shaped and eye-catching and the blue, white and green paint gives the bike a fresh and vibrant look without appearing loud or overstated. The Solitude rims matched well with the cranks, saddle, seatpost, stem and hoods, while the while bar tape nicely complimented the white on the top tube. I received several favorable comments on the bike when I had it out and about.
One of my very first impressions after I got on the bike for the first time was that it gave a very smooth ride. Being in the Midwest, the roads around me go through many freeze and thaw cycles each year, and they have the expected rough surface to prove it. Not necessarily potholes, but lots of small cracks, slightly exposed asphalt aggregate, and other similar imperfections. At low speeds, I figured some of this smooth feel could be attributed to the Michelin Pro3 Race tires, which I was quite surprised to find as stock equipment on a bike that comes from the middle of a manufacturer’s product line. However, as I began to get more comfortable on the bike and push it more, it became obvious that the bike itself was helping to smooth things out.
The comfortable, even feel of the Aerocat inspired confidence in the stability of the bike, and that confidence proved to be well founded. It was quite nimble, going quickly and easily where it was pointed and it stayed on its line very well. I’ve been on a few bikes that had a slightly more relaxed geometry and they tended to drift wide during moderately aggressive cornering, but the Aerocat was well behaved in this regard.
I’m in an area with a lot of elevation change, which gave me a chance to try the ACR500 out on some steep hills and moderately daring descents. The bike felt very stiff and solid under stress on a climb and I didn’t feel like I was losing any power due to undue frame flex. The stable tracking was very welcome during descents, and I never noticed any wheel flex, even during fairly significant braking through curves on the back side of a hill. I should mention, though, that a friend who is a little heaver than me reported some wheel flex when he took the bike out for a spin. For the record, I go about 150 pounds and my friend is around 180, so a beefier wheelset may be in order for those in the upper end of that range and above.
All in all the Aerocat gave what I would call a very consistent and very enjoyable riding experience that blended performance with comfort. It was sporty enough to provide great responsiveness and it obviously felt comfortable being pushed a bit. At the same time, it was forgiving enough to ride for long durations without becoming uncomfortable at all.
At $2629 (direct from Aerocat) or $2850 (at a dealer), our 60 cm test bike came in at 17.1 pounds after we added Shimano M520 dual-sided pedals. This bike offers a great combination of features at that price, and the real beauty is that the features come from both ends of the performance/comfort spectrum. Some bikes might offer a little more stiffness or have a slightly more responsive geometry, but I feel confident that they would cost much more than this bike, and they probably wouldn’t be very comfortable for the weekend century rider. Similarly, any bike that gave a softer ride than the Aerocat would most likely come up short when being ridden aggressively. The ACR500 offers a package that should appeal to a wide variety of riders, from a newer rider looking for an equipment upgrade to an experienced cyclist looking for a lot of bang for their buck.
For a version of this review with additional details, plus other reviews from Bike World News, please visit http://www.bikeworldnews.com/?cat=85. Strengths:
Great value, excellent combination of features for the price Weaknesses:
Die-hard performance enthusiasts may prefer a lighter bike
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5 of 5
5 of 5
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