Obsydian Invictus Review

The bike comes with a straight bladed fork, which gives a good clearance between the front wheel and down tube, which is great considering the larger riders’ feet size – and my loafy size 11’s!

Great, subtle paint job

The test bike was a extra large and, if I’m completely honest with you, was still quite small for me at 6’4” (193cm), as you’ll see from the height of the headset stack in the photographs.

Gary needed a few extra spacers

The ride

As described earlier the bike was tested – in the dry – in two locations. The key characteristic about the frame is the feedback you receive from the road. Sheffield is notorious for poor roads. The road noise and the feedback from every bump, crack, ripple, bit of gravel and little hole in the road took some getting used to, but eventually when we arrived on the smooth surfaces around Windermere the bike really came to life.

One thing you notice about this bike is its straight-line speed and the confidence it gives you when really putting the power down. This is down to the extreme stiffness of the frame. On the flip side, it’s this same characteristic that means it ‘hides nothing from the road’. Some riders love this, whilst others want more comfort, so you have to be very honest with yourself about the type of riding your going to be doing on a bike like this – and also in the specific end build you choose.

Offers great straight-line speed

Out on the road, for the first time in a while I was actually a real contender on the lamppost sprints on this bike, even over my fighting weight at 98kg. This is quite a feat and gave me a buzz like I’d not felt for quite sometime, which was truly addictive.

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