Assos

Campionissimo G.731 Goomah Carbon Non-ISP Frameset

Assos spent years developing a frameset strictly for internal use and for its club team, then decided to produce it in limited numbers for public consumption, capturing our attention in the process. Witness the Assos equipeCampionissimo G.731 Goomah Carbon Non-ISP Frameset, its layers of carbon, layers of stories, and its status as a rolling legend before it was available to the masses. To offer riders a greater degree of fitting range, this "Non-ISP" version of the G.731 has a standard adjustable seatpost, as opposed to the integrated post of the "ISP" model. The two framesets are otherwise identical.

The project to develop its own frameset began as a "hobby," according to Assos, and the first prototype, the G.729, was named for the date it first saw light — February 7, 2009. The G.729 was refined continuously until the sequentially-named G.730 resulted, by now seeing extensive use beneath Assos R&D development teams, namely its equipeCampionnisimo squad. They loved it. Assos execs loved it. The engineers loved it. It was a remarkable frameset, but it could be even better. By the time the next version was being produced, the cat was out of the bag, and the already-legendary Assos frameset was in demand. Assos saw the opportunity to release a very limited number of the frames, and so here before you is the G.731.

Built by Goomah SA — the exclusive Swiss frame makers and material masters who also develop carbon parts for auto and boat racing — the G.731 benefits from Assos' many years of developing the world's finest cycling clothing. With carbon being a material of extensive familiarity to Assos and finding purpose in many of its articles, there are three different types of high-modulus carbon fiber employed on the frame, layered specifically via a process called Matrix Surface Mapping. Countless test cycles identified previously overlooked areas of the frame in order to focus on balancing smooth ride quality with superb responsiveness. Assos engineers knew they could develop the stiffest frame in the world, but this would be useless and miserable to the vast majority of riders. A finely-calibrated degree of vertical compliance is dialed into areas like the seatstays, the head tube, the fork, and the integrated seatpost, all with the intention of delivering a bike that could race in a criterium or a century, or anything in between. We would go into further specifics, but Assos and Goomah's development processes, and the secrets they've revealed over the last few years, are closely guarded to even the highest levels within the company itself.

We can identify some critical details, however. Assos decided on a BB30 bottom bracket shell, which they found achieved the optimum blend of stiffness and weight savings, its narrow profile granting exceptional torsional strength. Matrix Surface Mapping of the forces exerted by the bicycle's drivetrain —located, of course, on the right side of the frame — led engineers to understand that an asymmetrical rear triangle was necessary to extract maximum power and efficiency from the pedals. The resulting reinforcement of the right side of the rear triangle achieves this with minimal aesthetic compromise. The frameset is, of course, compatible with all electronic drivetrains and current power meters on the market, and all cabling is internally routed.

The Assos equipeCampionissimo G.731 Goomah Carbon Non-ISP Frameset comes in four sizes, from Small to X-Large, and in one color scheme, known as Werksmannschaft. It includes a cosmetically matching carbon seatpost. The weight of a size Medium frame, including the seatpost but excluding the fork, is approximately 947 grams.