Diamondback

Podium Vitesse Shimano Ultegra Complete Road Bike - 2016

With a full complement of Shimano's revamped Ultegra 6800 and HED's imprimatur featuring throughout the cockpit and wheels, the Diamondback Podium Vitesse Shimano Ultegra Complete Road Bike is spec'd with all the pomp of a European race machine. The Podium frameset at the heart of the bike's impressive spec sheet is the most aerodynamic model Diamondback has produced to date, and it lives up to the expectations of the build kit, proving its top-level pedigree with Optum Pro Cycling under riders like Mr. Gaimon and the apparently invulnerable Ms. Ewart.

As nice as the Podium Vitesse's component list is, all good rides start with the frame. The main triangle comes to life through Diamondback's Advanced Monocoque Molding Process (AMMP). AMMP starts with a polystyrene pre-form core and a plastic, internal bladder describing the shape of the frame. Different carbon moduli from Mitsubishi and Toray are laid-up around this core in order to hit the sweet spot of stiffness and comfortable compliance, and the whole package is then encased in an external shell to match the internal bladder and keep the inside surface as smooth and unblemished as the outside. Key structural joints are reinforced with silicone mandrel shells in order to ensure the best possible strength-to-weight ratio, and Diamondback eschews pre-preg carbon in favor of their own proprietary Optimized Resin Compound to ensure total control over the materials' consistency and the frame's qualities.

The end goal of AMMP is, of course, to make a frameset that's both race-worthy and comfortable enough to ride all day long at any speed, so the Vitesse features the an upright race geometry that's similar in design to the endurance frames with Italian labels that have been appearing with increasing frequency in the peloton. This geometry is defined by taller head tubes, shorter top tubes, and a touch more fork rake than the slammed look we became accustomed to — but never felt good on — in the late '90s and turn of the century.

Of course, as Optum's impressive results at races like the Gila confirm, this isn't a sportive bike. Its stack and reach come in just under the average for many of the pro machines you'll see in the peloton, so the cockpit configuration can be set up as an agro crit stiletto when the time comes for pain. The bottom bracket and chain stays are built up to resist wagging, which ensures that every watt of self-punishment you put into the pedals transfers to the road.

The tapered head tube and Continuous Fiber Technology carbon fork take advantage of the frame's geometry to glue to lines and track confidently when the kilometers are ticking down and the situation starts getting twitchy. In order to keep you fresh for those moments, the slightly flattened seatstays and 27.2mm HED carbon seatpost absorb road noise and keep things vertically compliant, so the frame's stiff efficiency doesn't translate into rider fatigue after two hours of racing.