The fact that we were asked to send a bike into the Cycling Plus 2012 bike of the year was in itself an indication of how far the Onix brand has come in a very short time.
Our testing program is really starting to bear fruit and the Cycling Plus Onix Aurious bike of the year review backs that up. We spend months testing all different combinations of frames, forks and carbon and we get top riders to tell us what they think. As you all know we now have World Champion and Olympic medal holder Rob Hayles as our chief tester which I know is going to continue to ensure we keep bringing out high quality products in the future.
In an industry where you live and die by how your bike performs it just makes sense to me that you do EVERYTHING you can to bring out the best bike you can. I could just take a nice looking frame with good geometry ,put a nice paint job on it and put it out there but that goes against everything Onix stands for.
Listen to why Rob Hayles got involved with Onix Bikes
In testing we found the difference in the performance of frames with the same geometry was staggering.. If your just bringing out frames without testing them then your trusting to luck that its going to be a good frame and that says to me your not passionate about your product.
Looking at both our 2011 bikes (the Aurious and the Azzuro as well as 2012’s Rob Hayles signature range), we found the difference in frames performance with the same geometry was staggering, and although Rob didn't test the Aurious and Azzuro bikes let me assure you that the person who did is of the same stature and quality of rider.
At the start of the 2011 season we also started supporting pro rider Dan Patten, who couldn't make his mind up whether he liked the Azzuro or Aurious best so he choose to race on both of them. Dan rode a full season thrashing both models through the rigours of a full Belgian racing season and they never flinched; you need a very robust frame to survive a year of cobbles!
In fact, every time a rider who really knows his stuff threw his leg over one they enthused about the bike’s performance. Take Ken Jones from Bioracer for example. Ken first rode an Onix in 2011 when he took an Azzuro out for a ride & immediately took one to ride the Paris-Roubaix sportive with Sean Kelly.
Ken then requested to try an Aurious at the end of the season. Well the result of that was the Onimpex Bioracer Team riding the Aurious in 2012. Ken and his team mates are veteran racers and have seen it all – they know a good bike when they ride one. We also had some great comments back from John Cosgrove (AKA ‘Cozzy’) who normally wouldn't enthuse over a bike, but he did over ours.
Ken then requested to try an Aurious at the end of the season. Well the result of that was the Onimpex Bioracer Team riding the Aurious in 2012. Ken and his team mates are veteran racers and have seen it all – they know a good bike when they ride one. We also had some great comments back from John Cosgrove (AKA ‘Cozzy’) who normally wouldn't enthuse over a bike, but he did over ours.
The Aurious review below is another big stepping stone forward to where I want to take Onix in the future. I’m immensely proud of my bikes and the care and attention to detail that goes into them before I present them to you, the customer.
The Onix Black RH will be in the next issue of Cycling Plus (April?) and is the first review for one of our Rob Hayles signature range. I am safe in the knowledge with Rob's input we did everything we possibly could to make those bikes the best they could be and hopefully that will be born out in another positive review for Onix.
Thank you for your continued support, it is very much appreciated.
Remember you can still get 10% off Pre Orders on the new Rob Hayles range, till 10th March.
Craig
Onix Aurious review
£1950.94
BikeRadar verdict
4 out of 5 Stars
4 out of 5 stars
Though Onix describe the Aurious as a sportive bike, when we first put it through its paces last year we found it was more than just a comfortable cruiser. Yes, there’s a nod to sportive riding in its shape, with a 74° seat angle and 73° head tube, but its performance and handling were much racier than we’d expected. For the Bike of the Year test we requested a higher specification, including a more race-orientated Shimano 105 drivetrain and great quality Shimano RS80 carbon clincher wheels.
The Aurious chassis is highly sculpted, with a triangular-profile down tube and a head tube junction that’s so substantial that despite its standard 1-1/8in top and bottom cups, there’s no tangible loss of stiffness compared to the tapered designs favoured by many of Onix’s rivals. At 156mm, the head tube is slightly taller than an out-and-out race bike but still offers ample scope to get a low position in the drops for fast efforts while cheating the wind.
The overall ride impression is one of solidity. For a sportive bike, that’s not necessarily a good thing, but those who value speed over comfort will revel in the Onix’s point-and-shoot handling. Putting the Aurious into the twistiest fast descent on our test route was an absolute joy. Even in cold icy conditions it held its line, with no tremors to unbalance our progress, and this added bags of confidence to push that little bit harder.
The upgraded wheels give the Aurious a lighter touch, too. This is felt most on sharp out-of-the-saddle efforts on climbs, where pickup through the drivetrain is more immediate and the ride is far more rewarding. The Fizik Arione saddle, another upgrade, gives more scope to move around: you can get up on the nose for prolonged climbing efforts and slide back to get lower for descents. Having more rear end real estate also helps temper the rigid nature of the ride; the Onix isn’t the smoothest bike over coarse road surfaces but in this guise with lighter wheels and more comfortable saddle it’s a vast improvement over the previous model we tested.
After our first experience with the Aurious, we’d have looked elsewhere for a ‘big ride’ bike. But over our 85-mile test loop this uprated version proved much more usable, with better all-round potential. Onix may be a new brand but they’ve proved they can make exciting and great quality bikes; with their recent team-up with Rob Hayles, we can’t wait to give their new signature range a try. If they can successfully combine the excitement of the Aurious with the input of a seasoned pro, they could have a real contender for 2013’s Bike of the Year.
This bike was tested as part of Cycling Plus magazine’s 2012 Bike Of The Year feature – read the full results in issue 260, on sale Friday 2 March.
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