Hello everyone,
I would like to sell my bicycle.
I have a bicycle for sale.
A very good, very expensive one, bought (in fact, two of them, the same, only in different colors – that was the good one) from the Polish distributor – iVelo – in 2019. Mainly to take it on a two-week bikepacking trip around Taiwan, but we didn't have time to pick them up. Just as we flew there, they set off on their journey from Taiwan to Warsaw. It's a shame, because the excuse was to switch from thin tires to slightly thicker ones, and from brakes that slow down in the rain to brakes that brake in the rain. I don't think I've had a bike for so long.
If a movie were ever made about him, it would be the equivalent of "Rambo XVII." In the first film, Rambo suffered a beating he shouldn't have survived, and then returned 16 more times. Each time was supposed to be his last adventure. However, we know full well that there will even be a "Rambo XXXVI" in this series. Each new scar on the carbon fiber or hardware adds to the charm, a testament to something magnificent. Allow me to cite a few examples below.
Leo, why?
I once agreed with myself, with Maciek inside, that there are certain limits to the number of bikes I can own, which shouldn't be exceeded. Because of this, I can't buy a new one until I get rid of my current one. Or at least, until I do everything in my power to get rid of it. So with this post, along with the ad on OLX, I'll do everything I can. If it doesn't sell, oh well, we'll be together forever, and I'll accept the fact that my all-road life will be polygamous.
Besides, my cycling has changed a bit over the last few years. A minimum of 90% time is days when I don't exceed an average speed of 21 km/h. Those are also days when I go out for a bike ride in the morning and finish when it starts to get dark. I'd also like something simpler. Something easy to put in a suitcase without worrying about breaking cables, something with more ground clearance, maybe even a more retired position. Some kind of frame mounts would be nice, though I don't know why, since I've never needed them. If only the cables were also on the outside and didn't run through the headset... A dream. An expensive, boring, simple, light, and possibly reliable bike – there aren't many like it.
I do not recommend.
The bike has nothing but flaws. The biggest one is that I'm having trouble finding any good reasons to sell it. The only thing a new purchase can offer me is slightly more ground clearance. However, increased ground clearance (here it's 35mm, but that doesn't stop me from using 38mm tires, which simply increased the fork clearance slightly on the inside with the help of rubbing hairs) effectively puts the bike in a different category – not an all-road bike, but a typical gravel bike. Including ground clearance among the flaws would be unfair.
There are also a few interesting solutions. Due to the design of the head tube (or perhaps the fork), you can't turn the handlebars more than about 30 degrees. This means that two wheels can't easily fit in the Superb's trunk without removing the front wheels. The steering angle is limited by a rubber band at the factory, which falls off after the second day of each bikepacking session. It's immediately obvious that it was developed by teams responsible for F1 and WRC – after all, parts fall off very easily from those cars, so it's probably just like that. feature.
The seatpost clamp is also a really cool idea. Thanks to this non-standard solution, whenever you remove the seatpost without tilting the bike, the clamp drops into the frame. The first hour of my first, bikepacking So I spent the entire Factor ride on the Pacific Coast Highway shaking it over my head, hoping the clamp would finally fall out of the bottom bracket area. Since then, I've been carrying a magnet with me—I can attach it to a string and play catch.
Both of these solutions have a major advantage – you can't install the stem or saddle crooked, which is always the biggest pain. You ride, you look at the front wheel, and you constantly feel like it's crooked. Same thing with the saddle. Mine also has a slightly developed play. The play my favorite mechanic said about thousands of kilometers ago: "Maciek, one day this will blow your balls or your ass"... or something like that. As you can see, he was wrong, although perhaps the future also counts as "someday" – we'll see.
The frame itself is now a bit lighter than when it left the factory – I think it's called "custom"I managed to remove some paint in some places, and maybe even more. Although the number of these spots still amazes me every day – I would have expected the losses to be many times greater."
I also appreciate the look and the brand. If I leave my bike at a shop, among other bikes, it's usually the least interesting. Most people in the world know Spec and Trek, but not so much Factor. They'd sooner associate it with Chinese hardware than something expensive. And the black paint job, with its tiny, dirt-like "T"s, doesn't attract attention. I really like it. It's hard to make a bike that's neither ugly nor pretty, so it's unobtrusive, while also being a limited edition, which might make tracking it down if stolen. I've never seen anyone with a frame in this paint scheme, even online.
I don't have many photos of my bike because it's hard to ride and take them alone. However, I do have a few (or a dozen) from our shared adventures, some of which we've taken together, some separately.
I wrote the justification for its purchase in 2020, using all the knowledge about bicycles at that time: What bike to buy? How I was looking for one to rule them all. And looking back at this post now, not much has changed. Bikes aren't particularly lighter or better these days. Which is amazing, considering it's been six years. My expectations, too, are actually the same.
A very good bike. And a durable one at that.
I have evidence.
Here we test whether a Dacia Logan can carry five people and four bikes. It couldn't, one had to land on the roof. Here, it's using a Factor to support the remaining bikes. A driver who speaks only Barbarian takes us across the 140 Moroccan kilometers to Tabounte instead of Tabourahte.
Here, he's packed onto the roof of a minibus in Uganda. The 15-seater minibus, traveling 165 kilometers, carries 26 people and a chicken. On the roof, two loaded bicycles are tied to barrels, baskets, scaffolding, fences, mattresses, and bags of rice. It's easy to imagine that the minibus's tire can't handle the impact and it bursts right in the middle of Queen Elizabeth National Park, known for its lions and several other animals, not necessarily friendly to cyclists. Factor has fond memories of the trip, as while we were waiting for him at the airport in Rwanda, he was lying in the basement of the snow-covered Istanbul airport.
Here, the Factor is being transported across the Ethiopian plateau, located well above 4,000 meters above sea level. We had driven it in falling snow the day before, and I even managed to fall over when a cleat in my shoe came loose. It was a very good trip, because it turns out that the lack of a rear window in the Hilux, while driving on "premium gravel bikes” results in a trick where the bike folds into a 15% from the actual bike and an 85% from the dust. Then it spends 10 hours on the roof of a bus traveling halfway across the country. In the process, the XD basket and water bottle break off and are probably running around the village with some Ethiopian child.
Here, the bike is first packed (basically shoved) onto a bus for over nine hours, where it will travel the 350km from Voi to Nairobi, Kenya. The day after we (mostly me) were on the verge of being arrested in Tanzania as illegal immigrants, it spends another few hours packed into a small car. The same one we spent three days with the safari driver – probably the least off-road vehicle Nakuru National Park has seen in its 60 years of existence. The car shows that the fact that the handlebars only turn 45 degrees is, as usual, a problem.
The bike performed very well in Lesotho. Following are the photos:
In a small van, we cover about 100km of one of the country's main roads (the one that runs around the country) – this section hasn't been built yet. It's difficult to find accommodation along the way, and my tires probably wouldn't be able to roll over all those rocks on their own.
In a Jeep that drops us off in a village in the middle of nowhere after we discover there is no accommodation within our reach.
In a truck that transports us through the downpour to the highest pub in Africa.
In a Jeep that takes us to the capital when we don't feel like driving on a crowded and boring road.
With the equivalent of the guys who hang out with the monkey at Żabka. I recently discovered investing – when I lose everything, I'll trade my Factor for that booth in the back and sit there selling beer to the local guys.
Here I am with my German friends who were taking a detour through the States. Just moments after I narrowly avoided a ticket on 2000$, trying to get through the "no el paso" caused by the collapse of a section of the Pacific Highway the day before. The U-turn meant driving the 100km I took to get there, but that argument didn't resonate in the land of law and order.
The States was also my first adventure with tubelessI promised myself then, never again. Do you know what a bike or your clothes look like after riding through the mud with sealant spraying from the front wheel? I'd be happy to show you in a photo. You can also imagine how easily that dried rubber can come off carbon. I'm consistent, so since then I've been riding almost constantly. tubeless.
And of course, the bike was always ridden in the best possible conditions. Never mind the best for a camera.
But it's also always been serviced at the best garages in Warsaw (and beyond). Most of the mechanics have moved to other cities because of him, but that doesn't matter. I currently have a company car, so as long as they don't go abroad, I'll find them.
If you look through blog posts from the last few years, you will find many, many more such examples.
I've come up with a price of 10,000 PLN for the Factor. I don't know if that's a lot or a little. It's much less than the 30%'s market price in 2019. Worst-case scenario, I won't be able to sell it. However, I'll be able to say to myself that I did everything in my power to sell it. Oh well, he'll have to stay with me. I'm not sure he's happy about that.
If, for some reason unknown to me, someone would like to know the details, I am pasting the description from OLX:
Limited Edition Factor Vista Bike – CHPT3
Bike purchased from a Polish distributor in 2020 – list price over PLN 35,000
Weight: 8.8kg, as in the photos – with pedals, pump, handles, etc.
Full Sram Force AXS 2×12 (electric, wireless)
Black Inc Thirty wheels (cost around 10,000 PLN)
Vista size 58, cockpit 110/40, seatpost with offset, color chapter3, crank 172.5
Gravelking SS 38mm Tires
Gear ratios 46/33 x 10-33
I think it's perfect for someone around 185-190cm tall.
Mileage is approximately 30,000 km. The wheels are smaller because two sets were used.
The set includes many additional parts, including spacers that allow you to raise the steering wheel.
The bike is in excellent technical condition and is in constant use, so it will undergo a thorough service before sale. It has a few scratches and minor dents, but these are merely visual imperfections.
Please contact me. You can bring your brother-in-law with you.
