→ You'll find Fresh Goods & Kit in News
Long Termers: Benji’s Kinesis Decade Virsa January 29th, 2010
The Kinesis Decade Virsa in all its jeytastic singlespeed glory.
Kinesis Decade Virsa
Price: £349 frame only
From: Upgrade www.kinesisdecade.co.uk
-
- The Kinesis Decade Virsa in all its jeytastic singlespeed glory.
-
- What you can see: American Classic wheelset and Geax Saguaro tyres. What you can’t see: Caffe Latex “foaming latex” tubeless conversion system inside. Definitely the easiest tubeless system I’ve yet tried for initial setting up (no compressor required).
-
- More whiteness rightness. Tektro Auriga Pro disc brakes. I’ve had the older versions of these on another bike for a couple of years now and they’ve been fine. Hopefully these will follow suit.
-
- Magura Durin SL 100mm forks. Arguably the stiffest XC fork with a QR axle that you can get. And more importantly, it’s white.
-
- Oval supply the carbon bars and stem. The stem cap was a bit of a pain to tighten due to the reversed bolts but it’s a job you only have to do once thankfully. I find myself caressing the lovely stem shaft rather a bit too frequently!
-
- I’ve gone a bit carbon crazy with this build! Truvativ Noir singlespeed crank.
-
- For singlespeeding I’ve put the slotted Swop-outs on. I did try to use the supplied chaintug but it didn’t offer enough adjustment to get the chain tight enough (even using the standard 32×16 ratio). Which is a bit of an oversight really. The spacer kit is a DMR one.
-
- The wishbone seat stays make for a tauter back end feel in theory. The frame comes complete with the Kinesis seat QR which isn’t holding up that well with repeated use (I’m a compulsive saddle dropper).
-
- Skulls and stickers. The sticker says that the frame is made from Tange Prestige. The skulls say that this bike is rad.
-
- It’s not easy being green. This particular frame is a very early version and so has “Virtue” written on it. The name changed to “Virsa” shortly afterwards. Just in case you were wondering.
The last time we featured this bike in our Long Termers round-up it was a 28lb hardcore hardtail. And while it was a decent enough performer in that guise I was interested in seeing how versatile the frame was (it is called ‘Virsa’ after all). So it’s undergone something of a change over the Christmas period. It’s now a 22.7lb singlespeed – which instantly looks more like the bike it was meant to be.
Almost everything apart from the seatpost and saddle has been changed. Magura Durin SL 100mm fork, Carbon bars and stem from Oval. Tektro Auriga Pro disc brakes (in white, obviously). American Classic wheelset with a Caffé Latex tubeless system inside. Geax Saguaro tyres. Truvativ Noir carbon singlespeed chainset.
It was interesting to see how the whippy feel of the frame seems to suit this lightweight singlespeed guise a bit more than a hard-hitting big-forked hardtail. On the first ride it just felt like it was at home. It was only a short local spin around some fairly sedate woodland trails but it instantly felt right. The low-slung stance and the whippy chassis “feel” made it fly round corners. It’s lack of weight (and minimal tyre drag) meant I could hardly feel that I’d been out for a ride at all when I got back. Effortless. I couldn’t wait to take out for a day of whipping singletrack.
And then January happened. I haven’t dared ride it. I’m not sure exactly why. No doubt it was weather-related – the tyres aren’t exactly suited to snow! One of the main issues with tubeless tyres is not really if they work or not, or that they’re unreliable or anything, it’s the fact that it’s more of a chore to change them to suit the riding conditions. I’m ashamed to admit it but I also didn’t want to get the bike covered in filth. That can be the problem with lovely and/or blingy bikes – you want to keep them away from the muck.
Dear Virsa, I’m sorry for not riding you. I shall rectify this neglect ASAP.
–
Benji
5 Comments
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.
everytime i see this bike i want it that bit more.
torn betwwen lightweight ss or 120mm geared, just need some money now
Totally agree about the chain tensioner…
built mine SS with a 100mm SID (white obviously)
its pretty light and rides like a dream, really comfy but precise.
Buy one you won’t regret it!
Love the frame, snapped two DMR chain tugs tho…
Suspension? Surely not! Mine’s got Pace RC31s on.
Actually, I’m currently gutted since someone badly scraped the paintwork on the top tube in the works bike park. Anyone know someone good at touching up in central London or Deby/Notts…?