Neilpryde Bura SL Review

If your five times divorced grandmother tells you she just met the perfect man, you have to be suspicious. If I told you the new NeilPryde BURAsl frame weighs 710 grams you would have to ask what's the point of such light weight and whats the ride quality  like?

The BURAsl is NeilPryde's second generation lightweight road frame and with all the R&D this company has done in it's three short years in the bike industry they can hardly be called the newcomers. Riding the BURAsl  revealed that the work done had paid off and there is no down side to the super light weight. In fact the BURAsl is stiffer than and just as comfortable as the best bikes out there.

Exoskeleton rib, adds to the stiffness and keeps weight down. NPB started developing this in the Diablo but really put it to work on the BURAsl

BURAsl achieves this super lightweight by using the very highest modulus carbon suitable for a road frame. Carbon get's lighter, stiffer and more brittle as you go up the ladder but at some point ride quality suffers. The BURAsl  carefully balances these factors and by using external gussets manages to keep stiffness up, weight down and a tuned ride that is snappy of of the saddle yet smooth when riding seated.

The form of the frame is all about performance and engineering which presents a unique look that some riders will certainly appreciate. It looks a lot like the BMC Team Machine SLR and in ride quality it's very similar. The BURAsl is a tad stiffer and maybe a little more together feeling, I always felt the SLR01 was a little disjointed but the BURAsl feels like it's all together. It looks raw and very much like a race bike and has a few unique features that you don't see in other bikes. The rear brake cable running through the head tube and the squared off top tube with the gusset. In person it has the look and feel of a purpose built machine.

Seatstays are as thin as the UCI would allow, the rumor is the bike could be ridden without them because of the stiffness and strength of the chainstays.

Built with Ultegra 6700 and a pair of Mavic Ksyriums a size Large BURAsl comes in just under 15lbs. So without trying to build a light bike you land up with a bike that's under the UCI weight limit. Where is the line? How light does and bike need to be and why build so light? Partly because you can, partly because in a consumer driven society we look at numbers on paper to make decisions. The downside would be poor ride quality, high cost or a frame that's unsafe and won't last. Given the BURAsl checks all these boxes the upside is you can spend less on expensive parts and don't have to use flimsy lightweight wheels to get overall bike weight down. Using a more solid pair of wheels makes the BURAsl a fantastic sprinters bike, I rode it with the Ksyriums and a pair of Enve 45 carbon clinchers. The Ksyriums are a nicer overall ride but on race day the BURAsl with the deep carbon wheels would climb and sprint with the best. The 710 gram frame weight is like an extra bullet when you need it.

More NeilPryde bikes here: http://www.glorycycles.com/neilprydebikes.html

Price for the Frameset $3449

Available in Mechanical(Black) or Electric(Black/Red) 

Custom builds available - clive@glorycycles.com