Timeless looking bike. Great aesthetics , better design. From your configurator what is the lightest build option and what is the approximate weight of that setup ? Thanks.
I’ve got one, I pre-ordered as soon as they released it in April, Zach corresponded with me personally through the process. The bike is exceptional, the customer support is world class, the price excellent, the fit and finish is world class, I could go on all day. Let me be clear, I could easily afford a super high end Ti bike. My Road Ti replaced an SWorks Tarmac SL7 in the garage. It’s not about the cost, it’s about the VALUE, this is so much bike for the money! And let’s please have some humility and cut the “ewh its made in China” bs, my SWorks tarmac was made in Taiwan too, so no high horses here. Zach brought something to the market that I wanted sooo bad but couldn’t find for a long time and I’m stoked he did! Give this bike a try and you won’t be disappointed!
Just going to nitpick (sorta, depending who you are, its a major difference). China isn't Taiwan. Taiwan has some of the best fabricators on the planet. China also has some at the top, but also the "night shift" crew. But, otherwise, I agree with the main point of your post. There's no reason for people to slag on a Chinese made frame, just because its Chinese. There are some great Chinese factories and gifted Chinese designers that put in a lot of effort and pride into their work.
@cjohnson3836 Taiwan was the best place for Ti factories in years past, and we used to produce there, but the gap has closed if you know which factories to work with. Our factory makes the tubes and small parts for some of the premiere US-welded companies. Plus, we offer a lifetime warranty against manufacture defects with zero warranty claims to date 🖤
I don't own any of this company's bikes but I built up a Ti road bike over 20 years ago whose frame was made in China by an aerospace company that had branched out into Ti frames and was sold in the US by a US-based company called Habanero, and have been extremely happy with it. I'm not a super serious cyclist and don't race or do many group rides, mainly just me and maybe a friend or two, but I've put well over 10k miles on it and it's been simply amazing. Fairly light even though it's single-butted, great welds, just a bit noodly in the bottom bracket but that's typical of Ti frame bikes and it only becomes apparent during hard climbs. Best $800 I ever spent. I think it's $1000 now, for their classic road frame. But I'm not pushing their frames but rather just saying that less expensive Chinese-made frames are just fine.
It’s a beautiful bike, and I’m sure it being welded in China doesn’t diminish its value. My Litespeed Cherohala was welded in the U.S, has shimano Ultegra group set, also looks timeless and was under 5k from a reputable bicycle company. I’m very happy with mine. I’m sure customers of this bike will love it too.
I like the builders rationale explaining tube shapes sizes and aesthetics while needing 31.6 seat post. If you don’t like the lack of flex just use a shim for 27.2 seatpost
Who needs carbon. Fork is carbon. Wheels are carbon. Bars are carbon. Seat post is carbon. saddle is probably carbon. Cranks are probably carbon. and bottle cage is carbon Did I miss anything, oh yeah soles of the road shoes probably carbon. I love carbon 😂
Haha. Totally agree. Carbon is great and is definitely the best material for certain applications like forks. And carbon is a great material for frames as well. We love the look and feel of Ti though and wanted to add a road bike to our product offering.
You may have forgotten something, yr carbon footprint getting yr bike out of the suburban, exurbania hellscape to somewhere worth not getting run over by a Ram pickup truck.
You and us both. This one was built up by a 3rd party in the UK and unfortunately this was a miss. Our DTC orders are built and shipped out of Truckee, CA with the bar tape symmetrical and clean on each one 🖤
Looks like a sweet bike. Black heart sure have an excellent marketing department. The name is memorable and evocative for the market segment, the product looks great and this is the second review to pop up in my feed this week. Bike makers are very smart to give David Arthur quality bikes to review. He gives an honest and comprehensive appraisal and I think that can reflect well on a brand because nothing is ever perfect.
No plans for magnesium yet, but we're open to it! We ship framesets and full builds direct to the UK. Hope to open up dealers in the future. And easy to jump on a video call for a 1:1 consult anytime.
It sucks that $6K is becoming the lower spec of custom bikes. Just bought a lightly ridden Caad 9 for $450 on pinkbike pretty sure it will weigh less than 15lbs with Winspace Hypers and gp5000s. So high performance under $1.5 k
Most cyclist that go custom usually have been cycling a while and have all the parts or most of it on another bike. The best way to buy these is frameset only amd move your parts into it. When you only look at the frameset price, it's not that bad....right?
@lh8GoogleandApple Hear you on price and we do our best to offer a fair price in each category. As we scale and our costs come down we pass that on to the customers. And we plan to expand our aluminum offering in the future in Road and Gravel categories to make our bikes more accessible.
The perfect bike for me. I’m not a pro or competitive cyclist, just cycle for fitness and additional training for body cuz my main sport but turned to just hobby 😢 is boxing and MMA
What is more durable, carbon or titanium? I'm looking at a carbon bike, I own an aluminum frame bike with a carbon cockpit and seat post. I've made it a bit lighter but my main concern is that I'm rough. I mean I don't run into brick walls, or trees and I don't hop off the bike while it's going 15 mph and let it just crash into the ground but I still have accidents. A carbon frame, although would be lighter, scares me for my ability to ride, the current frame suits me but I also want to upgrade the total gear set. So instead of spending 800 American dollars on a shimano 105 full change out, I would consider a new bike. My budget is about 4500.
Why are Seven and Moots Ti frames more than twice the price? Are they much better? They are lighter. Is it just because Blackheart are made in China? You've managed to do internal routing without an external headset, first Ive seen. From experience internal pushed in bearings are more susceptible to corrosion so changing the lower bearing once a year could be a pain with internal routing.
Where is the frame made? 3k reasonable! for a frame lol!! 12 grand for a high spect bike. This might be affordable to some, but well out of my price range. Na, will stay on my 3 grand steel Condor thanks
Totally hear you. We believe it's a fair price for the category, but definitely not affordable to all. We aim to introduce lower priced options in the future so stay tuned
@@blackheartbikecowould you ever consider creating a "flat bar" hybrid frame in the future? Something that the market is lacking since most are all shaped for mountain biking.
@@bonbonflippers4298you can definitely build a flat bar version of our Allroad bike. We offer an "ALt" flat bar version of our Allroad AL you should checkout
Dunno.. for an all road bike titanium sounds like a good choice to me, but if I spend upwards of 6000$ on a road bike, I'd want it to be either super light or super aero, not neither of those.
How does this compare to the enigma etape.I know the etape is more of a touring/endurance bike with options for mudguards.I am looking to get something to ride throughout the year.
Chinese welded Ti frames start at around $1200 from Habanero. They've been around since 1995 but just recently opened a physical storefront in Salem MA if anyone's ever over that way, I'd just avoid going in October with a million tourists in town.
Make sure to add a fork, seatpost, headset, seatpost clamp, thru axles, and small parts to that price. And we believe that brand, design, customer support, and lifetime warranty should be considered as well 🖤
Been riding a Habby Ti road frame-based bike for over 20 years. Love it. I've no experience with other Ti frames or bikes or carbon ones, but mine's been just great and the frame is basically like new. Cost me $700 back in late 2003 and after I fitted it with components, mostly Campy & Shimano, it came out to around $2000. I'm sure that there are better Ti frames and bikes out there, but I'd doubt that I'd notice without having paid way more. And the welds really do look as nice as they do in their web site (as opposed to their web site, whose look hasn't been updated since then and even then looked really dated).
They have the right idea about lower price point... I rode Moots for years but now prefer new specialized for the lightness.. The issue with high end Titanium is changing standards which leave the older bikes collecting dust. Yeah they are pretty to look at but take up a lot of space and too expensive initial investment to just give away or sell for a fraction since XYZ is out of style.
Any bike is susceptible to changing standards, no? We do our best to avoid proprietary parts and future proof as much as possible. Round seatposts, T47 threaded bottom bracket, and all new productions use SRAM UDH 🖤
@@andrehendrik where did you come up with "unusuable" ... My older frames have 135 spacing, rim brakes, 1.25 headset and external cabling for example.. They can still be used but harder to get parts from and comparatively slow and noisier with external cables whistling in the wind and jangling over bumps.. Still rideable but boring and slow for me to ride older bikes..
"Really rather special" - isn't that pretty much the case with 50% of all the bikes you review. Truthfully David, the reviews on your channel are getting stale and redundant. I feel as if you're like a kid in a candy store, where every sweet you pick up is your new favorite.😀 That's great, but it doesn't help a decerning customer filter out those items which are just new vs actually special. I think the truth of the matter is that pretty much any mid priced bike you pick will be great, if it fits you properly.
Also if you want a Chinese Ti frame be careful since QC might allow for 1-2mm tolerances regarding alignment of the tubes which could throw off the shifting braking and overall build quality
Thanks for the note. We QC before leaving the factory, independently test in Southern California prior to sale, and offer a lifetime warranty against manufacturing defects 🖤
@blackheartbikecompany7704 I have bought and ridden pure China made frames and they ride absolutely fantastic! No complaints. People just put a negative stigma to where a bike is made. I wouldn't worry buying a bike supported by a company based here in the US. I'm sure it's well looked after and QC is top tier.
No bike with hookless wheels on it can be better than…anything…😂 The whole construction is flawed by definition. Change the wheels and I’ll reconsider. No objections to the frameset tho
It used to be that carbon race bikes were more affordable than Ti. Not anymore. Who wants a carbon bike that only lasts approx. 15 years. I don't care or like aero bikes. Ti lasts for a lifetime. The name of this Ti bike totally sucks tho! The carbon parts of this bike are all replaceable.
@@WordupG Maybe do some research before posting. A Reilly Ti Frameset is considerably less than Blackheart (entry level starts at £2,200). The brands I mentioned were not meant to be compared on price - I will also add Enigma and MOOTS to that list.
Thanks so much for taking the time to review the bike David. Looking forward to seeing you at Sea Otter 2024.
Timeless looking bike. Great aesthetics , better design. From your configurator what is the lightest build option and what is the approximate weight of that setup ? Thanks.
@@Drushen07 Thank you! Dura Ace Di2 or SRAM Red w/ Zipp NSW 353 wheels will be in the 16s or 17s depending on size 🖤
I’ve got one, I pre-ordered as soon as they released it in April, Zach corresponded with me personally through the process. The bike is exceptional, the customer support is world class, the price excellent, the fit and finish is world class, I could go on all day. Let me be clear, I could easily afford a super high end Ti bike. My Road Ti replaced an SWorks Tarmac SL7 in the garage. It’s not about the cost, it’s about the VALUE, this is so much bike for the money! And let’s please have some humility and cut the “ewh its made in China” bs, my SWorks tarmac was made in Taiwan too, so no high horses here. Zach brought something to the market that I wanted sooo bad but couldn’t find for a long time and I’m stoked he did! Give this bike a try and you won’t be disappointed!
Just going to nitpick (sorta, depending who you are, its a major difference). China isn't Taiwan. Taiwan has some of the best fabricators on the planet. China also has some at the top, but also the "night shift" crew. But, otherwise, I agree with the main point of your post. There's no reason for people to slag on a Chinese made frame, just because its Chinese. There are some great Chinese factories and gifted Chinese designers that put in a lot of effort and pride into their work.
@cjohnson3836 Taiwan was the best place for Ti factories in years past, and we used to produce there, but the gap has closed if you know which factories to work with. Our factory makes the tubes and small parts for some of the premiere US-welded companies. Plus, we offer a lifetime warranty against manufacture defects with zero warranty claims to date 🖤
@cameronfrancis5975 Glad you're stoked! Thank you again for your support 🖤
I don't own any of this company's bikes but I built up a Ti road bike over 20 years ago whose frame was made in China by an aerospace company that had branched out into Ti frames and was sold in the US by a US-based company called Habanero, and have been extremely happy with it. I'm not a super serious cyclist and don't race or do many group rides, mainly just me and maybe a friend or two, but I've put well over 10k miles on it and it's been simply amazing. Fairly light even though it's single-butted, great welds, just a bit noodly in the bottom bracket but that's typical of Ti frame bikes and it only becomes apparent during hard climbs. Best $800 I ever spent. I think it's $1000 now, for their classic road frame. But I'm not pushing their frames but rather just saying that less expensive Chinese-made frames are just fine.
It’s a beautiful bike, and I’m sure it being welded in China doesn’t diminish its value. My Litespeed Cherohala was welded in the U.S, has shimano Ultegra group set, also looks timeless and was under 5k from a reputable bicycle company. I’m very happy with mine. I’m sure customers of this bike will love it too.
I have a LiteSpeed T5 and love it. Worry free frame with Ultegra Di2 and T47 BB. Got a tour of their factory in Tenn. and that was super fun!
@@MrLuigi-oi7gm mine has the T47 too. Great bikes that will last our lifetime.
@@gabrielsandoval4994 👍 Mine was a little under $5000 too. I keep it in our bedroom. Wife not happy but tolerates it because she's loves me. 🤣🤣🤣
I liked the guy, I liked his thought process and rationale for wanting to start his company, I also like the bikes. I hope he does well.
🖤🖤🖤
I like the builders rationale explaining tube shapes sizes and aesthetics while needing 31.6 seat post. If you don’t like the lack of flex just use a shim for 27.2 seatpost
May I seek advice? As a noob cyclist, what does this mean? Is that the diameter?
@@mw2159yes it’s the diameter. Most common are 27.2
A Ti bike is still on the list for some point in my life... good to know that their frames aren't overpriced like some companies!
Who needs carbon. Fork is carbon. Wheels are carbon. Bars are carbon. Seat post is carbon. saddle is probably carbon. Cranks are probably carbon. and bottle cage is carbon Did I miss anything, oh yeah soles of the road shoes probably carbon. I love carbon 😂
@@stevemorley hmmm works on so many levels.
Haha. Totally agree. Carbon is great and is definitely the best material for certain applications like forks. And carbon is a great material for frames as well. We love the look and feel of Ti though and wanted to add a road bike to our product offering.
I have titanium fasteners on my Zipp Stealth carbon stem.
You may have forgotten something, yr carbon footprint getting yr bike out of the suburban, exurbania hellscape to somewhere worth not getting run over by a Ram pickup truck.
@@paulvanreesch2493 compared to the obese person driving the RAM pick-up, my carbon foot print is purty darn small.
Nice interview.
But would love to see more of the bike and how it is to ride.
Keep an eye out for more review videos coming soon
You could test a Falkenjagd Ti bike. They have also full integrated Ti bikes
That wonky, uneven bar tape would drive me bonkers.
You and us both. This one was built up by a 3rd party in the UK and unfortunately this was a miss. Our DTC orders are built and shipped out of Truckee, CA with the bar tape symmetrical and clean on each one 🖤
Good to hear. V cool bike btw.
Looks like a sweet bike. Black heart sure have an excellent marketing department. The name is memorable and evocative for the market segment, the product looks great and this is the second review to pop up in my feed this week. Bike makers are very smart to give David Arthur quality bikes to review. He gives an honest and comprehensive appraisal and I think that can reflect well on a brand because nothing is ever perfect.
Rode a top carbon bike for 3 years, my Performance sank. Went back to my titanium frame and back to strong cycling.
Looks very similar to my custom Ti road frame from Waltly, though mine does not have full internal cable routing. Love the look of Ti.
How much did you psy for such frame?
Is this available in the UK?
Very nice. Any plans for a magnesium frame? How can we purchase one in the UK?
No plans for magnesium yet, but we're open to it! We ship framesets and full builds direct to the UK. Hope to open up dealers in the future. And easy to jump on a video call for a 1:1 consult anytime.
It sucks that $6K is becoming the lower spec of custom bikes. Just bought a lightly ridden Caad 9 for $450 on pinkbike pretty sure it will weigh less than 15lbs with Winspace Hypers and gp5000s. So high performance under $1.5 k
Most cyclist that go custom usually have been cycling a while and have all the parts or most of it on another bike. The best way to buy these is frameset only amd move your parts into it. When you only look at the frameset price, it's not that bad....right?
@lh8GoogleandApple Hear you on price and we do our best to offer a fair price in each category. As we scale and our costs come down we pass that on to the customers. And we plan to expand our aluminum offering in the future in Road and Gravel categories to make our bikes more accessible.
Thanks for the video, what size frame are you riding in the video?
If i have a roadbike, should be like this.
Such a nice frame
The perfect bike for me. I’m not a pro or competitive cyclist, just cycle for fitness and additional training for body cuz my main sport but turned to just hobby 😢 is boxing and MMA
Love all the athletes finding cycling for cross training and fitness 🖤
What is more durable, carbon or titanium?
I'm looking at a carbon bike, I own an aluminum frame bike with a carbon cockpit and seat post. I've made it a bit lighter but my main concern is that I'm rough. I mean I don't run into brick walls, or trees and I don't hop off the bike while it's going 15 mph and let it just crash into the ground but I still have accidents.
A carbon frame, although would be lighter, scares me for my ability to ride, the current frame suits me but I also want to upgrade the total gear set.
So instead of spending 800 American dollars on a shimano 105 full change out, I would consider a new bike.
My budget is about 4500.
Wow, impressive work :)
Glad to see not another of those dull carbon bikes...
WOW.. .now that's a proper bike 🤩
Beautiful bike ❤
Excellent information…
Why are Seven and Moots Ti frames more than twice the price? Are they much better? They are lighter. Is it just because Blackheart are made in China?
You've managed to do internal routing without an external headset, first Ive seen. From experience internal pushed in bearings are more susceptible to corrosion so changing the lower bearing once a year could be a pain with internal routing.
Where is the frame made? 3k reasonable! for a frame lol!! 12 grand for a high spect bike. This might be affordable to some, but well out of my price range. Na, will stay on my 3 grand steel Condor thanks
Totally hear you. We believe it's a fair price for the category, but definitely not affordable to all. We aim to introduce lower priced options in the future so stay tuned
@@blackheartbikeco Great to hear, :-)
@@blackheartbikecowould you ever consider creating a "flat bar" hybrid frame in the future? Something that the market is lacking since most are all shaped for mountain biking.
@@bonbonflippers4298you can definitely build a flat bar version of our Allroad bike. We offer an "ALt" flat bar version of our Allroad AL you should checkout
@@blackheartbikecoyou didn’t answer the question… where is the frame made?
🖤🖤🖤Blackheart 🖤🖤🖤
🖤🖤🖤
Dunno.. for an all road bike titanium sounds like a good choice to me, but if I spend upwards of 6000$ on a road bike, I'd want it to be either super light or super aero, not neither of those.
Totally get it. And there are plenty of options out there for that, but few like this. Wanted to make something special for the rest of us 🖤
@@blackheartbikeco Of course, I'm sure there's lots of folks who've been waiting for exactly this 👍
How does this compare to the enigma etape.I know the etape is more of a touring/endurance bike with options for mudguards.I am looking to get something to ride throughout the year.
Chinese welded Ti frames start at around $1200 from Habanero. They've been around since 1995 but just recently opened a physical storefront in Salem MA if anyone's ever over that way, I'd just avoid going in October with a million tourists in town.
Make sure to add a fork, seatpost, headset, seatpost clamp, thru axles, and small parts to that price. And we believe that brand, design, customer support, and lifetime warranty should be considered as well 🖤
Been riding a Habby Ti road frame-based bike for over 20 years. Love it. I've no experience with other Ti frames or bikes or carbon ones, but mine's been just great and the frame is basically like new. Cost me $700 back in late 2003 and after I fitted it with components, mostly Campy & Shimano, it came out to around $2000. I'm sure that there are better Ti frames and bikes out there, but I'd doubt that I'd notice without having paid way more. And the welds really do look as nice as they do in their web site (as opposed to their web site, whose look hasn't been updated since then and even then looked really dated).
They have the right idea about lower price point... I rode Moots for years but now prefer new specialized for the lightness.. The issue with high end Titanium is changing standards which leave the older bikes collecting dust. Yeah they are pretty to look at but take up a lot of space and too expensive initial investment to just give away or sell for a fraction since XYZ is out of style.
Any bike is susceptible to changing standards, no? We do our best to avoid proprietary parts and future proof as much as possible. Round seatposts, T47 threaded bottom bracket, and all new productions use SRAM UDH 🖤
Wtf are you on about son?
Genuinely not trolling, but I don't understand how a "changing titanium standard" would leave older Ti models unusable
@@andrehendrik where did you come up with "unusuable" ... My older frames have 135 spacing, rim brakes, 1.25 headset and external cabling for example.. They can still be used but harder to get parts from and comparatively slow and noisier with external cables whistling in the wind and jangling over bumps.. Still rideable but boring and slow for me to ride older bikes..
@@AceMBP I came up with unusable because you wrote that your older Ti bikes are collecting dust . . .
"Really rather special" - isn't that pretty much the case with 50% of all the bikes you review. Truthfully David, the reviews on your channel are getting stale and redundant. I feel as if you're like a kid in a candy store, where every sweet you pick up is your new favorite.😀 That's great, but it doesn't help a decerning customer filter out those items which are just new vs actually special.
I think the truth of the matter is that pretty much any mid priced bike you pick will be great, if it fits you properly.
Also if you want a Chinese Ti frame be careful since QC might allow for 1-2mm tolerances regarding alignment of the tubes which could throw off the shifting braking and overall build quality
Thanks for the note. We QC before leaving the factory, independently test in Southern California prior to sale, and offer a lifetime warranty against manufacturing defects 🖤
@blackheartbikecompany7704 I have bought and ridden pure China made frames and they ride absolutely fantastic! No complaints. People just put a negative stigma to where a bike is made. I wouldn't worry buying a bike supported by a company based here in the US.
I'm sure it's well looked after and QC is top tier.
😂1 to 2 mm tolerance affects braking and shifting 😂😂 please don’t make me laugh
Are Blackheart frames built in China?
We manufacture in Taiwan and China, independently test in Southern CA, and design/build/ship out of Truckee, CA
Magnum is still alive….now just in titanium instead of his red Ferrari
Lol
Probably made by waltly so they make around 2000 from a costumer
No bike with hookless wheels on it can be better than…anything…😂
The whole construction is flawed by definition. Change the wheels and I’ll reconsider.
No objections to the frameset tho
If only their website was as appealing as their bikes. Very little information.
6k for a basic build. Come on😅
Keep an eye out for lower priced options in the future 🖤
It used to be that carbon race bikes were more affordable than Ti. Not anymore. Who wants a carbon bike that only lasts approx. 15 years. I don't care or like aero bikes. Ti lasts for a lifetime. The name of this Ti bike totally sucks tho! The carbon parts of this bike are all replaceable.
Nothing special, there are better Ti bike brands out there IMO - Sturdy, Reilly, No.22.
Are those frames welded in China as well?
@@thekenthouse6428 AFAIK only Reilly are made in the Far East (their custom frames are made in the UK).
For at least double the price
@@WordupG Maybe do some research before posting. A Reilly Ti Frameset is considerably less than Blackheart (entry level starts at £2,200). The brands I mentioned were not meant to be compared on price - I will also add Enigma and MOOTS to that list.