Today we get to announce a few things. First is the kinda-new (to us regular riders, anyway) FACTOR ONE. “Kinda new” because the pro team has been riding it for a bit when allowed, and if you’ve been paying attention you’ve probably already seen it. But today is the first day we get to show FACTOR’s new colors and share our first impressions of how it builds up and, more importantly, how it rides.
Second, we’re welcoming the newest addition to the Above Category team: Ted Schwartz. Ted joins us from Seattle, where he was managing another great cycling business, Metier. I’m especially excited about having him here — not only because I now have someone to help ride all the bikes that show up, but because he’s a much faster rider (Cat 1 road racer) than I am, which definitely doesn’t hurt. He’s also a genuinely great and super nice guy, so if you haven’t met him yet and you’re local, come by and say hi.
We usually get our test and launch bikes much earlier than this ONE. The frame was dropped off yesterday (Tuesday December 9th, 2025) and we rushed to build it same-day. The goal was get at least ONE good ride on it before the photo shoot. Since Ted would be the pilot on this ONE, we felt he should be the ONE building it as well. Step ONE was unboxing and getting it in the stand where we could all stare, make bets on the build time and the final weight. The outcome to both was way different than we all thought. Ted's first impressions were that the rear end of the bike looked surprisingly normal and like the rest of us, thought that this paint scheme looked much, much better in person.
It was time to get the front end on and start cabling things up. The battery and the cables running to the Dura-Ace derailleurs were super easy. FACTOR includes a nice battery port just behind the bottom bracket, underneath the bike. Ted then mounted the fork to the frame using FACTOR’s Bayonet system. That part was also pretty straightforward, though we didn’t have the specific tool needed to torque it down properly, something we’ll sort out for the next build.
Compared to the rear end, the front of the ONE looks massively different. The head tube is thick, the fork legs are wide, and the whole thing has a very distinct aesthetic. Interesting, purposeful, and unmistakably ONE.
The brake cables were a bit trickier, but after some fiddling Ted got them routed through the bars and attached to the levers.
Overall, hanging the parts and getting the rest of the bike set up was pretty straightforward so nothing much to report here.
Going against the grain, we mounted a pair of Lightweight Fernweg wheels with 28mm Tufo tires instead of the Black Inc 62mm. Ted was a little surprised there wasn’t more room for bigger tires, but we’re assuming that’s an aero-optimization choice. It looks like we could still squeeze a 30mm tire in there if needed. The Lightweights also run a bit narrow, which keeps the overall tire profile slimmer than with the wider internal-width wheels we use a lot of the time. For what it’s worth, those 28mm Tufo tires measure 29.4mm in real life.
We were also a bit shocked that the bike came out to only 17.68 pounds, fully loaded with SRM power pedals, cages and a computer mount. That’s much lighter than we expected given how much material is used on this frame. For a full-on, unapologetic aero bike, that’s pretty impressive. If pressed, we’re confident we could get this 56cm build under 17 pounds and even lighter with a smaller frame.
All in, total build time came in at four and a half hours, which was much quicker than we anticipated and will only get faster as we build more of these.
After the build, we pulled down the black seamless and it was time for the glamor shots. In addition to the Lightweight Fernweg wheels, Tufo tires and Shimano Dura-Ace build, we added SRM power pedals, Ceramicspeed bottom bracket and a Wove Mags saddle. A Ceramicspeed Alpha OSPW kit is next, but didn’t have one here in time for launch.
The FACTOR ONE is definitely a polarizing bike and looks different from anything we’ve seen (besides, of course, the FACTOR Pursuit bike we showed over a year ago). We found ourselves getting used to it as the build progressed. Honestly, I feel that most “Aero” bikes are nothing of the sort and if you are going to do it, then get in deep and go all the way. This bike screams that.
Build done, now on to the fun part: riding it. Ted got up nice and early and hit the road around 0630. After an unsuccessful attempt at meeting up, he took off and did a 60 mile ride with 3800 feet of climbing in approximately 3 hours and 15 minutes. Our goal was for him to ride at a slightly faster pace to get a good initial feeling for how the bike sprinted, descended, climbed and felt on a good and fast stretch of tarmac. It was a bit blustery out there which added to the real life testing conditions.
After the test ride, we met at the shop and headed out with the camera.
First up is how the bike managed the hills. Ted didn’t hit a long climb but a good amount of ten minute and shorter hills. His initial response was that this bike climbed way better than expected. He felt that the progressive position helped with that quite a bit, and also the fact that the bike rides light. 17+ pounds is not crazy light, but for a bike with this intent it is very respectable. Knowing that it rides lighter than that number is icing on the cake. We made him chase the car a bit to get some realistic shots, which he was thrilled about– especially since we promised him beforehand it was going to be a cupcake ride.
Even when we were done climbing, there was still more climbing to get to the spot where we wanted to descend and sprint. So it goes. During the short breaks to swap lenses, we kept finding ourselves staring at that fork.
Descending. Well, we only managed two shots because Ted was so fast that we couldn’t catch up to him to take more. Guess that sums up this part of the test. But really, Ted felt that overall the descending was fine. This is something that comes with feeling what the bike can do and will take a few more longer rides to sort out. It was a pretty windy day and with the thicker spokes on the deep Lightweight Fernweg wheels he had to fight the bike a bit to keep it going in a straight line.
After another short descent it was time to see how the bike sprinted…and again, we broke our easy ride promise. After a nice 1400+W effort Ted was feeling super confident with how the bike gets to top speed. He felt he could get on top of it much better starting with some speed. Starting a sprint from a slower speed the bike didn’t feel as responsive or quick. But, this is a race bike and the guys racing it don’t really spend much time doing anything at a slower speed, so all good there.
With all of that taken care of, I asked Ted to sum up his feelings about the FACTOR ONE after the first shakeout ride in one sentence. “Surprisingly versatile” were the first two words out of his mouth. After roughly 75 miles for the day, Ted later added that he’d have zero issues with this being his one and only bike and that really stood out to us. For a bike that puts speed above all else, it handles and climbs exceptionally well, feels light and quick, and is getting more fun to look at all the time!
While our relationship with the ONE has just begun, it’s safe to say it’s off to a promising start. We’re looking forward to dialing it in with different setups and really putting it through its paces with more miles. Given Ted’s day ONE experience on this machine, we’re bound to have a 1,000-mile review in no time.
If you’re thinking about getting a bike that stands out from the crowd, and one that’s been designed to be the fastest tested road bike in the world, give us a shout. We’re really looking forward to seeing the rest of the color schemes in person.
- Chad
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