Kinesis Aithein Build

I know this thread is years old.

I am considering an Aithein Disc build, 'cos I am after a race Di2 disc bike, preferably threaded BB, & have leaning toward alu instead of carbon. Obviously the preassembled Di2 bikes almost all carbon. Also, my own build gives me precise choice of things like handlbar type & width, chainrings, crank length, stem length, & make use of components I already own.

I did a weight budget & the Aithein Disc bike complete is under 8kg (excepting only pedals), based on Ultegra Di2, alu seatpost & alu handlebars (suprised me too, but I checked carefully).

Other than the Aithein Disc, there seem to be limited alu race frames that are compatible with Di2 drivetrain. If anyone knows of any at a reasonable price, please suggest. (I know there are brands such as Tomassini, but $$$ & hard to get in Australia).

Regards

This is mine - I have since chopped the steerer tube. I have no idea how to make this photo appear upright. And I work with computers

If the weight limit is 89kg, then they will have taken account of a factor of safety. I doubt even that anyone on the 89kg boundary would need to weigh themself religiously before each ride in case they were carrying a bit too much lard that day. At 89kg Kinesis will be fairly sure they won't see any frame failures / or so few that there is no need to worry about it. You'd probably get away with slightly heavier even, depending how you ride.

You don't need to then factor in your own weight reduction below the 89kg!

I've never had a carbon bike and have always promised myself one, one day. Aithein is making me think long and hard about this! RE the weight limit, which is 89 kg I think. Has anyone had any issues with this? Are any of you close to that? I'm around 80 myself so wouldn't want to put any on!

I have the Race23's. Stiff and light though the freehub needs a clean after manky weather.

This was mine:

I'm now looking to build up this

@ DrJDog - its a 31.6mm seatpost, not a 34.9mm

Burnt orange frame
Ultegra 11 speed groupset (Dura Ace 53-39 standard crank)
Shimano RS81 C35
ITM Pathom Wing bars
ITM Pathom Stem 110mm
ITM Pathom seatpost
Selle Italia Flite Kit Carbonio Saddle

All in the garage ready for my autum winter project.

Seems aluminium is on the up......

Merlin cycles doing half price Campag wheels at the moment...

The BB in mine is the standard press fit GXP BB86 bottom bracket. Easy enough to fit, but be careful because the drive side is slightly wider than the other, so you could end up having to do it again, not that that would happen to anyone.

I have a carbon post in mine, an SL-K one, but it's 34.9mm, so you're not getting much of the give of carbon with that, I don't think.

My wheels I got Mark at Spokesman Wheels to build on Novatec hubs. They seem good so far, I don't notice any flex and I am close to the upper limit of the Aithein's weight limit.

I'll take a picture when I've chopped the steerer tube. It's sticking up a bit at the moment..

Can we have pictures of all these Aitheins please?! I would love one myself...

Just be aware that the lettering on the anodised black is essentially raw aluminium (albeit laser eteched) and mine corroded - the finishing went all mottled and I couldn't get it to clean up. So keep the downtube well cleaned and possibly use some alloy wheel wax or a similar protective liquid to keep it fresh and clean.

Dom at Kinesis sorted me out with a new one though under warranty, no quibbles. I went for the orange one as a replacement. Ashamed to say I haven't built it up yet though

I'd definitely go a carbon seatpost of some kind, and I swapped from Planet-X wheels to Wheelsmith Race23's when I did have it built up. Might not be wise to use a wheel builder in another country, but they do offer "free spokes for life" which suggests they're happy to endorse their wheels as unlikely to fail in normal use.

I have one in Orange with black H Plus Son Archetypes, and a mixture of Red and Force. The orange is really nice, metallic, and really stands out. It's 59cm with a 90mm stem so I can't help you too much with sizing.

I did consider very expensive wheels, then thought better of it. I think 7.5kg is light enough for me. I don't notice any difference between my stolen Canyon SLX on Ksyrium Elites and this in terms of weight, the Canyone definitely a little more comfortable.

Looks great, IMO, goes great, is very stiff (possibly a little too stiff with road buzz, but I run with a little less tyre pressure to compensate). I really like it. Doing a time trial on it later this evening.

Chorus 11 ... it's the dogs thingies ... oh and Acid green all the way !!

Sounds awesome! When Kinesis have an article on here, Dom (the Kinesis CEO) always chips in to the comments. At one point, he was asked to use the 'sick green' on more bikes, and to add a burnt orange. It would appear that he listens to his customers. I think an Aithein build will be a great bike.

A clubmate has an Aithein in green, and says it's as stiff as anything, accelerates crazy quick, and is easy to hold high speeds. He loves it.

Do you already have SRAM? I have Apex on my commuter, and having bought Shimano on my best bike, I won't be buying any more SRAM. It's just not in the same league.

Personally, I'd go:
Aithein in orange with black fork
Chorus 11sp or Ultegra 11sp
Wheelsmith aero 38 clinchers with sapim cxray and Wheelsmith hubs - handbuilt using replaceable parts and includes a good warranty - I believe they are happy for these to be used in tough conditions such as 'cross
http://www.wheelsmith.co.uk/aero-38-clincher

Bearing in mind the bikes stiffness though, I'd probably be tempted to buy something like Canyon's VCLS 2.0 seatpost for the pave.