The REAP Vekta is an aero-road bike with next-generation frame performance. It’s faster, smoother, and radically stiffer. You’ve never ridden a bike like this.
All of our bikes are handmade to order so will ship within 6-8 weeks of ordering. If you would like us to build your bike for you with your own parts, please enquire at info@reapbikes.com prior to purchasing to discuss. For international customers, please also contact us before purchasing.
The Hour Record is the purest test of speed in the world of cycling. One rider, one bike, one gear, one hour. Some romanticise it, some have tried to quantify it, but the hour is a different beast. To take on the hour is to tackle one of the toughest trials of mental and physical endurance the world knows.
Project Raptor started at the end of 2018 with the sole objective of adding the fastest track bike in the world to our arsenal. As you may have read in our ‘Let Me Explain’ piece last week, things haven’t gone exactly to plan since then.
In December 2018 we produced a selection of high density foam models depicting variations of the initial Raptor concept to test at the Boardman Performance Centre’s wind tunnel against another top-end track bike. With promising results, the project made a flying start before being parked while we prioritised development of the Vulcan – our TT/tri bike, and the Vekta – our road bike.
With time on our hands during lockdown, and with a furloughed workforce unable to push on with other areas of development, we decided to pick up where we left off and produce a functional carbon-fibre effigy of our vision to test in the wind tunnel versus the Argon 18 Electron Pro, choice of the world-record holding Danish Team Pursuit squad. To be the best, you’ve got to take on the best.
We give to you, Project Raptor.
Argon 18’s Electron Pro is the most dominant bike to have graced the track in recent memory. Dominating the boards with a long list of records, including most recently, the 4000m team pursuit in 3:44:67 under the charge of the Danish track team. This was where we needed to measure The Raptor.
The Silverstone Sports Engineering Hub allowed us to test both bikes under identical conditions to measure drag forces produced by each bike and thus, aerodynamic efficiency. The facility allowed us to compare each bike under the stress of a multitude of conditions, speeds and angles.
On the day, testing showed that when pitted against the best in the business, the Raptor was nearly identical in aerodynamic performance on each test we ran. Equal with, what is largely considered, to be the fastest track bike in the world.
This would be a victory for most brands debuting their offering to the track bike arms race, for some this would lead to claims of being the fastest bike ever recorded, but we came away confident in the fact that there are still lots of tricks up our sleeves; we have unfinished business.
We never entered the race to share the top step. We have established a baseline, and we are back at the drawing board. The Search for Speed is never ending. Project Raptor continues.
Engineered carbon:
materials & method
Because attacks and sprints place such great loads on road race bikes, we drew on the engineering of our Vulcan tri bike to make the Vekta massively stiffer than any rival. We used the technology that made a beam bike ride like a road bike to make a road bike ride better than any before. We achieved this in two ways: material selection and construction method.
Carbon fibre comes in many grades and, as with everything, the best fibres are more expensive. At REAP, all materials are selected by engineers, not accountants, and the Vekta is made with a blend that is over 80% ultra-high modulus Toray M40J unidirectional fibre. That’s a vastly higher percentage and grade than most manufacturers use in their top models.
Our raw material cost is around 50% higher yet the Vekta is very competitively priced; it’s a reinvestment that we can make because we sell direct to you and, unlike the vast majority, we don’t outsource production – we are our own factory. Expert deployment is crucial to get the best from these materials and that’s where our 25 years of composite engineering experience are invaluable. The carbon fibre lay-up is intuitive to us.
The performance of the carbon fibre lay-up is boosted significantly by our trade secret manufacturing method, a hugely effective innovation that’s unique to REAP. We can’t tell you what it is, but we promise you will feel the difference it makes.
As a true monocoque, the Vekta is made in a single piece, whereas mass-produced bikes are made in a number of pieces and then joined. Our way is more difficult, but the result is an optimised frame, free from parasitic weight – mass that is made necessary by compromised design and doesn’t add value.
Every element of the Vekta is designed for maximum performance. Sure, there are slightly lighter aero-road frames, but none that come close to the way the Vekta feels. We chose to invest a little frame weight to achieve a huge increase in stiffness which results in levels of steering precision and power transfer efficiency you’ve never even dreamed of. We know that you’ll feel it as soon as you stand on the pedals.
