Since we have had all three Velokraft bikes pass through our doors, have some experience with modifications.
We can post photos of the pre-mods (as a normal High Racer) if anyone is interested. In summary, if you have the money and the time, the modified VK-Hi is an excellent bike with more visibility than the VK2/VK3, excellent handling, and a ride as smooth as butter. While the frame, seat, and boom are quite sturdy, the handlebars are a little small, cramped, and "too light"-though this encourages the rider to be more relaxed on the upper body. The tailboxes from Velokraft only fit the VK2 and the VK3, so a tailbox would need to be custom made. Similar to other Velokrafts, it is difficult to elegantly attach anything to the bike (lights, water bottles, luggage, etc.). Velokrafts are not for everyone-it can take an experienced bike mechanic many days to get everything set up correctly-they are similar to the high-end racing bikes (DF), requiring a lot of attention to detail and often post-modification of the frame/forks/handlebars since everything is hand-made by Kamil. Hill-testing will be completed in a couple of weeks after the upgrade to the Lightning crankset.Įvery review should cover the "other side of the coin". It's light-weight, incredible stiffness of the frame, good visibility, maneuverability makes this an excellent bike. The 650c rear wheel increases the seat height-giving much better visibility than the VK3. Low-speed handling allows for tight cornering and easier traffic negotiation. Power is transferred cleanly and completely. The carbon frame absorbs a significant portion of the road buzz. We will probably upgrade all these components just to see how light we can make the bike, though any weight savings other than the wheels is only going to have a placebo effect in performance increase (IMHO). We can probably take off another 2-3 pounds by replacing the SRAM crankset with a Lightning crankset (about 300-400 grams difference), lighter wheels/hubs, lighter tires, shorten the top of the fork, and lighter pedals.
With the SRAM Red groupset, Avid discbrake, Mavic Ksyrium Elite Wheels, Schwalbe tires, and Doubletap flat bar shifters, Terracycle idlers this large-size all carbon bike weighs in at 21 pounds. The unmodified Vk-Hi was too difficult to use in a commuting/low-speed situation (unless you are quite tall) and even then, the laid-back seating position is not good keeping track of chaotic traffic situations.īy switching out the front fork (650c) for a 20 inch fork with disc brake, the low-speed handling and ride improved significantly. The VK2 (and the NoCom), while good at track riding and racing are not suitable for any kind of commuting/touring in Asian countries. Thus far, this is the most versatile and best ride of all the Velokrafts. This is the third Velokraft we have put together and tested.
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