‘The fastest racing bike in the world’ - Storck unveils new Aerfast.5

Storck’s new Aerfast.5 road bike has high standards to live up to if the German brand’s claims that it’s “the fastest racing bike in the world” are to be believed.

According to Storck, the latest iteration in the Aerfast range only requires a power output of 195 watts to maintain a speed of 45kph, with the measurement taken by GST Society for Flow Measurement Technology using Tour Magazin’s wind tunnel testing protocols.

Producing the fastest bike in the world has become a mission for Storck which narrowly missed out on the title through the previous version of the bike, the Aerfast.4. It fell narrowly short of breaking the 200-watt barrier, missing out on the top spot in Tour Magazin’s rankings and the ‘fastest bike’ title in the process to the Simplon Pride II, which succeeded where Storck failed by clocking 199 watts.

Now Storck says that it has not only overcome the 200-watt barrier, but trumped the Simplon Pride II in the process through the latest Aerfast.5 bike, which has been refined with added speed in mind. The changes appear to have had the desired result, except Tour Magazin says differently. According to its tests, the bike registered at 201 watts in a 1x set-up with 40cm-wide handlebars, making it only marginally faster than its predecessor by one watt.

That’s by no means shabby and is enough for the bike to retain the second spot in the rankings, replacing the outgoing model which has been bumped down to third. When set up with 36cm-wide bars, Tour Magazine says that the Aerfast.5 reaches 199 watts to draw level with the record, although the Pride II was measured with 40cm-wide bars.

Whether the bike can claim the coveted title of “the fastest road bike ever” is still up for debate, but there’s no doubt that the Storck is a seriously quick bike based on the results. You wouldn’t need wind tunnel results to know that, though, as it bears all the signature hallmarks of an all-out aero machine.

First and foremost, this includes deep tube profiles which were a feature on the Aerfast.4 but have been refined on the latest version. This most notably has resulted in a much deeper and narrower head tube, a design that many brands are now adopting after the UCI relaxed its rules around tube ratios. Redesigning the head tube allows “the airflow to be redirected more efficiently to the rear part of the frame”, according to Storck.

It’s becoming commonplace for brands to focus on the frontal areas of their bikes as this is the leading edge that cuts through the wind and has the biggest effect on drag. It’s not too surprising, then, that Storck has also adopted a wider fork, once again with aerodynamics in mind. Testament to the effectiveness of wider forks, most track bikes have started using much wider stances, showing the impact it can have on aerodynamics. A change to a kammtail shape also leads to significant improvements, Storck says, as it “offers the smallest possible surface area for the wind to attack and directs it optimally along the frame”.

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© Storck

The forks are wider and have adopted a kammtail design

The rest of the bike has received attention too, including a deeper seat tube and seatpost, but the other headline feature isn’t in the realms of aerodynamics, but weight, or lack thereof. Storck says that a frame weighs only 890g, which compares favourably to many dedicated climbing bikes, although it hasn’t confirmed what frame size this is for. Either way, it’s seriously lightweight which may come as a surprise to some, considering the bike’s record-breaking target. However, Aerfast bikes are used by the Storck-Metropol Cycling Continental team, so it needs to be a practical racing option. It certainly appears to fulfil that need with full builds weighing as little as a claimed 6.9kg, which is knocking on the door of the UCI’s minimum weight limit of 6.8kg.

Speed doesn’t come cheap, as is to be expected considering the extensive testing and design process that goes into designing fast bikes, and the Aerfast.5 will set any interested buyers back over €10,000, with prices for full builds starting from €10,299.

That’s for the bike set-up with a SRAM Red 1x set-up, but it is also available with 2x SRAM Red or with Shimano’s top-tier Dura-Ace groupset. All versions of the bike are available in sizes XS through to XXL.

Learn more about the Storck Aerfast.5 on the German brand’s website.