Is this the fastest road bike in the world? Toot Engineering reckons its new aero bike is way more efficient than big-name competitors (and it's UCI-legal)

Is the UCI-legal T°Red TheFalcon 300 RR Stradale really faster than top-level road bikes like the Colnago Y1Rs, Cervelo S5, and Specialized Tarmac SL8? Toot Engineering, the Italian company behind the design, claims it is.

We’ve covered Toot Engineering previously when its T°Red X23 Swanigami bike was raced at the 2023 UCI Track Cycling World Championships in Glasgow (Toot Engineering and T°Red are both brands owned by Bianca Innovations). TheFalcon 300 RR SC is an evolution of the Blackfalcon that was ridden at the 2021 Track World Championships, but transferred from the velodrome to the road.

What are you getting here?

“TheFalcon 300 RR is the only road bike in the world directly derived from the track, transferring mechanical and aerodynamic advantages without compromise,” says Toot Engineering. “Although inspired by the track, its agility, reactivity and exceptional comfort make it a masterpiece for road racing.”

TheFalcon 300 RR is made from Toot Engineering’s proprietary AlScaZir alloy, which is a blend of aluminium, scandium, and zirconium. Toot Engineering says that AlScaZir has mechanical properties similar to Ergal, which is 7075 aluminium alloy, while “maintaining excellent weldability”.

Toot Engineering says, “The frame’s stiffness-to-weight ratio ensures unmatched performance, combining torsional stiffness, power transmission and extreme reactivity.”

The head tube, bottom bracket and seatstays are 3D printed in Scalmalloy, customised to fit the individual rider (we'll come back to that in a minute; it's important).

TheFalcon 300 RR SC is built to what Toot Engineering calls an LSST (Low Stack Small Triangles) geometry that is said to be inspired by the engineering principles of BMX frames. With their small triangles, BMX frames are designed to be stiff and reactive. As well as increasing torsional stiffness, the LSST geometry is also intended to reduce the bike’s frontal surface area and improve aerodynamic efficiency although, with each bike built to order, the stack and reach are tailored to the individual customer.

Toot Engineering says that its Blackfalcon track bike achieved an exceptionally low CdA (coefficient of drag), and that it has worked hard to transfer that performance to the road.

According to Toot Engineering, “Wind tunnel and velodrome testing confirm that TheFalcon 300 RR is significantly closer to the aerodynamic performance of track bikes [than road bikes].

“With a CdA of less than 0.200 at 0° yaw [with the apparent wind head-on] and an energy expenditure of 361W at 50 km/h, TheFalcon 300 RR offers a performance gain of more than 12% compared to the best competing road bikes and better values than many track bikes used in the recent Olympic Games and not too far from the record figures of the X23 Swanigami.”

For comparison, it quotes a CdA of 0.238 for the Colnago Y1Rs, 0.316 for the Cervelo S5, and 0.330 for the Specialized Tarmac SL8.

As mentioned above, Toot Engineering claims that TheFalcon 300 RR would require 361W to hold 50km/h (31.1mph) compared with 391W for the Colnago Y1Rs, 518W for the Cervelo S5, and 542W for the Specialized Tarmac SL8.

It bases these statements on independent tests conducted in the velodrome in Valencia, Spain, under the supervision of Didac Navarro, performance manager at UAE Team Emirates. The rider was Spanish track and road cyclist Sebastian Mora.

"TheFalcon 300 RR delivers energy savings of... 22% compared to the ColnagoY1RS. Compared to the Specialized SL8 and Factor Ostro, the Falcon ensures a wattage reduction of more than 50%, providing the rider with a performance advantage that goes beyond aerodynamics, thanks to superior overall efficiency," says Toot Engineering.

Erica Marson, general manager at Toot Racing, says, “The bike Mora tested was not optimised around him, so that number can also be improved in the future. Also, he got an hour to try the bike the day before the test, and still with such little time and without a full customisation of the bike design around his position, the numbers were really good.”

Comparing CdA figures for different bikes is notoriously difficult. Even in the wind tunnel, brands do their testing in various ways (with or without a rider/mannequin on board, different wind speeds, different yaw angles, different setups). It's complicated before you even get to the fact that each TheFalcon 300 is built for an individual rider (so is sized differently) and the testing quoted above was done on a track.

One certain thing is that the buying process for TheFalcon 300 RR is very different from normal. You don’t just walk into your local bike shop and lay your money down.

“TheFalcon 300 RR is part of a big, different approach to designing bikes,” says Erica Marson. “We started working on track bikes in 2015. Before that, we were working on automotive, motorsport, aerospace, architecture, sustainability, and other things, with a lot of connections with research labs and different materials and solutions. That first track bike was the starting point of changing 90% of our work into designing bicycles and components. We have always worked around the cyclist, no matter if it was a professional or a passionate amateur.

“Through the years, we’ve developed different instruments and software and added new technologies and solutions that allow us to work around the cyclist, checking their position and needs. It's not a matter of building artisan bikes compared to mass production, it is about using all the technologies and solutions that are available in the market to design the best bicycle for each rider – different materials, a different building technology with specific tubes. We use 3D printing to customise the parts and the features of each part, not only in terms of size but also in terms of feel, stiffness and comfort, depending on who's riding it.

“TheFalcon derived from the track bike that was used two years ago at the World Championship, which was registered also for the Paris Olympics. This is the road version, which is a platform more than a bike.TheFalcon is part of the X collection that works with the ADAPT approach.”

ADAPT stands for Adaptive Design Advanced Process Technologies and, in short, it's what Toot Engineering calls its system of creating bikes on demand for the individual cyclist – its philosophy, if you like – which is pretty much the opposite of mass production.

Toot Engineering says, "The ADAPT system integrates adaptive design, advanced digital simulations, and additive manufacturing to create bikes that are not just aerodynamic but fully optimised for each individual rider.

"The goal is not only to reduce CdA but to build a cyclist-bike system that minimises energy loss and maximises mechanical efficiency, adapting to the specific needs of every athlete."

Erica Marson says, “It’s not just about getting a bike but building a bike around your needs. We start from TheFalcon base platform and design the bike around what you are going to do.

“We have a simulator in-house where we can do tests that are deeper than wind tunnel activity because we can also simulate the power requirements while changing the position on the bike. You are constantly seeing the CdA, the power requirements and the real power needed for that specific position. In the wind tunnel, normally, you check the position and maybe you come out with a very interesting CdA number, but when the rider is in a real-world situation, they cannot stand that position.

“That’s why the X23 first and then TheFalcon [track version] gave back very interesting numbers in terms of CdA and power requirements. Then we did the test with TheFalcon road version, and we saw the same, and that's because we use the athlete’s body and position together with the bike design to improve the aerodynamics of the whole.”

With this approach, each bike is built to order, and Toot Engineering says that the customer is very much part of the design process. Also, it’s keen to emphasise that there’s no overproduction or wastage because of this business model.

How much will TheFalcon 300 cost you? Toot Engineering says that prices vary but you should expect to pay more than for an off-the-shelf bike. However, it says that it is able to save money by not using a traditional retail model and not having to store stock in warehouses, so you might be surprised. Make of that what you will.

The bike pictured here is fitted with a 13-speed 11-42-tooth Toot Engineering cassette with a large 56-tooth chainring at the front.

Oh, one small point. The small front triangle can accommodate only one water bottle, but Toot Engineering thinks this is a sacrifice worth making.

“Asking where to put a second bottle on TheFalcon 300 is like asking a cheetah to carry a backpack,” it says. “This is a track-derived machine. If you’re pushing five hours at full gas, mount it behind the saddle. But remember: this bike’s DNA is speed, not convenience.”

T°Red Bikes and Toot Engineering offer a whole range of bikes at various prices.

performance.tootengineering.com