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Avanti Quantum 1.0 (2012)

Editor's Review

Pros

Quantum 1.0 is carbon road racing performance that with a change of wheel will live up to being a good performer.

Cons

Wheels

Review

Avanti bikes are celebrating 25 years in the industry this year. My last experience with Avanti wasn’t a positive one with the bike I purchased being returned after a 2 hour ride from new. I fashioned a new saying that it ‘Rode like a wet noodle”. Any pressure through the pedals made me almost become sea sick it was that floppy. To Avanti’s credit they did replace the frame. That was 5 years ago and this is now so with that I clipped on the retaining clip on my helmet to set off on a new 2011 Quantum 1.0 for a test ride. I thought that I will keep an open mind as a lot has changed in the past 5 years. Technology as we know is a very fast moving beast. My wife who is younger than me is always reminding me that my stories tend to be from the dark old days that things these days have changed. So with that burning in my mind I set off to try the new edition from Avanti.

The Quantum 1.0 is the entry level carbon model in Avanti’s performance range. The Quantum comes with a complete 5700 105 groupset which is very much a welcome start and shows that you can put together a bike in this price point with a complete ensemble. As you know I am a big fan of full groupset. As I look over the bike I see one area I’m not going to be happy with and that is the soft entry level R500 wheels from Shimano. Having worked on these for a couple of years they are only suited to light riders who are not looking for any performance out of their bike. One note to make is to routinely check for any sideways play in the hub if left it will chew out your cones and bearings, so regular servicing will keep the wheels from giving you too much trouble. If you are a rider of 90+ kg then talk to your dealer to work out a stronger set of hoops as these will not suit.

Out on the road and it was with relief (and grief) that my wife was right (again) that things do change. The Quantum didn’t ride like a wet noodle. It wasn’t a speed machine either, with the wheels swapped out for my racing hoops it still didn’t break any speed records. But it was a nice compliant bike to ride especially out on the coarse country roads that I was testing the bike on. I did manage quite easily to get rim rub on the brakes from the standard R500 and this was due to the soft wheels that the Avanti comes with. After I changed the wheels the problem had gone so an upgrade will see you enjoy this ride of this bike a lot more.

The 105 ensemble worked well as did the other components. The bars supplied were comfortable and the Continental tyres performed well.
As usual I use my own saddle as what works for me want necessarily work for you
There was one point about the Quantum that I was impressed with and as small as It might seem to the untrained eye it really does count from a mechanical point of view. The Quantum comes with Shimano gear cables which is a big tick for me. The one area I have consistently seen fail prematurely is the gear cables on bikes. The cheap generic cables that are installed do not last longer than 6 months in some cases. This small detail is a big deal when it comes to smooth reliable shifting.


Especially with the 10 speed groupset these days there is very little tolerance for any friction in cables. The amount of times I replaced a full cable set on customers bikes due to the poor quality of the cables that came standard. There was an instant difference in the shift quality so it was a great inclusion to the Quantum 1.0.


With the ride finished I was pleasantly surprised and reassured that the Avanti Quantum was a pleasure to ride and would suit your club racer right through to your casual weekend rider wanting a comfortable good looking road bike. The Avanti fits the bill on both of these counts.

Details

Take the next level with Quantum 1.0 and set your road cycling goals higher. Made with ADT R3 Carbon frame with performance geometry and Shimano Tiagra 20-speed components, for intensely sporty ride.

See Manufacturer's Description
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Quick Specifications
Name:Quantum 1.0
Brand: Avanti
MSRP:TBA
Year:2012
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