2026: Frames and Geometry
While it seemed like the past few years in the road cycling industry were largely focused on aerodynamics and getting a bike as light as possible (within UCI regulations), Factor (amongst others) have entered 2026 with a seemingly heavy hand on frame geometry. They’ve introduced a re-vamped performance road bike called the Factor ONE after some laxity in rules from the UCI such as dimensions of the fork box and tube shapes.
What initially piqued my curiosity about all this was an article in Cycling Weekly (here) where Factor commented on long stems and slammed saddles potentially causing crashes in pro peletons. It’s been very well documented in recent years that cyclists downsize frames for many reasons and as a result bike stems have been used to create space. What has also crept up is cyclists slamming their saddles on the fronts of their rails to get themselves to a forward and thus more aggressive aero position on the bike. According to Factor, these two factors, bike stem length and saddles being brought forward have altered where a cyclist’s centre-of-mass lands on the bike and increases steering sensitivity which presents as twitchy handling. Every lean or torso correction is now serving as input to your handlebars, which for sprint stages can result in energy losses or worse crashes.
According to Factor, the ONE has shown in testing that it is the fastest in the world due to some key geometry changes from the OSTRO VAM and safe. The front end has a lot of these changes on display, I’m sure y’all have seen the biggest fork there ever was online. They’ve also decided to de-couple the central axis of rotation and the stem-handlebar complex to increase stiffness on the bars but also decrease the steering sensitivity they’ve mentioned above. By essentially not having a stem, Factor has created their own version of an effective stem length and thus reach of the bike, numbered 1-2-3-4-5 for the ONE replicating 110mm-150mm on an Ostro.
The other interesting change from the Cycling Weekly article is despite highlighting that slammed saddles can potentially increase the risk of crashes, they’ve continued to keep the seat tube angle steep (so the rider is closer to the handlebars). Apparently the risk of crashing is being offset by a longer wheelbase, a longer top tube, and a lower bottom bracket, effectively increasing the rider’s base of support length while not changing the centre-of-mass, which hey the physics works!
The part that I’m not a fan of is the handlebar, also sidenote, the similarity to the Colnago Y1Rs’ CC.Y1 handlebars was not-not noted. There are 2 options of handlebars 1. low bar =slammed 2. high bar =slightly less slammed but still slammed. Something Factor did not want to negotiate on was the aerodynamics of the handlebars; by having higher handlebars, the bike is less aerodynamic. On the ONE bike, you have up to 15mm of spacers with the low bar. Or you can purchase the high bar (20mm of height) and get up to 15mm of spacers, with the total adjustability being 35mm. Now this may be great for those in the peleton, but the rest of the market of enthusiasts and cyclists just got dealt a tough card in terms of how much they can play around with their cockpit for comfort and aerodynamics.
If this bike performs how Factor describes it has been with testing, by allowing riders to continue their preference for a modern aggressive aero position while allowing for more safety with a longer wheelbase and decreasing steering sensitivity, hopefully we see less crashes in pro peletons and somehow even quicker stages in the touring circuit this year.
References:
1. https://www.cyclingweekly.com/fitness/bike-fit/factor-says-long-stems-and-forward-saddles-cause-crashes-but-why-and-what-can-be-done-about-it?fbclid=IwY2xjawO1LLZicmlkETFKSTJYUWVsTE83M2RJWFhoc3J0YwZhcHBfaWQQMjIyMDM5MTc4ODIwMDg5MgABHk8NDDjGzkWuQv7L-lYruNUSPDSycFKBCogxH9vNZyxV5TykoYiuV8ISX8S-&brid=hzuP6Kj6XkJ1riKhTS0xOw
2. https://factorbikes.com/bikes/one
3. https://d21buns5ku92am.cloudfront.net/70260/documents/59760-1765372768-FACTOR%20ONE%20LAUNCH%20BOOK-d57adc.pdf
4. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UXOoAp42TX8