The Basso Konos Frameset takes the road racing tradition Basso is well-known for and applies that wisdom to a bike built for timed events. The result is a bike that rides with the comfort of a road bike but with the steering ease of an upholstered chair. Equally important are the wind-cheating qualities of the tube shapes, which move through the air with ease.
This is an UCI-approved time trial rig. Most won’t race a UCI time trial ever, but as Basso sees itself competing with the big boys of racing, they felt it essential to meet the same standards that WorldTour rigs are measured by. With that starting point passed, they also needed to build this bike to be fast. So they invested time and tunnel into shaping the bike to be slippery when it came to moving through air. That meant reducing frontal area. To get there, they started with the front end. The fork has wide, aero legs. The brake is built onto the back side of the fork and comes with the bike. They next went to the head tube, which itself is shaped front-to-back to move air easily around it. Atop the fork sits the integrated bar/stem/extension combo. They first designed the stem and base bar together. The integrated unit sits below the top tube and is shaped so that the stem is flat and flows into the top tube seamlessly. The base bar is a short wing, measured 44cm outside-to-outside. The extensions sit on airfoil-shaped risers, which themselves can be used or not. the extensions are gentle ski bends, and can be slid forward and back for fit.
The rest of the bike also benefits from this same thinking. The downtube starts with a notch for the fork crown, is dropped so low that they had to shape it around the front wheel, and it retains the airfoil shape while getting wider on its travel to the bottom bracket. The Seat stays are short and shaped for aerodynamics. The seat tube works as a shroud hiding the rear wheel from the wind. The seat post is also airfoil shaped, with a sliding rail for the saddle clamp.
Aero bikes often have a deserved reputation for being vertically stiff and laterally soft. Basso has worked the Konos to make sure this isn’t the case. The steerer is a tapered 1 1/8” to 1 ½”, like their road bikes. Many TT bikes go with a narrow, untapered steerer to minimize frontal area. Basso decided the improved lateral stiffness, which can be noticed cornering and standing on the pedals, was more than worth the tradeoff. The downtube, while aero, is not overly tall. They also went with a BB86 bottom bracket shell, as that, too, allows them to build wider at the bottom bracket, increasing lateral stiffness, providing more room for wheels and tires, and better aerodynamics.
Basso chose to go with short chainstays, a relatively shallow seat angle, and a shorter front end than many Tri’ bikes. They wanted a bike that still felt efficient with power-transfer in the rear, cornered well, and while still easy to steer from the aero bars, didn’t feel sluggish.
To accommodate a range of bodies, they also designed in adjustability. The seat post has 10mm of fore-aft adjustment, meaning you can get into a pretty extreme forward TT position as well as a conservative, almost road-like position as well. They include stack spacers with the front end so you install them under the stem, and raise the bars if you need to. The extensions come with several centimeters of stack spacers for the same reason.
The frame can accept rims and wheels of any width, as well as tires up to 25mm wide.
The frameset comes with front brake, headset, stem, seatpost, aero stem/bar/extension set. There are stops and plugs for setting up the bike with either electronic or mechanical shifting. The rear brake is a classic under the bottom bracket post mount style. Chainrings of up to 55 teeth.
The Basso Konos denies the wind any blockages and rides like a great, super-stable, road bike.

RRP	$4,795
Where to Buy	— $1 At
Category	Triathlon

Frame	Carbon
	Carbon
Wheels
Wheel Size	700c
Clearance	25c




Drivetrain
Brand Site
Summary	The Basso Konos Frameset is a carbon frame triathlon frameset.

Frame	Torayca HMCF T700 BB Standard: BB86/BB92, Press Fit Tire Clearance: 25c
Fork	Basso Carbon
Bottom Bracket	BB86x41.5 Pressfit Required
Headset	Integrated 1 1/2" - 1 1/8"
Stem	Microtech Integrated
Seatpost	Bassos Konos Carbon Type: Rigid