Product Type: Road Bikes
Product Brand: X Lab
Product Model: RS5, RS7, RS7 di2, AD8, AD9
I am a bike shop owner. I also own, and ride, many many bikes. Some of these bikes are from brands that we sell at our shop, such as Giant, Enve, Orbea, Specialized, and Ritchey. Some of these bikes are from brands that we don’t sell, but which I can’t resist for reasons of curiosity, cool colorways, and enthusiasm for good bikes (Serotta, Cannondale Caad4, a Columbus Neuron Cinelli Supercorsa, a drop bar Soma Rufus wonderbike, and many others). This irks my dad and business partner to no small degree, as he doesn’t believe it’s good for business (and he’s right) to show up to The Fast Shop Ride on a 30 year old steel bike and smoke the guys who just purchased or are curious about purchasing the proverbial S-Works carbon wonderbike. Pardon the digression. I mention all this for context; which is to say that unlike many an Instagram ‘use my code and save 5%’ reviewer, I have it.
Around 3 months ago we started carrying X Lab bikes at our store. Here’s what think of each model I’ve tested.
RS5 - This is the entry level bike in the line. Aluminum frame, carbon fork, 105 mechanical, disc brakes, 38mm clearance (although X Lab stated clearances seem to be tighter, less conservative, than other brands), power meter, all for $1400.
From ten feet away, the bike looks like a million bucks, or at least a few thousand. Extremely clean welds, fantastic paint, and those fully integrated cables and hoses that all the kids love these days. Picking the bike up betrays that initial impression. The RS5 is heavy, easily 21-22 lbs. The fancy looking one piece aero bar/stem is aluminum and quite chunky. Likewise the seatpost, and the stock Branta (X Lab house brand) tires aren’t doing the bike any favors either.
How does it ride? Pretty darn nicely! In fact, I don’t think there’s any road bike out there with an MSRP in this range that comes close. Giant’s recently released Contend SL 1 at $1875 is probably a better ride, even with the lower Tiagra 11-speed spec and no power meter, but it is $475 more expensive, which is a lot of money when we’re operating in the entry level zone of the road bike market. You feel the weight of the RS5 when you stand up and give it the business, shifting the bike back and for underneath you. The RS5 sways where lighter bikes dart. Likewise when tackling rollers, that weight will feel cumbersome to experienced riders. However, as a first road bike, this thing will feel like a rocket ship to its new owner. Ride quality is smooth with a pleasant road feel, and sometimes feeling the inertia of a heavier bike gently accelerate and carry speed over gentle terrain is a very nice feeling indeed. Does the RS5 make other aluminum road bikes obsolete? No. But I’m glad it exists, because not everyone has Allez Sprint or Contend SL or Caad14 budgets, and this bike is a very viable alternative for any rider in the sub-$1500 range.
RS7 and RS7 di2 - These are by far the most popular bikes in the X Lab line, at least at our shop. At $2100 and $2900, respectively, for full carbon bikes with carbon wheels, power meters, and 105/105 di2, they have been touted as giving you everything that the big brands give you on their $4500 bikes, at almost half the price.
Is that true? Simple answer: No. The Giant Defy Advanced 0 and Orbea Orca m351, for two, have similar specs to the RS7 di2, minus the power meter. I think both bikes are vastly superior rides to the RS7 di2. They also cost $4500ish. If a customer said he had a budget of $4500, and asked to see the best bikes he could get in that price range, I’d probably show him the Giant and the Orbea. However, the RS7 models are still both excellent bikes, and it’s really nice that a rider with a budget of $2000-3000 can get a legitimately great carbon road bike in that price range. Despite not being as good as the twice as expensive bikes the internet is positioning them with, both the RS7 bikes are a hoot to ride, and if someone said to me, ‘Sorry Mike, you can’t ride your TCR SL 0 on your hundred mile mountainous ride today --here, have this X Lab RS7 mechanical instead,’ I’d get on the RS7 and have a blast from start to finish.
AD8 - This is the gem of the X Lab line, as far as I’m concerned, and where the internet hyperbole rings the most true. The AD series (comprised of the AD8 and AD9) are the lightweight aero bikes of the X Lab line. The Tarmac, the S5, the Propel, the Supersix, etc. The XDS Astana World Tour pro team rides the AD9. The AD8 is to the AD9 what the Tarmac Pro is to the S-Works Tarmac. At $4500, the AD8 actually does deliver the type of go-fast pure hyper efficient race bike experience that the Specializeds and Giants of the world usually only offer in the $7000 or $8000+ price range. I was originally loathe to admit just how good this bike is, but yes, it is very very good. Would I rather be riding a TCR Advanced Pro 0 or well-spec’d Orbea Orca Aero ($7500 or so)? Yes, without question. But the fact that the AD8 is even legitimately in the conversation with those bikes is a big deal, and it’s awesome that a competitive cyclist can get a bike at this price point and find themselves at no competitive disadvantage and feel so absolutely thrilled with their bike that FOMO will not exist --that’s a lovely thing.
AD9 - Everything I said about the AD8. At a relatively svelte $8000, this bike is in the conversation with your S-Works and Lab71’s and SL 0’s and SLR9’s of the world. I don’t know if I would take it over any of those bikes (well, actually, I would take it over a couple of those but that’s for personal reasons), but it only takes a short test ride to realize that it belongs in that Super Deluxe Halo Megabucks bike category. The AD8 is a very stiff, tap-the-pedal-and-GO bike. The AD9 is that and then some…and then some more. The handling on the AD9 feels sharper, more fun to play with, probably because it’s a pound and a half lighter and that much stiffer. Ride quality on both, despite being so responsive, feels like a good modern carbon bike. Not disruptively jarring by any means, a nice combination of ‘floating a fraction of a millimeter above the road’ while also being allowed to feel the road.
A few notes:
- The build quality on all the X Lab bikes is excellent. They are some of the easiest and quickest bikes to put together and tune that we’ve ever carried in our shop.
- The original production runs of 105 equipped bikes came with X Lab brand cassettes, which caused the bikes to shift something awful. X Lab has recently started speccing Shimano cassettes, which solves the problem. They also are very fair with warranty credit to our shop for replacing the cassettes out of our own inventory.
- The stated tire clearance on the RS7 is 32mm, which is what comes with the bike. I wouldn’t run anything more than 30’s, as the 32 is very tight at the chainstays.
- The brand’s USA presence is solid. My sales rep picks up the phone. The warranty department is extremely responsive. The company is, for the time being, humble and open to suggestions for how to make their bikes and their business practices better. Doing business with them is actually easier than it is with several US based bike companies I also work with.
- I’ll leave it to Ronan to wring hands over the slightly unconventional geometries and subsequent fit issues that some riders might have with these bikes, particularly the RS series. Suffice it to say that while I am usually an advocate for ‘it’s easier and better to make a small bike bigger than a big bike smaller, so when in doubt size down,’ in the case of X Lab bikes I often tell my customers to size up.
- X Lab does offer free bar/stem replacements on the AD8, AD9 and RT9 models, and might be persuaded to offer the same for the RS models if asked nicely.
- Every bike comes with a taillight, a bottle cage, and outfront mount, and a pretty darn nice torque wrench set.
- I realize that in these reviews I talk more about the relative value of each bike as opposed to how each bike rides. I suppose that’s because I want to give an objective perspective of the real value of these bikes, from a rider with oodles of context --if not oodles of Instagram followers.
Happy to answer questions, but I’m a busy fella during The Season so my replies might be a little delayed.