Reviews of the Azzurri Di2 Forza Pro from Cycling Express

[mezla]

/start excited man

I just ordered mine!

SQUEEEEEEEE!!

Going from cheapo ($500) 2nd hand 9.5kg alu flat bar that is too small for me... to this... is going to be PRETTY FUN!

/end excited man

[BrisVegas]

congrats mezla!

[HAKS]

/start excited man

I just ordered mine!

SQUEEEEEEEE!!

Going from cheapo ($500) 2nd hand 9.5kg alu flat bar that is too small for me... to this... is going to be PRETTY FUN!

/end excited man

Nice work . Look forward to see you smashing your PBs out to Lake Gearge

[mezla]

Oh man... they will be SO smashed!

[mezla]

Anyone know how long they are taking to arrive since the new year? Anyone order the January shipment in December and get it already?

[ozzymac]

I just ordered one the other day and was told the expected arrival date is 5th Feb with delivery about the 15th.

Hope it goes according to the dates.

I hate waiting

Cheers

[mezla]

Oooo cool, that's not bad

[Webbie]

I ordered mine at the start of January as part of the Feb shipment. I called last week to get a status update and was told that they would be shipping hopefully in the second week of Feb, depending if the bikes get through customs ok

[santacruzscott]

Hi all,

Just thought I should give people an update on my ownership of Forza Di2.
Mine was one of the first batch in October.

Still really happy with mine after 3 months of riding.
Put mine together out of the box , didn't bother charging the battery , and away I went.
The only thing mine needed , "out of the box" , was a small adjustment to the rear derailleur stops , and has been perfect ever since.
Battery was showing at half charged after 500k , charged then , and still showing fully charged (solid green light) after another 700k.
I think that from fully charged , it will be good for 2000k or more.

The quality of finish on the frame still impresses me , as good as most brands.
It's not just a black frame , it's a swirly carbon fibre black frame that looks great in bright sunlight.
Hard to take a photo that does the finish justice.

The frame is compliant on the bumps and rough surfaces ,that seam to make up the majority of road surfaces these days , but also quite stiff and responsive on acceleration and climbing.

The only upgrades that I will be looking at in the near future will be , maybe , a better bar/stem combo.


The only other thing , in the name of research , is that I thought I should crash test my new pride and joy , just a few weeks ago.

Result ....

Went off the road onto a driveway at too sharp an angle , and as a result lost the front , and went down fairly hard on the right side of the bike .
Impact on rear derailleur , brake lever/shifter , oh and me........

Outcome....

Twisted shifter/lever around on bars , and bent derailleur hanger(and some skin loss on me )

Rode home , about 10k , after it happened , no worries.

Was a bit concerned on getting home , on straightening lever , shifter stopped working , oh no........................
Pulled hood back off the lever to discover that the connection had popped out , just a matter of popping it back in and all was fine.
Contacted Cycling express , and they sent me out another derailleur hanger (free) , and away I went again.

Pics of lever/derailleur.





Anyway , more than happy with my purchase , can only highly recommend to all.

Absolute bargain , just go for it........

[mezla]

Contacted Cycling Express, and they sent me out another derailleur hanger (free)

That's fantastic!

I hope everyone tries to support CE. Great to have an Aussie store really taking on Wiggle/CRC/PBK/etc.

edit: PS: Nice work bench

[Toyopet]

That's a double "ouch" for both the bike and you Santacruzscott. Great to see that you both came out of it relatively unscathed. And three cheers for Cycling Express providing you with a replacement derailleur hanger.

I've also done some testing on the bike, but not as destructive as yours. Mine was on the battery only; to see how long it would last, and what would happen when taken to its limits.

The battery indicator was in the red but I decided not to charge it. The first symptom was the FD occasionally not shifting when called. Then it gave up completely after several of these mis-shifts and I was stuck on the small chainwheel. The RD was still shifting fine though.

I managed around 100-200 more shifts from the RD before it too gave out. Then found that I could get another shift out of the RD after giving it a rest for a while. The battery probably builds up some charge again, given enough time.

So I'm very happy with the battery. It gives enough electronic warning via the charge indicator LED. And if you don't take notice of the warning, you'll lose FD shifting, but still get home with RD shifting.

[santacruzscott]

My Battery is still showing full green light after just under 1000k from last charge.
So that is at least 75% charge left

Gota be happy with that.

[BobInSA]

I received mine a couple of weeks ago - ordered in Nov. Have only done about 130km so far, but very much enjoying it. Much better than previous bike (4.5 year old, carbon frame running 105), stiffer, but better ride, much better handling especially downhill. No hesitation in recommending it. Rear gears needed trimming and it appears rear dropout may have got bent in transit, but I seemed to have sorted it out. All seems to be running smoothly now. I'm looking forward to some longer rides as I'm planning to ride from Melbourne to Canberra next month

[Ross]

Got a question relating to Azzurri Di2 Forza Pro from Cycling Express and didn't think it deserved a thread of it's own so I'll put it here. Has anyone purchased one and swapped groupsets with another bike they own and then re-sold the Azzuri? If so how much did you get for the Azzuri with a mech groupset?

[rebem]

Got a question relating to Azzurri Di2 Forza Pro from Cycling Express and didn't think it deserved a thread of it's own so I'll put it here. Has anyone purchased one and swapped groupsets with another bike they own and then re-sold the Azzuri? If so how much did you get for the Azzuri with a mech groupset?

Hey Ross, I ordered one to do exactly that but have discovered the frame is a Di2 specific frame. i.e. no friction points for normal cables. Well that's my assumption at the moment - happy to be corrected. I'll still transfer the Di2 to my new S-Works frame and then I'll think about using the Azzurri for a commuter, maybe with an internal gear hub.

Good question though - anyone else sold the spare bits off after grabbing the Di2??

[Ross]

Thanks rebem , I was wondering if the frame was Di2 specific, thought for the price of the bike it probably wasn't but now I know. Think I'll put the project in the too hard basket. I was only toying with the idea as I thought it could be a good way to get a cheap Di2 setup.

[rebem]

I guess the way I see it is a full Ultegra Di2 groupset is $2.5k at the moment. This bike ships with Reynolds Solitude wheels worth about $500, pedals, saddle, seatpost, bars, stem and then the frame/forks. Even if you had a fire sale of all the bits you'd recoup a few hundred and maybe get the groupset for somewhere around $2k or less if you're lucky (without selling the frame). I'm still ahead then, I hope!!

[mezla]

"Hi Matthew,

Yes, they will be shipped toward this week, Thursday or Friday."

SQUEEEEEEEE!

[ozzymac]

"Hi Matthew,

Yes, they will be shipped toward this week, Thursday or Friday."

SQUEEEEEEEE!

I think it might be a large WE WISH............

Considering they only arrived at the warehouse at 11 am today.

But you never know ...

Cheers

[Dr_Mutley]

I guess the way I see it is a full Ultegra Di2 groupset is $2.5k at the moment. This bike ships with Reynolds Solitude wheels worth about $500, pedals, saddle, seatpost, bars, stem and then the frame/forks. Even if you had a fire sale of all the bits you'd recoup a few hundred and maybe get the groupset for somewhere around $2k or less if you're lucky (without selling the frame). I'm still ahead then, I hope!!

A couple of weeks ago u could buy the FULL ultegra di2 group (minus the internal wiring harness, and no, not the upgrade kit) on bike24 for about $1400 delivered...

Until I saw this post I didn't realize u guys were still waiting for your bikes! Shhheeeesshhhhhh u all deserve an upgrade to DA di2 just for your patience!!!

[paulz]

[quote="Dr_Mutley"
A couple of weeks ago u could buy the FULL ultegra di2 group (minus the internal wiring harness, and no, not the upgrade kit) on bike24 for about $1400 delivered...

Until I saw this post I didn't realize u guys were still waiting for your bikes! Shhheeeesshhhhhh u all deserve an upgrade to DA di2 just for your patience!!![/quote]

I doubt that it was $1400 AUD...probably more like 1400 Euro. Even so, at the current exchange rate that is a pretty good price for UDi2 groupset. However, the CE price on the Azzurri Forza Pro Di2 is still good value IMO given the specs of the bike. I have been very happy with mine.

I did encounter an issue during the last 6kms on Sunday's ride though. The FD stopped shifting, which I initially thought that the battery might be running low. I charged the battery when I got home and found that the problem remained. It turned out that the FD needed some tuning/adjustments. A quick search for the dealer's installation manual and I had the FD shifting like it did when it first arrived. The instructions for adjusting the FD in the dealer's installation manual were clear and easy to follow.

[Dr_Mutley]

I doubt that it was $1400 AUD...probably more like 1400 Euro. Even so, at the current exchange rate that is a pretty good price for UDi2 groupset. However, the CE price on the Azzurri Forza Pro Di2 is still good value IMO given the specs of the bike. I have been very happy with mine.

Not Euro, 1400$AUD give or take a few dollars due to the exchange rate... Bought one to build up a frame a couple of weeks ago... For all you still waiting, it's a good gruppo for the $$$$ u will all enjoy using it... Soooo much better than there 7900 series DA crap...

[Xplora]

Must have been a special? UDi2 is 1399 Euros

[rebem]

Must have been a special? UDi2 is 1399 Euros

...which is still only about $1,700 or so. Good price for the groupset alone!

[santacruzscott]

That would be $1700+freight+duty+GST tho.