No Flash in the Pan: the TIME Alpe d'Huez 01 Hero

Written by Alvin Holbrook, on March 03, 2021

Amongst the wide array of road bikes framesets we've had at the shop from Pinarello, 3T, OPEN, and TIME, perhaps the least attention-grabbibng frame we've had on display is this silver and white frameset. While it lacks the immediate flash of a Dogma, or the instant recognizability of an orange OPEN U.P., this frame stood out for how understated it was. Underneath the subdued paint scheme of this TIME Alpe d'Huez 01 Hero frameset is TIME's newest frameset in four years. If you've followed us with any amount of closeness, you'd find that we were pretty darn stoked for the Alpe d'Huez 01. For anything regarding the ultimate in ride, handling, and build quality, our best answer is a TIME road bike. The Alpe d'Huez 01 Aktiv, which we first received in its rare Ulteam iteration, is deeply impressive. It nearly matches the racy Scylon in stiffness but undercuts the frame weight by 90 grams. They've managed to do this despite retaining their in-house RTM carbon fiber production, use of Vectran in the top tube and downtube, and TIME Aktiv fork to ensure ride quality and smoothness typical of a TIME. The end result is a level of ride quality that leaves an impression for the better. It's clear that TIME put a lot of effort into their newest bike. TIME's exclusive Quickset headset cap is integrated into the frameset to provide lower stack height and a clean aesthetic, while the way the seattube junction flows together to brace the D-shaped seatpost is nothing short of sculpture. The complete package is quintessential TIME, where its the details that make this bike special. Built around mechanical Shimano Dura Ace 9100, Mavic Ksyrium Pro Exalith wheels, and ENVE bar and stem, this specific bike is built for canyon carving with an eye toward every day reliability. Just like this bike's muted paint scheme, the rest of the build isn't especially flashy, but it is very effective.