Storck Fascenario.3 Platinum

Though Storck has offered more affordable road bikes in recent years, its heart lies in developing state-of-the-art high-performance bikes that push carbon fibre to its limit, resulting in some of the lightest and stiffest bikes road.cc has ever tested. And also some of the most expensive; such fastidious attention to detail and cutting-edge design doesn't come cheap. The new Fascenario.3 Platinum is no exception. The performance and handling are phenomenal, it's as fast as its looks suggest and for the most part also manages to be reasonably comfortable.

Launched late last year – Mat Brett took a first look at the bike and even took it for a world exclusive first ride – the new Fascenario.3 has been many years in development and is pitched as an all-round bike that balances aerodynamic efficiency, comfort, stiffness, and ergonomic performance. So well blended and advanced are these key attributes that Storck goes as far as calling it the best road bike ever. Well, they would say that wouldn't they, but what's it like when you let it loose on the open road?

Ride and handling

It's exceptionally fast, that much is abundantly clear. It's like you're being shoved along by a force 10 gale such are the high speeds the Storck makes easy, relatively speaking, to obtain even when you're not really shoving the pedals around with all your strength.

It picks up speed supremely well. When you open up the taps there's no hint of flex from the huge oversized bottom bracket, downtube and chainstays. Though it's not billed as an out-and-out aero road bike, there are some clear aero features – the bowed fork and Kamm tail down tube – which along with the deep section wheels gifts the Storck incredible speed and clearly help it to compete with other dedicated aero bikes that operate in this category.

You don't even have to be putting out big power to enjoy the speed it offers. It delivers great pace even when you're noodling along with your head in the clouds. I found I was able to clock higher average speeds with no big increase in power output, which was jolly nice. And there's certainly no need for a wind tunnel to verify its aero performance, the speed on the Garmin says it all. This bike is hella fast.

Relax into a canter, and you can revel in how the geometry provides nicely weighted steering, while the tapered head tube and the bowed fork provide a very direct feeling through the handlebars. It turns with great agility and there's fantastic steering response that makes it a fun and rewarding bike to throw into corners. Any corner – wide and sweeping or tight and cambered – poses no problem for the Storck. It has no hesitation putting the tyres exactly where you want them. It's a delight to ride through any twisting road or descent and for sure is one of the most exciting bikes I've tested this year.

The low weight of the bike and the high level of stiffness gives a delicious immediacy to the way the Storck responds to your inputs. It's oh-so-precise and nimble; point it at an apex and it'll follow your directions faithfully. And unlike some high-end stiff carbon bikes, the Storck doesn't get skittish or nervous when you're really pushing along at speed or getting a bit wild into the corners, nothing seems to faze it. It feels solid at high speed. It's a bike you can trust to look after you.

Ride quality is generally very good. Comfort has been considered in the design of the frame, the D-shaped seatpost and Storck's own carbon handlebar, and on the majority of road surfaces, it's smooth and reasonably supple. I couldn't really detect the saddle or handlebar deflecting under my weight, but after one seven-hour ride I leapt off the bike feeling as fresh as could be expected, though I couldn't say the same of my legs. So it manages long distances as well as short blasts.

But get onto a rough road surface and the Storck struggles to cope. Riding along the sort of road where the top layer of tarmac has been gradually ripped reveals the Storck struggling to cope to smother the ripples of vibration coursing through the frame and fork, and it can be a little unsettling. You certainly need to scan the road ahead to avoid hitting anything that looks rough and bumpy.

Despite that flaw, for the most part the ride quality was acceptable. That occasional hard-edged ride is a reminder that you're riding a bike that has primarily been designed to maximise your performance, not comfort. If comfort is high on your shortlist, you'll probably be better served by other choices. The 25mm tyres give the bike a little extra cushioning, provided you run the pressures a bit lower.

Frame design

There's a lot of engineering know-how in this new frame, the result of Markus Storck's many years of working at the cutting-edge of carbon road bike design. The key to the bike's speed and aero performance is the 'Advanced Sectional Aerodynamic Shaping' found on the downtube. It's a teardrop profile with the trailing edge cut off, like a Kamm Tail. There's substantial aero design in the fork, with bowed blades intended to improve air flow between the front wheel and fork. That's not a new idea, we've seen it on Pinarello's Dogma F8 and some time trial bikes previously. The carbon layup in the fork is designed to ensure that stiffness hasn't been compromised in pursuit of aero gains.

The claimed 840g frame and 330g fork weight, which while not the lightest available certainly puts it in close company with other high-end carbon frames. It's achieved via Storck's own carbon fibre layup involving ultra-high-modulus and high-modulus carbon fibre. For this money, though you might reasonably expect a lighter frame. Both Trek and Specialized are offering lighter frames with their latest Emonda and Tarmac respectively.

All cables are internally routed and it's compatible with most current groupset options. Brakes are the dual pivot type and there is a press-fit bottom bracket and tapered head tube. And like most modern top-end carbon road bikes, the seat clamp is hidden inside the top tube, and the Torx bolt easily accessed via a port underneath the top tube. The F.3 seatpost has a D-shape profile that like Giant's Defy endurance bike is intended to maximise the amount of fore-aft deflection at the saddle.

Equipment

While you could buy the frameset for £5,600, Storck offers a number of builds to suit your budget (which had better be sizeable). We were supplied with a bike built up with the new Shimano Dura-Ace R9100 mechanical groupset, and there aren't any more words I can add to the collective thumbs up this new flagship groupset has already received. You can read our first ride review of it here.

Edco's Aerosport Umbrial 45mm carbon fibre clincher wheels proved a good match for the Storck, and at £2,200 they contribute to the high price of the complete bike. With a claimed weight of 1,448g, the wheels contributed to the Storck's climbing prowess, and the stiffness matches the frame and fork stiffness, providing accurate and precise handling.

Edco has developed its own rim profile that is neither V or U shaped intended to produce good all-round performance, and though straight line aero performance was good, they lack the stability in crosswinds compared to similar rim depth rivals that I've tested in the last 12 months.  Braking in the dry was good and quiet with the company's own brake blocks, but deteriorated rapidly in the wet and is on a par with what I'd expect of most carbon wheels and noticeably a step behind the latest Enve rims with their moulded brake track.

Atop the seatpost is a Selle Italia SLS Monolink saddle, a design that Storck clearly prefers to a conventional saddle mount because it has featured on just about every Storck bike we've ever tested. It's said to be lighter than a regular setup and more comfortable, but that was tricky to detect because I simply don't get on with the saddle. I did manage seven hours on it, but I was shifting and squirming towards the end, and I'd prefer the easy option of being able to fit my preferred saddle rather than being tied into a system that requires harder-to-find saddles from just a handful of brands. There is, however, a conversion kit available that lets you fit a conventional saddle, so that would be something to look into.

Storck supplies its own aluminium stem and carbon fibre handlebar, the latter is claimed to damp front-end vibrations. It was possible to detect it at times on rougher roads at higher speeds, but it's certainly not flexing all over the shop. While I liked the shape of the top section, I didn't get on with the drops where I prefer a bit more extension.

Rivals

The bike that most came to mind when testing the Storck was the Pinarello Dogma F8. They have a very similar ride quality with a high level of stiffness and engaging handling. The Dogma is by no means a cheap bike, but the Campagnolo Super Record build I tested last year cost £8,250, which does make the Storck look very expensive. And at this sort of price, I'd be seriously looking at the Colnago C60 which in my opinion offers a more rounded, and slightly smoother and more sublime ride quality, and can be built up for similar or less money.

Conclusion

It would be easy to sum up the new Storck as an overpriced carbon race bike, but the performance is top-level stuff, up there with the best rivals in this exclusive superbike category. Precise handling, great speed and generally good comfort ensure there's a lot to like. But there's no getting away from the fact the Storck is very expensive even compared to other prestigious high-end bikes. As good as the Storck is, it's hard to recommend when you can get the same performance for less money.

Verdict

High-end performance but you might just have to sell a kidney to afford it