Basso Diamante Caliper Chorus 12x

With impressive performance and feedback from its frameset, the Basso Diamante Caliper Chorus 12x feels like a proper superbike to ride. One that delivers quick handling and a racy position, yet ride comfort that belies its stiffness. You'll want to stick some quality wheels on it though, to drop the weight and really exploit its potential.

Ride

With its hunkered down front end, oversized tubing, and smooth looks, the Basso leaves no doubt about its race-inspired intentions, and it certainly didn't disappoint as soon as the pedals started spinning.

I was expecting a firm ride, and that is what you get, but thanks to the frame design and layout of the carbon fibre, it edges back from being harsh. It actually makes for a pleasant machine to be aboard for longer forays not just those shorter, harder rides. Very little road buzz comes through from the road, which cuts down on fatigue in the hands and wrists.

Buy now: Basso Diamante Caliper Chorus 12x from Swinnerton Cycles for £4699.00

Basso has created a 3B seatpost clamp system which uses a rubber gusset to surround the seatpost and this, it says, is capable of absorbing road vibrations. To be honest, it's hard to isolate from everything else going on, so it's difficult to tell to whether it makes a huge addition to the carbon layup of the frame.

The majority of the firmness of the ride comes from just how stiff the Diamante is, courtesy of the oversized tubing throughout the frame, particularly at the press-fit bottom bracket shell area and the large head tube that flows into the down and top tubes.

Acceleration, sprinting and climbing all benefit from this; any time you are hammering on the pedals the Basso just wants to crack on and go.

The rear end feels tight thanks to the compact rear triangle, achieved by the short 402mm chainstays. This also keeps the wheelbase length down, making the Basso feel nippy and responsive.

I'm a big fan of the handling too. With a 73.5-degree head angle the front end feels quick, just on the fun side of twitchy, and very precise.

Blasting downhill on the Diamante is a lot of fun. Even travelling through the technical bends at high speed the front end feels really planted, and while I mentioned there is very little road buzz coming through, the small amount that does gives plenty of feedback to let you know what the front and rear tyres are up to.

While the front end looks slammed, it isn't actually that low. This 56cm/L model has a head tube length of 155mm which is pretty typical for a bike of this size. The standover height is taller, though, as the top tube creates the little 'snug' for the stem.

This meant I could still get a low-slung position with an aero front end without having to distort my spine too much.

Stretched across the bike, I found the Basso to be balanced and easily corrected should you hit gravel or something mid corner. It's very composed.

On the whole, it feels like it has the performance of a proper superbike, but with geometry that means you can ride it all day, every day. There is a weight penalty to the reasonably entry-level wheels that are fitted, which just takes the shine off this particular build, but that's easily upgradable.

Frame and fork

The Diamante is handmade in Italy from Toray carbon fibre and it is a very beautiful frameset. The finish is excellent throughout, and while it's available in a range of colours I'm a big fan of this pearlescent white, which also looks blue in certain lights.

Basso offers a two year-warranty (upped to three years after registration) which shows plenty of confidence in its product.

It's a race bike, so unlike a gravel bike, tourer or winter machine there aren't loads of mounts and extras for me to tell you about. You get a couple of water bottle cage mounts and that's about it really.

Tyre clearance maxes out at 28mm, governed by the rim brake calliper clearance rather than the frame, but again, it's a race bike, and in my eyes that means 25mm/28mm is more than enough.

Alongside this dual pivot calliper model, the Diamante is also available in various disc brake options.

Geometry

When it comes to the geometry, that's also race orientated.

There are four sizes available, and our Large comes with a 560mm top tube, a seat angle of 73.5 degrees to match the head angle, and the aforementioned head tube length of 155mm. This gives a stack and reach figure of 566.6mm and 392.2mm respectively.

Groupset

The majority of the bikes in the Diamante line-up are disc brake equipped, but for this rim-braked model Basso has gone for a Campagnolo Chorus groupset.

It's a lovely setup to use. I spent many years using Campagnolo groupsets on my own bikes and I always got on well with the shape of the hoods and the solid clunk of the shifting as the chain flicked up and down the cassette.

That was probably around 10 years ago, and the latest 12-speed setups are even better, with a lighter yet still precise shift and great ergonomics.

The brake levers are stiff, which lets you exploit the power of the direct mount callipers. Discs will always have the upper hand in the wet, but in the dry I don't think you can fault these Campag callipers. There's plenty of power and modulation too.

Gearing-wise, the carbon fibre armed chainset has 50/34T rings and is paired to an 11-34T cassette. That's a lower spread of gears than I would expect to find on a bike of this type, but I guess it makes it more accessible to all kinds of riders.

Finishing kit

As for the rest of the kit, you'll find a Basso seatpost and stem paired to a Deda Zero handlebar. It's decent quality, and while it's not exactly going to blow your mind, it does the job and looks good too.

The saddle is a Selle Italia Model X which I found to be comfortable on all kinds of rides thanks to its minimal but firm padding.

Wheels and tyres

The wheels also come from the Campagnolo catalogue, in the guise of its Sciroccos.

Sitting at the lower end of the range, they are a bit weighty at around 1,800g, but they are robust and hardwearing. The spoking pattern might look a little on the fragile side, but they really aren't. I owned a pair of Sciroccos for years, using them for commuting year-round in all weathers with absolutely no issues.

The downside is no tubeless-ready compatibility, if that's your thing.

As for the tyres, the Diamante is wearing a pair of 28mm Schwalbe Lugano IIs. Like the wheels, they aren't particularly light, being more of the training persuasion, but rolling resistance and grip levels are decent enough.

You'll probably want to get an upgrade as soon as they wear out.

Value

Some of the kit here shouldn't really be found on a £4,699 bike, but the top-end handmade carbon frame is going to swallow up a lot of that money.

The Merida Reacto is a similar-themed bike, albeit mass produced. At £4,300, the Reacto 7000 (we tested the Reacto 6000 last month) comes with deep-section carbon rims and a SRAM Rival AXS groupset, as well as disc brakes which also add to the price.

>  road.cc Recommends Bikes of the Year 2021/22: road bikes

On the flip side, the Diamante looks to be good value against another handmade-in-Italy bike, the Condor Leggero SL. Condor creates some lovely bikes, and the Leggero is definitely one of them. As a frameset it'll set you back £3,499.99; the Basso as a frameset is £2,699.

Conclusion

While the componentry takes a little bit away from the ride in terms of weight, I can really feel that this is an exceptional frameset and ripe for upgrades as and when finances allow. At its heart the Diamante delivers a cracking ride quality, with exceptional handling.

Verdict

Italian superbike looks with the performance to match, though it's begging for a wheel upgrade