Pearson Minegoestoeleven

The Pearson Minegoestoeleven is its flagship carbon fibre road model, and boy is it fast. The aero tweaks to the frame and the deep-section wheels give a performance bonus when the speed is high, while the unfaltering stiffness from the lower half of the frame gives you a superb platform to apply the power against. And with Shimano Ultegra Di2 fitted, you could say it 'nowgoestotwelve'.

If the Pearson doesn't suit your budget, check out other options in our guide to the best road bikes, from £300 to over £13,000.

Note: this model is no longer available. View newer Road Bike models at Pearson.

Ride

The Minegoestoeleven may have a name that is going to become a chore to write over and over again throughout this review (I'll call it the MGTE from here on in), but from a riding point of view there is nothing that becomes tiresome.

With an incredibly stiff frame, the Pearson makes you want to ride it hard and fast. In terms of responsiveness there is nothing to disappoint, and even massive out-of-the-saddle efforts when sprinting or climbing highlight just how little this frame and fork are giving away in terms of flex.

It's a proper racing machine, with the focus on allowing you to get the power down, while its aero styling gives even more benefits as it cuts through the air.

As you'd expect, the geometry is on the aggressive side, with a steepish head angle that gives quick and accurate steering, ideal for carving through sweeping bends at high speed or tackling technical, twisty descents with precision.

This medium sized bike has a wheelbase of just 975mm, which brings a feeling of tightness and agility to it. Changing lines if you encounter a pothole or something mid-bend doesn't make it feel flustered, and the speed that it changes direction is very impressive indeed. While its stiffness does bring with it quite a firm ride, that doesn't translate into the MGTE being at all skittish, even on rough road surfaces. It always manages to feel planted, and well controlled.

Some of that comes from the overall weight. At 8.08kg this build is no superlight race bike, although a fair chuck of that weight is in the deep-section wheels.

On our scales both the MGTE and the Giant TCR Advanced 2 were exactly the same weight, but I was riding them both back to back when taking the riding pictures, and under acceleration I could feel the extra weight in the Pearson's rear wheel moving from a standing start compared with the shallow-rimmed offerings on the TCR.

That being said, the TCR is a rim-braked bike, with a mechanical groupset and slim tubing throughout, so the fact that the MGTE can compete on weight with the Ultegra Di2 and deep-section wheels fitted, plus the amount of carbon used in the larger profile tubes, shows that it is no slouch.

Any lag in acceleration is soon made up for once the Pearson is moving, with the wheels and frameset making it feel efficient once on the move.

As for comfort, again the MGTE performs well. Its frameset is aimed at performance, so plushness is always going to be a secondary consideration, but I found three-to-four-hour rides fine. There is plenty of feedback from the road, which it manages to provide without a harsh ride, so you can go out for a blast without getting beaten up.

Overall, from a ride point of view, the MGTE is not only fast, it's fun too.

Frame & fork

It's not only the design of the MGTE that bolsters comfort. Pearson focuses a lot on bike fit and position as part of the buying process. Before receiving the bike, Pearson sent me a quick questionnaire (as I didn't have the time to go for a bike fit), asking me the usual things like height, various body metrics, and also flexibility or injuries – of which I have many.

When the Pearson turned up it fitted me very well indeed; it's also designed to be able to accept up to 40mm of spacers without affecting the handling.

As for the specifics of the frame and fork build, Pearson plays this close to its chest, not specifying anything about the grade of the carbon fibre used, just saying that both frame and fork are uni-directional carbon monocoques.

There are two paint finishes on offer, this Monochrome option or a white with various blue and orange stripes, which gives a passing resemblance to classic Martini branded race cars.

Like many of the current road bikes on the market, the MGTE runs all of its wires and hoses internally via the stem to give a completely clean look.

Also keeping things clean is the minimal of mounts (this is a race bike after all), with just points for the attachment of bottle cages on the down tube and seat tube.

Clearance-wise, the MGTE will accommodate up to 32mm-wide tyres, which is good for a bike of this ilk.

As is pretty common for a carbon fibre frame, the Pearson is available in five sizes, with our medium sitting in the middle.

It has a 540mm effective top tube length, with a 520mm seat tube and a 135mm head tube height. The seat angle is 74 degrees, which gives a forward position to get the power down, while the head angle is slightly slacker at 73 degrees.

All of this results in stack and reach figures of 552mm and 382mm respectively.

Groupset

The MGTE is available as a frameset, which includes the carbon aero seatpost and the very nice integrated handlebar/stem from Pearson, for £2,150, or with three groupset options: Shimano's 105 Di2, Ultegra Di2 or Ultegra mechanical.

Prices start at £4,600 with the mechanical groupset and Pearson's Cut and Thrust carbon wheels, with the range topping out with the model we have here at £5,750, with Ultegra Di2 and Pearson Tooth and Nail wheels, which have a 'saw-like' profile similar to something like Zipp's 454 NSW wheels.

The Ultegra Di2 groupset doesn't need much of an introduction (you can read our review for the full details) as it has been covered many times considering the number of test bikes it comes fitted to.

The shifting is very quick and precise, with the minimal performance increase of Dura-Ace Di2 only really detectable if you are riding the two side by side.

A 50/34-tooth chainset comes as standard, as we have here, while a 52/36 is available on request, paired with an 11-34 12-speed cassette. It's a setup that gives a good spread of gears for all kinds of terrain.

For the braking Pearson has specced 160mm rotors front and rear, which is ample for a road bike. Ultegra callipers give great braking power and loads of modulation, as in you can really feel what is going on through the lever, which reduces the likelihood of locking up the rear wheel.

Finishing kit

The Pearson handlebar and stem is an all-in-one affair made from carbon fibre. It comes in a range of widths and lengths, and I found the shape to be very comfortable.

It is also stiff enough to cope with some very hard 'honking' efforts when out of the saddle.

Pearson has specced Fizik kit for the bar tape (Vento Solocush) and saddle, the Argo R5. It's all good quality stuff – there's no scrimping anywhere to save a few quid.

It's the same with the wheels and tyres.

As I've said, the Pearson Tooth and Nail wheels show an aero advantage in the real world and are also very stiff, plus they've shown no signs of struggling when it comes to durability.

As you'd expect these days, they are fully tubeless compatible, being adorned here with a pair of Pirelli P Zero Race TLR.

These are fast rolling and very grippy, making them one of my favourite race tyres, alongside Continental's Grand Prix 5000 and Schwalbe's One ranges.

Value

While there are some slightly cheaper options on the market, the MGTE is still well priced for the quality and spec.

I was very impressed with the Handsling A1R0evo, for example, which I was reviewing alongside the Pearson. They share a lot of traits. The Handsling's Ultegra Di2 build with the Parcours Strade wheels and an upgrade to the same tyres as the Pearson brings it in at £5,529, after a price increase since we reviewed at the end of March.

Merida's Reacto 9000 is a similarly aero-styled race bike, with an aero seatpost and integrated front end, plus an Ultegra Di2 groupset. It comes in at £6,500 but does get slightly deeper Reynolds Aero 65 wheels.

I am currently reviewing the Reacto 7000, which uses a slightly lower grade carbon than the 9000 and has a SRAM Rival eTap groupset. It costs £4,350 – keep an eye out for that one soon.

And Mat is currently reviewing Giant's aero offering, the Propel Advanced Pro 1. Again, it's a bike with similar design cues and all about speed. That build also uses SRAM's Rival eTap and Giant's own 50mm-deep wheels, and costs £5,499.

Conclusion

Overall, the Minegoestoeleven is a very good all-round race bike with a great performance. It's a fun bike for smashing it about on, but its impressive ride quality also makes it ideal for those longer jaunts.

Verdict

A quality race bike with great stiffness and fast, direct handling