Chinese X-LAB AD9 aero road bike as used by Astana on cycling's WorldTour now for sale to the public at £2,553 for the frameset

XDS Carbon-Tech's X-Lab AD9 aero road bike is available to purchase in the United Kingdom, framesets officially now listed online for £2,553.

The bike has attracted plenty of attention in recent months, especially since WorldTour team XDS Astana — now also with XDS Carbon-Tech's brand as part of the team's name under sponsorship rights — is racing the aero road model this season. However, up until now, apart from some listed on Chinese retail website AliExpress, details about the X-Lab AD9's availability and price in Europe were scarce.

It is listed on CycleGears at £2,553 for the frameset and available in three paintjobs — 'Cloud', 'Blue Cloud' or 'Black Silver'.

That's significantly cheaper than many comparable WorldTour frameset models such as Specialized's S-Works Tarmac SL8 (north of £4,000 depending on where you buy), Giant's Propel Advanced SL (£3,799), Trek's Madone (£5,500). For a full bike, with a top-tier groupset and some expensive carbon wheels, that's still likely to be below the £10,000 mark, perhaps by a decent whack, and again significantly cheaper than many more established brands.

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Things get even more interesting if you were to drop to Shimano 105 and a cheaper, but still quality, wheelset and perhaps even build this sub-£5,000.

The carbon aero road bike is the work of XDS Carbon-Tech, the world's largest carbon fibre factory, based in Shenzhen, China. The X-LAB line represents the brand's premium offering, similar to Specialized's S-Works range. Significantly, the X-Lab's move into the WorldTour perhaps promises to be the first time we've seen a Chinese bike brand establish itself at cycling's top level.

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XDS Carbon-Tech has reportedly stumped up enough cash to bring Astana's budget in line with the likes of UAE Team Emirates and Visma-Lease a Bike, promising to transform them into a super team with the deal reported to be between five and 10 years long.

While, the XDS Astana riders are using it complete with Shimano Dura-Ace Di2 groupsets, Vision wheels, Continental tyres and Prologo saddles, frameset-only options for non-pro customers are all that have been spotted so far.

According to the brand the X-Lab AD9 frameset weighs 850g for a size medium, a saving of 100g on its previous model, and enjoys a "1.5W power saving compared to the Canyon Aeroad CFR, making it one of the most efficient frames on the market". Aero testing and the way brands present the numbers in their model's favour can be a minefield at the best of times, so perhaps the main takeaway should simply be the confidence it can compete with established names such as Canyon.

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As you'd expect for a pricey aero bike raced by WorldTour pros, the design process involved CFD (Computational Fluid Dynamics) and wind tunnel testing, XDS stating the shape of the fork and head tube had been optimised for aerodynamics.

In the case of the head tube, this was apparently achieved by reducing the area by "about seven per cent" than the brand's RS series. In marketing speak, it makes the area is "like a sword", apparently, "piercing the air barrier" and contributing to "excellent" aerodynamic performance.