Kestrel Legend LTD

Kestrel’s top-of-the-line Legend LTD is an agile racer in a lightweight package. The lightest frame ever produced by Kestrel (a claimed 780 grams) offers a quick and stable ride. The eTap drivetrain keeps the bike aesthetically clean.

The bike’s geometry is aggressive, with a 160-millimeters head tube (size L frame), on par with Specialized’s Tarmac. It has a 73.2-degree head tube angle and 73-degree seat tube angle as well as a shorter wheelbase (989 millimeters) and chain-stay length (405 millimeters). The geometry produces an agile bicycle that will carve through descents and tight crit corners.

The bike snaps into action when accelerating out of corners or attacking the climbs. It’s a product of the 800K high-modulus carbon fiber used in the frame, and those light, quick-to-spin Zipp wheels. A 1.125- by 1.5-inch tapered head tube offers plenty of front-end stiffness as well.

The frame is designed with what Kestrel calls H-Stays—asymmetrically shaped seat stays and chainstays designed to improve lateral stiffness and power transfer, while also supplying vibration dampening. Each of the seven frame sizes has unique tube lengths, diameters, shapes, and carbon layups. This helps improve the Legend’s ride quality for every size rider.

While the bike isn’t built for your local cobbled classic, it handles the bumps with enough forgiveness to occasionally tackle rougher pavement or dirt roads.

Of note: The Legend uses an unorthodox Acros The Clamp integrated headset, instead of a traditional headset. The design is somewhat tricky. Acros forgoes the use of a screw on the top cap to tighten the headset. Tighten a tiny setscrew at the top of the head tube to maintain bearing load. This precludes the use of a star nut or bung inside the carbon steerer tube.

The components selection–Zipp Service Course stem and handlebar, Zipp 202 wheels, and Prologo saddle–prioritize practicality over flash.