Someone recently said, “Weight doesn’t matter all that much; it’s all about aerodynamics and ride comfort.” That someone was definitely not Stefan Schmolke, CEO and founder of Schmolke Carbon, the German brand focused on creating some of the lightest components and bikes available anywhere.
Schmolke founded his carbon fibre component manufacturing company in 1992 and first hit the world stage as Jan Ullrich raced with his carbon fibre handlebars to second place in the Tour de France at a time when carbon bars were unheard of.
Schmolke has since got into frame design and had its new Aeerow lightweight race bike on show amongst a host of lightweight specials on its Eurobike stand. While the frame has not yet enjoyed an official launch and exact details are still as light as the bike itself, a 6.1 kg disc-brake bike with internal cable routing, 12-speed Shimano Di2, and a clincher wheelset seemed too good to ignore.
Sit back and dream of climbing with all the details we have so far on the new Schmolke Aerrow, and make sure to check out the rest of our coverage from the 2022 Eurobike show here.
Schmolke has designed a frame that produces a lightweight disc-brake rig with a racing geometry and some aero tweaks. The complete bike as pictured (and detailed below) is priced at €12,000 with the frame and fork coming in at €2,780.The 6.1 kg Aeerow is equipped with 12 speed Dura Ace Di2 and a host of Schmolke in-house components. Up front, it’s the Schmolke TLO carbon handlebar weighing in at ~140 grams, but with three build specs for varying rider weights. These bars cost a cool €495 (pricing varies depending on exact spec).The Schmolke TLO carbon stem has internal cable routing. It weighs just 80 grams and costs €595.Not a cable or hose in sight……unless you look really closely. Schmolke told us that while the Aerrow has some aero tendencies, the focus remains on low weight rather than minimizing aero drag. The internal cable routing and dropped stays at least resemble a dedicated aero bike, but the head tube isn’t quite as deep as many aero bikes have been trending towards as of late, and is likely lighter as a result. At just 55 grams, the Schmolke TLO carbon saddle is as light as it looks, and at €494, your wallet might end up a bit lighter, too. The TLO saddle has a rider weight limit of 100 kg and is mounted to a Schmolke (you guessed it) TLO seatpost.The Aerrow frameset features a UCI-approved logo, but it doesn’t yet appear on the UCI list. Manufacturers can decide when a frame appears on the list, so expect to see the Aerrow pop up in the near future. The THM (another company under the Schmolke umbrella) Clavicula SE crankset with Carbon-Ti chainrings is the stuff of weight-weenie dreams at just 425 g. But it would also cost something in the region of €1,650. Schmolke’s own 45 TLO clincher wheelset are built with Extralite SPD3 Ceramic six-bolt hubs and have a claimed weight of 1,235 grams with a €2,890 price tag. They’re pretty narrow at 17.6 mm/26 mm internal/external, though. The show bike sat on Challenge Strada 25 mm tyres with Revoloop polyurethane inner tubes. Unidentified spinning object: which brake rotors are these? Dropped stays for improved ride comfort or maybe aero? Given this is a Schmolke, weight reduction no doubt played some part in this design element.A close up of that head tube and Schmolke logo. The Aerrow may look aero but it has a lightweight soul. The Schmolke carbon bottle cages are €59 a pop and weigh just 14 grams each.
