Specialized VENGE
In the seven years since we first introduced the Venge, we've proven that aero is, indeed, everything. The Venge took the burgeoning concept of aerodynamics and transformed it into an ideology, one that empirically proves that aerodynamic optimization is the most important thing we can do to make you faster. And now, there’s a new shape of speed. Meet the all-new Venge.
The New Shape of Speed
We aren't satisfied with second fastest—why else would we have our own Win Tunnel and an "Aero is Everything" design philosophy? We live and breathe aero, but this Venge is so much more. The frame is lighter than a Tarmac SL5 Disc, more aerodynamic than the Venge ViAS, built to handle on a razor's edge with a Rider-First Engineered™ design—it's everything an aero bike should be, and damn it's fast.
Rider-First Engineered™
Just like the Tarmac, the Venge has a Rider-First Engineered™ design that tailors each frame to the perfect compliance, handling, and stiffness qualities. This design makes sure that every frame performs flawlessly, regardless of its size, and this is done through a mix of extensive data acquisition, expert feedback from professional riders, and an absurdly meticulous approach to carbon construction. But you'll never notice all that when you're riding—it just feels like the perfect bike.
An Integrated Cockpit
The new Venge now features a modular cockpit that's faster and more slippery in the wind, significantly lighter, stiff enough for the world's fastest sprinters, and easy to set up to your personal preferences. Our pro teams only asked for something stiff—no surprise there—but we couldn't help but over deliver. In fact, we even took race travel into account, here, so the new cockpit easily packs-up for plane cases and bike bags.
The Venge's aero shape wasn't conceived in our Win Tunnel—it started with code and ended in the tunnel after countless iterations.
A NEW APPROACH
We created custom optimization software that generates thousands of tube shapes and analyzes them based on aerodynamics, surface area, and stiffness. This process resulted in a collection of shapes that we call the FreeFoil Shape Library, and they're the building blocks of the new Venge.
NOT ALL AERO SHAPES ARE CREATED EQUAL
We could build a bike that looks the same as the Venge from 10 feet away, but every millimeter matters. The aero shapes of the Venge, after all, have been both perfectly and precisely designed to optimize for aerodynamics, weight, and handling. It's a beautiful balance, and this optimization creates a ride that feels perfectly tuned—the slightest change would throw the whole design out of balance.
Stiff & Aero
The head tube and fork—two of the most important areas for both stiffness and aerodynamics. You have to sacrifice one to get there other, right? Wrong. With the perfect shapes from our FreeFoil Library, and some complex Rider-First Engineered™ design cues, both the head tube and fork on the Venge are as fast as possible, all while keeping the sublime handling that the world's most elite racers demand.
A Better Down Tube
All the aero in a lighter package—that's what the Venge exemplifies. Compared to other parts of the bike, down tubes don’t do much in terms of aerodynamics. But where they do have a big impact is in stiffness and weight. Knowing this, we stayed mindful of surface area, made sure it shielded your bottles from the wind, and then implemented the lightest and stiffest shape we could without negatively affecting aerodynamics.
More Comfort
We took the fastest shapes with the lowest surface areas from our FreeFoil Library and then built-in compliance. The seat tube and seatpost, after all, are both extremely important for aerodynamics and ride quality. And while it’d be easier to sacrifice one benefit to get the other, we've never been ones to take the easy way out.
A Faster Rear-End
More efficiency and more comfort are no longer mutually exclusive. All of our performance road bikes have dropped seatstays, and that's because they do wonders for aerodynamics. Not only do they hide from the wind, but they also create more rear-end compliance. Win-win!
#AEROISEVERYTHING
Whether you’re chasing KOMs, sprinting for glory, or just wanting to go faster, the eight seconds of savings over the Venge ViAS are going to help make your dreams a reality.
A decade of data acquisition, thousands of prototype frames through our Test Lab, and real-world validation from the best professional race teams in the world have led to bikes with stiffness where it counts. And all this has led the Venge to a ride that can be most simply described as "sublime."
EVERY SIZE AS IT SHOULD BE
Every frame uses a layup schedule, design, and materials that are entirely unique to its respective frame size in order to hit these aggressive performance targets. And while you can't always see these changes, you'll feel the mercurial accelerations and the bump-eating compliance on every ride.
Head Tube & Fork
The head tube and fork are important parts of the Rider First Engineered™ system, and that's because front-end stiffness dictates handling. Too stiff on a Small frame and the ride is twitchy. Not stiff enough on a Large, and it's a wet noodle. Our Rider-First approach is focused on total optimization across each frame size, so the handling is next-level—no matter what size you ride.
Power Transfer
There's something about the stiff response of a tuned race bike that just makes you want to push it, and that’s why the new Venge has a better stiffness-to-weight ratio than the Venge ViAS. So, for example: If you ride a 56cm, you're in for a nearly 12% increase in stiffness to weight ratio. And for a size 61cm, you're looking more along the lines of 18%. Overall, the Venge's structural efficiency has been greatly improved across every conceivable performance metric, so you'll immediately feel improvements to the bike, as a system, when you're sprinting, cornering, or hammering from the saddle.
Seat Tube Compliance
Bumps, potholes, cracks in the road—they all suck energy and harsh the fun of a ride. Thankfully, the Venge is nearly 40% more compliant than the ViAS at the seat tube across every frame size. Of course, with each Rider-First Engineered™ attribute, you get the perfect amount of deflection—whether you're on a Small or a Large.
More aero optimization, more configuration options, and as adjustable as ever before—that's what integration is bringing to the table on the new Venge.
INTEGRATION IS AERO
All Together
The S-Works Aerofly II takes its shape from our FreeFoil Shape Library, and when combined with the new stem's dropped handlebar clamp, we were able to design the fastest cockpit on the road. The cables are hidden underneath the stem and are blocked from the wind by the handlebars. The headset spacers, meanwhile, make a seamless transition from the head tube to the stem. And through our pro team collaborations, not to mention a certain World Champion, the Venge cockpit has been made to be the stiffest out there—good luck flexing it in the sprints. And if you were wondering, the headset spacers are optimized for aerodynamics.
AN EASIER WAY
Simplicity is Key
Aero is Everything, but integration makes life easier. With the new cockpit, you can add or remove spacers with ease, take it apart for travel, swap stem lengths—it’s all easier now. And while the greatest stiffness and aero benefits are found when the cockpit is used as a system, each part is modular, so you can run any bar/stem combination you want.
VENGE S-Works
VENGE RACE
Development of the All-New Venge
We aren't satisfied with second fastest. Hell, why do you think we have our own Win Tunnel and the motto, "Aero is Everything?"
We live and breathe aero, because we know that aerodynamic optimization is the best thing we can do to make you faster.
Keep reading below ↓
This philosophy has never been truer than with the new Venge. Being eight seconds faster than the ViAS, it's not only the most aerodynamic bike on the road, but it's also lost 460 grams. And now with SRAM RED eTAP, you're definitively looking at the new shape of speed.
Surprisingly, our quest for the perfect tube shapes didn't start in the Win Tunnel. It started with a new piece of technology, the FreeFoil Shape Library. Our engineers wrote an optimization algorithm and utilized a supercomputer (yes, we used an actual supercomputer) to help create new airfoil shapes with different weights, surface areas, and structural targets. Armed with this library of shapes, all with different aspect ratios, we could plug them into the different parts of the bike and test a variety of configurations to determine the fastest setup in the Win Tunnel.
Compared to the fastest aero road bike to date (the Venge ViAS), and many others in the space that we won't name here, the new Venge is eight seconds faster over 40km at zero degrees of yaw. It's also faster out on the road in all wind conditions—not just in the tunnel.
And while it's cool that the new Venge is more aero, there are other factors to fast. Striking the perfect combination of weight and aerodynamics plays a crucial role in a bike's overall performance. A bike that's strictly aero will feel great on the flats, but it'll suffer on the climbs and in quick accelerations. A bike that's strictly lightweight, however, will suffer on everything but the steepest climbs. So, not only did we make the Venge more aero than the ViAS, but we also took 460 grams out of the module weight. This means we saved 240g in the frame, 25g in the fork, 107g in the cockpit, 25g in the seatpost, and 63g in small parts. So no matter the course, the Venge will prove to be the fastest option when you need to go up, down, and all around.
Much of this weight savings comes from our Rider-First Engineered™ tubes. We implemented much of the discovery from the new Tarmac's development, like different layup schedules and materials, and this culminated in a Venge that's not only lighter, but one that also has a higher stiffness-to-weight ratio and 40% more compliance than the ViAS—no matter the frame size. And while you can't always see these changes, all it takes is one ride to feel the quick accelerations and the bump-eating compliance.
Of course, we didn't stop there. The geometry got an update, and now, it's based on over 40,000 Retül data points, as well as professional rider input. This enabled us to implement a Performance Road Geometry that perfectly combines a responsive front-end with a short wheelbase, and this delivers instantaneous response and optimal power transfer.
Last, but certainly not least, the Venge houses some exciting new features. The new cockpit, developed in partnership with our World Tour teams, features a stem with a higher stiffness than anything we've ever tested, new bars that are faster, lighter, stiffer, and feature a textured pattern on the tops for extra grip and control. Next up is tire clearance—it has no problem clearing 32mm-wide tires.
The S-Works Venge comes with the best component spec around, with the all-new SRAM RED eTAP AXS groupset, hydraulic disc brakes, Roval CLX 64 Disc wheels dressed with 700x26mm Turbo Cotton tires, and even an integrated power meter in the RED AXS crankset.
The Rider-First Engineered™, FACT 11r frame not only makes the Venge the most aerodynamic road bike we’ve ever created, but it's also lightweight and stiff in all the right places. Every tube shape, trailing edge, and design cue was influenced by hours of testing in our Win Tunnel, CFD, 3D-printed prototypes, and real-world rider feedback. Ultimately, this resulted in the fastest road bike we’ve ever made.
SRAM's RED eTAP AXS group provides exceptionally crisp shifts, smooth braking modulation, and it keeps the overall weight of the Venge at an absolute minimum.
The Roval CLX 64 disc wheels aren't only the fastest wheels we've tested, but they perform extremely well in crosswinds, so they're perfect for all conditions.