The BASSO Venta - A perfect frameset to upgrade 

I’m glad we are inspiring riders to seek out quality in the components that make a difference.

My Basso Palta frameset arrived, and though it is very nice, it isn't totally without issues. The angled upper headset bearing seat isn't flat enough and needs to be surfaced. The bearing can rock slightly in one direction. Also the derailleur tab, which is removable, uses three bolts which are slightly misaligned. Bolting down all three carelessly would be a bad idea.

Thank you. I am really starting to feel that somehow we need to get attention to the SMEs actually making frames, rather than the ones strapping parts onto a repainted frame from a catalogue.

Congrats on the look. You will find stacks of confidence in that frame.

Sorry. I’m sure you’ll find the info. I think 30mm is the sweet spot for me. Beyond that and I feel the extra weight of the tyre.

Thank you.

What frame size did you go for??

Yes what size frame did you go for?

Crashy? Have you had an accident?

@Mapdec Cycle Works No just too many potholes on Uk roads, or I may need to lower the tyre pressure.

Haha. Well spotted. That’s mine and I am making some modifications. Just getting details about how much I am destroying my warranty.

Intresting. The Venta model?

@Mapdec Yeah ,exact same colour too .

Seen a couple, exact same problem - undersized

@@JaiJai71104 wow. This one was fine. Even the Shimano BB was fitted correctly without grease and came out easily. 40.95 was tight but only where it tapered like I showed in the vid. Well away from the 15mm of the BB area. It was surprising to see they had faced the frame.

I've worked in two of these recently, both had undersized bottom brackets (measured using a Hambini gauge). An easy fix for a competent shop/mechanic but certainly not perfect.

Noted

@@Mapdec Keep up the great work Paul. Mapdec and Aston Mtb have become the go-to youtube channels for my bike information 👍

Funny you should mention… we won’t sell them as they go direct, but we are negotiating one for review. I would really like to see what we can make here in the UK.

Good question. We couldn’t find anything better at £3500. You get Ultegra instead of good wheels generally. Waste of money. The old wheels are just going in the training room for teaching.

We did quite a few vids on this. I haven’t had a chance to ride a Road Machine though. There is lots of 765 content.

My go to recommendations are usually FFWD and Pacenti. Can’t go wrong across the range really. If they are out of budget, then these Reynolds are a good option before you jump into Facebook wheels. There are a fair few vids on the channel to help. DT Swiss make great hubs, their wheel sets have never been very exciting.

@@Mapdec Thank you! What are Facebook wheels?

@@DirkSachse carbon wheel brands which use facebook and instagram as their main marketing channels

A lot can change in 200 years 😉. Anyway. That sounds ok. They size accurately. The wheelbase and reach are virtually identical between 53 and 56. Really just the stack to consider

@@Mapdec I'm thinking ahead

I would always choose a good carbon frame unless I needed to hang racks, bags, fenders etc from it.

Thanks for adding your experience to the comments. I’m gutted for you that it happened. Was this during the covid rush when nobody had any stock to warranty or sell from?

@@Mapdec Nope they even had multiple bikes in stock so we could of switched the fork from another bike, the shop which was my local and favorite shop really let me down but Basso also would not even reply or give me any answers. I actually had the bike back one time when they said it was fixed but they just sanded paint away from the surface, total hack job and even then it didnt fix the alignment. Italien brands seem to be bad at customer service. I mean all in all this fork should of been tossed after production there was no way to fix it.

Very different bikes. The 765 is fairly unique in it geometry.

@@Mapdec Seen the look build and ride, very impressive and interesting, thank you. looking for that 2- 4 hrs in the saddle, avg 13-15 mph, comfort as only 61years old and the go to do everything bike Both bikes been mentioned, love the channel and wanted sone honest opinions that your give.

But what if I hate it….

You can get one of your more mobile colleagues to ride it instead. Problem solved.

We did. And scribe added their comments. Search for the vid called Facebook wheels.

Yes. If you want a quality frame then 105 is the new Ultegra these days. Wheels are getting worse and worse too. It’s like shrinkflation.

Did Basso take it back? What did they say

@@Mapdec advisory was issued to the owners, left it up to them to decide what's best. I think if you have the chance, an inspection of the BB on that bike you have may reveal something too.

@@81antiloop this one was spot on. I wish I had put the footage in now. Felt everyone was getting bored of me measuring BB. We have our own range of gages now and a bore micrometer. Apart from a tiny taper right at the back of the BB shell this was pretty close to perfect.

@@Mapdec bores are not boring, so please crack on ………rather modern day survival tool 💯

Always.

It’s a great question. Fewer spacers will eliminate a fair bit of flex and torsion. It’s also important to balance the front/rear weight distribution. Putting the load of the riders weight closer to the fulcrum of the top headset bearing can really improve front wheel tracking. The heavier the rider the more noticeable this is. This is actually a pretty good subject for a vid. The compromise between fit and handling.

as a skateboarder and a cyclist it is funny to see how the same type of gatekeeping and elitism occurs in both cultures.

@@Mapdec Paul great point yes please do the vid when chance presents. Suggest two unwritten rules also worth mention imo 1. Steerer plug length advisory 60/70mm at least enough to support the stem depth internally (find 30mm invariably part unsupported - so not good). 2. Use of small spacer (2/3 mm) immediately above the top of the stem. If you recommend a different approach I’d appreciate your guidance. Cheers 👍

Wow. Here comes the prices crashes

Have you returned it for warranty?

@@Mapdec we bought it online, so we contacted at first the online Shop then basso, but basso says its customer fault and did not offer a solution. We have and had a lot of compareble bikes made by Canyon, Cube, specialized, colnago and pinarello and the paint quality of every other bike was on an other Level compared to my wifes Basso. I told that Basso that this quality Level should not be normal but they dont even replied, so i am done with basso dispite the fact they are building nice bikes in europe.

@@Neilz911 that’s really sad to hear.

That’s ok. You go and play on your shaky, flexy, wonky Decathlon bike being used to hang a more expensive groupset from to help it sell. You can easily make things light. It’s making them stiff and confidence inspiring that brings speed and fun. You’ll get it when you ride them.

@@Mapdec There's no doubt you know way more about bikes than me, that's a fact, but have you ever actually ridden one of those better specced Decathlon bikes? I had the Van Rysel in the 105 version, which is the same frame as the Ultegra, for 2 years (still lighter than the Basso with the stock wheels...) and put thousands of km on it, so I'm not talking out of my ass here. There is nothing shaky or flexy about that frame at all, on the contrary, it's rather stiff. Wheels and tires are crap (just like with the Basso...), which I replaced, but the frame and the rest of the bike is absolutely indestructible (Alumium handle bars, seatpost ect., all rather on the heavy side). It's probably being sold in the tens-of-thousands and you get a life time (!) warranty on it. That said I have way more confidence in Decathlon QC than in Basso's... But don't just believe me: Your fellow RU-vid-colleague Francis Cade, who is no doubt a very experienced cyclist, rode an even cheaper version from Decathlon and had nothing but praise for it for the price point. He certainly didn't complain about it being flexy. And as a matter of fact, I do know nicer bikes (nothing really fancy, but still). Right now I ride a Giant TCR Advanced 1 (rim brake) from 2018 with Winspace wheels (7,3 kg without pedals...). The Giant feels allround better than the Van Rysel, no doubt, but it's certainly not stiffer... And I very much doubt that the Basso Venta differs much in terms of quality from the Giant TCR (if so, please elaborate), it being pretty much the same price point. I'm a slow descender, because I don't want to die, but I've done over 70 km/h on both and there was no significant difference in confidence. The bike was never the limiting factor, that was always me. If an aero bike is heavy, fine. I've gotten used to that. But an allround race bike? I'm not saying it's "bad", I'm sure you wouldn't praise it if it was, but it is still damn heavy. And if I have to spend an extra 1.000 £ for wheels just to get my already expensive carbon race bike under 9 kg then I think this is not acceptable. There are full on gravel bikes lighter than this thing.

There is a lot here. Much of it answered in previous vids. Keep watching. I had a good look round the Van Rysal stand at the 312. All looks very standard. I have ridden most CAAD models from the caad 4 so I am well versed in aluminium. Alu can be light and stiff, but it’s also harsh. They make good Crit bikes. When you have a bike that glides and feels sturdy it makes a huge difference. It’s like driving fast in a motorway in an old Corsa compared to cruising in an X5.

@@Mapdec Thank you for the reply, I appreciate it! I have no doubt the Venta will be the nicer ride. The alumnium Van Rysels are a lot of things, but subtle is certainly not one of them. I used an alu seat post with no setback, so I know... But still: When modern full carbon bikes weigh close to 90s steel bikes bikes, then I think there's something wrong... But that's my opinion, to each their own.

@@christianb.1028 it’s ok. Weight is a relatively small element of a bikes speed and handling these days.

He is about 180cm. Was riding with him today. He flew down the descents like a lunatic.