Bursting onto the cycling scene in 2009 with the revolutionary FACTOR001, British bicycle company Factor has continued to evolve over the last ten years. Never content to sit on its laurels, the company is continually pushing the boundaries with its bicycle offerings, with the manufacturer now boasting a robust offering of road, time trial and gravel bike options in its product line-up.
While the bikes are the envy of bunch rides and the racing peloton the world over, Factor’s commitment to its products, its customers and honing the service’s it provides is arguably the trump card. After all, if you’re in the position to lay down your hard-earned on a top-spec dream machine, you want to know that you’re in good hands. So to find out a little more about buying a flagship bicycle, we went down to Factor Bikes Australia to find out a little more about the process.
Why Factor?
Factor Bikes Australia is part of Factor Bikes International. So when you reach out to the team, you are engaging with the people behind the brand, drawing directly on the knowledge and support of the global Factor organisation. The imperatives of the company are to provide great bikes, and unparalleled service to its riders and customers, after all, when you buy a Factor isn’t just about the transaction.
The team use the Shimano BikeFitting System, and as such can provide fitting advice at their Head Office Display Centre or through the Australian network of Shimano BikeFitting dealers. Since the team carries a comprehensive range of Factor and Black Inc products locally, they can supply bikes, wheels and accessories to you in a matter of days to most locations around the country
Rider Engineered
While the Factor brand may be a new addition to the mainstream, the people behind the brand are anything green in the industry. The engineers behind Factor have created and worked with some of the largest bicycle brands in the world. The brains trust behind each Factor bike have spearheaded carbon fibre manufacturing processes that are now commonplace across the industry, and as such, are renowned as pioneers of the manufacturing business.
However, to state that the team behind Factor are engineers would be selling them short. Every individual behind the Factor brand is a cyclist at heart. They roll into work every day with a passion for making and guiding its customers to purchase the very best bikes available.
While this may seem like a line ripped directly from the marketing manual, the fact of the matter is that the driving force behind the brand is unparalleled excellence. There will only ever be one version of the One, of the O2, or the Slick. Factor isn’t in the business of producing a less expensive version of its goods; each model the company produces is intended to be its best effort at producing a bike in that category.
The Process
Looking to pull the trigger on a Factor and wondering what the process for purchasing is? Never fear, we’ll step you through the procedure of getting your hands on your very own superbike.
When you purchase a frame or bike from Factor, the team believe that not only should you get the right product in the right size but that the experience should be as personable and trouble-free as possible. The team at Factor stress that getting the right frame size and fit of your new bike is critical. As such, they do not believe that you can choose a bike from a website drop-down menu and be confident of getting a bike that fits you. After all, if you’re shelling out your hard-earned, you deserve better than that when you are buying a high-performance product. As a result, Factor recommends revisiting your fit before purchasing a new bike.
If you wish to skip the pre-fitting process altogether, the team have a full range of fitting services in house and are well equipped to guide customers through the entire process at their headquarters in Sandringham. In addition to fitting, the team at Factor can arrange transfers from your location to the customer experience centre, and step you through the process in person.
From here, the team at Factor HQ will get in contact to discuss the details of your build. Every Factor bike is built sold as and built up from a bare frameset, so they are uniquely positioned to customise your bike to your desire and fit requirements.
Once the colour and specifications are sorted, and your bike is ready to ship, your bike will be shipped to you in one of our custom bike boxes which only require you to fit the front wheel and then ride. No refitting of stems or components or even turning handlebars is required. Put the front wheel in and ride!
The team at Factor maintain a stock of frames and components at their Melbourne warehouse so the turnaround on your bike from ordering to delivery can be as little as 5 business days. For unique order frames, anticipate 7-14 days for your frame to arrive from the factory and a further 2-5 business days for your bike to you. Custom colour frames are painted in the factory in Taiwan as such, expect a lead time of 4-6 weeks from ordering to delivery.
Halfway through the build process and have a change of heart on colour choice or component specification? Never fear, as Factor owns it’s own manufacturing and painting facilities, it can step in at any point of the manufacturing and build process to make any changes necessary. This is as close to an off-the-peg custom bike that many individuals will have the pleasure of purchasing.
To enquire about or purchase a Factor, click the banner below for more details.
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