Patrick Beeson

For a while now, I've been riding the heck out of my Empella Bonfire SL cyclocross bike. This is the first cyclocross bike I've owned, and I hope to race it come winter.

I do think I've accumulated enough riding time to provide an adequate review however. But I'll leave the final thoughts until after racing.

The ride

Stiff, stiff stiff. This bike has some radically shaped alumnium tubes, and lets your body know that fact pretty well.

I purchased this Empella Bonfire SL in 2006 from cyclocrossworld.com. The frame is aluminum, and includes the carbon fork and headset.

Credit: Patrick Beeson

The downtube in particular gets quite large as it nears the bottom bracket, ensuring most of the power you transmit to the pedals means something in terms of speed.

And of course the flattened top tube serves a dual purpose -- it's damn easy (and comfortable) to shoulder the bike.

The massive "Carbon Fire" fork does a good job at softening the front end of the bike, but is a tad too soft to control the Cane Creek SCX-5 brakes. I'll get really bad vibrations and brake stutter on ocassion, which really kills the downhill handling. (So much so, that I might switch to a softer pad up front.)

The fit

I realize there are two schools of thought for cyclocross frame sizing: match your road bike or go one size down from said road bike. I chose the former, then sent the frame back and chose the latter. (Thank you again Cyclocross World!)

Empella sizes their frames quite large to begin with. A 58cm (the first frame I got) was nearly identical to my road bike (a Look KX 55cm with a sloping top tube). Unfortunately, this didn't translate to a off-road worthy ride (too little top tube clearance).

After swapping for a 56cm, things got much better in the handling department. I gained 1.5cm of standover, and lost only 1cm on the top tube.

And let me tell you, this bike bombs down hills! Throw in some predictable tires (I suggest some from Ritchey) and you've got a commendable off-roader.

The parts

Since Empella doesn't sell anything but frame kits here in the States, this will be different for other riders. But since I'm new to the cyclocross, I'll let you in on what's working for me.

I went full Ritchey WCS for the bars (classic), post, stem (110mm flipped for some rise), tires, wheels (deep-v) and headset (integrated). The cranks are the fantastic Ritchey Logic cyclocross models, though I wish the U.S. had the WCS version.

Shimano takes care of the shifting with their dependable Ultegra group -- nothing to complain about there (no, not even the 10-speed).

Other parts include a Flite saddle, Crank Bros. Candy SL pedals and those powerful Cane Creek SCX-5 brakes.

It built up to be a very solid, and race-worthy part spec that I'd recommend to any cyclocrosser with a limited bank account (if not, get carbon wheels and Dura-Ace).

Buy or not to buy

This will be short: If you're looking for a pro-quality cyclocross frame and fork with a unique pedigree you won't see in the local race series by all means consider the Empella. You can only find them in a few spots in the U.S. (I recommend Cyclocross World), and the sizing is particular , but this frame provides a good handing, stiff ride to drool over.

UPDATE: I forgot to mention a negative about the frame quality, namely the paint. It tends to chip quite easily, which is bad for anything taken off road.