Bugatti Factor ONE

This is not just another bike and car paint-job collab. That absolutely has to be understood before moving forward. The Bugatti Factor ONE creative collaboration goes much further than skin deep, and the resulting bike is more than worthy to wear the badge of both engineering brands.

Factor frequently receives proposals from car brands interested in collaborating, just as all sorts of companies solicit Bugatti for partnerships. But both brands have reason to be discerning. “We have been approached by a lot of car companies wanting to do a project. But if I wouldn’t want to own one of their cars, why would I want to do a project with them?” Factor Founder, Rob Gitelis explained. “Calvin (Chan, Factor CEO) asked me, ‘well, if you could have any car in the world, what would it be?’ And I said a Bugatti. So that’s when we reached out to Bugatti to ask whether they would be interested in doing a collab on a bike. That started a lot of discussions with their design team, and the idea was always that it wouldn’t just be a paint job. It had to be something more.”

Carte-blanche development

As an engineer at heart, for Rob, something more meant it would have to be a radical design, advanced, high-performance, different from anything else on the road. “Originally, we started to talk so long ago that the ONE hadn’t even really started yet, so I almost thought at the very beginning of the ONE that it might be the Bugatti bike,” Rob revealed. “But then, as time went by, it became pretty obvious that the ONE was going to become its own thing. I still didn’t want to have just a Bugatti paint job, so I said let’s do something special around the fork of the bike to make it even faster than the current ONE, and the only way to do that was to go even wider.”

Even before the ONE was officially released, it had won a WorldTour race and proved fastest among all aerodynamic WorldTour road bikes in third-party wind tunnel testing. The radical nature of the design was obvious at the front end thanks to the just-barely UCI-legal fork. But the whole bike was a departure from anything that had been seen before, thanks to a forward-thinking geometry and incredibly advanced carbon lay-up that uses a strategic mix of TeXtreme®, Toray®, and Nippon Graphite® Pitch-Based Fiber. Taking what is the most advanced road bike within the UCI parameters as the starting point meant that Factor engineers could begin delving into what is possible outside the rulebook. 

“We knew about the updated UCI fork width limits well in advance because of our way of working with the UCI; we always share our designs ahead of time, so we were very confident that the ONE was going to continue to be UCI legal,” Rob explained. “When the opportunity with Bugatti arrived, we went back and started testing an even wider fork. We always knew that going a little bit wider would be faster, but we are constrained by the UCI rules. When we were thinking about how we could come up with something that made an actual impact on the Bugatti design, we knew that the fork was the focal point where we could make a meaningful impact.”

Melding design minds

Letting the Factor engineering team off the UCI leash meant that the wider-is-better assumption could be fleshed out. “It’s not just the width, it’s the length or rather the depth of the fork as well. The actual cord of it is longer. And the cord depth is 33% wider. The Bugatti Factor ONE’s fork is 147 mm wide versus 115mm of the ONE, which is the UCI legal limit,” Rob explained. 

It’s not just the fork that is different. Though the frame itself has the same geometry as the Factor ONE, the Bugatti carbon lay-up offers a gem of an outer layer that will resonate with anyone who appreciates the fine craftsmanship that defines the French car brand. “We’ve gone to a 3K twill weave on the outer-most layer. We did that because we wanted to match the same carbon fibre work that Bugatti does on their cars,” Rob said. “It’s actually very difficult to get it all lined up nicely, and we wanted to make sure that we put in the same level of craftsmanship on this bike that Bugatti puts into their cars. This is something we wouldn’t normally do on a bicycle because it is very time consuming, but we wanted it to match the same level of detail as a Bugatti.”

Even if this the heart of the project penetrates much deeper than a paintjob, that doesn’t mean that the chosen graphic wasn’t going to be taken very seriously. “We worked closely with their design team to develop the Bugatti Factor ONE graphic,” Rob explained. “We would propose and then they would consult and approve. It was very much a collaborative project about how to go about doing the carbon fibre exterior layers, what components to pick and the colours, all of that was a collaborative effort between their design team and our design team.” 

The choice of French Racing Blue goes back to the early history of Bugatti. In the 1920s, racing cars were painted in their national colour. The Bugatti Type 35, liveried in French Racing Blue, dominated Grand Prix competitions and became a colour that defined performance and signalled victory. “The choice of using the French Racing Blue was very deliberate,” Rob explained. “The bike is made on demand. It only comes in French Racing Blue unless you already own or have ordered a Bugatti car, and then we will offer to match the bike colour to your car.”

A unique build

In addition to the specially developed fork and designed frame, several bespoke components have been engineered exclusively for the Bugatti Factor ONE, each developed to complement the frame’s uncompromising aerodynamic philosophy. At the heart of the specifications are the Black Inc Bugatti Hyper 62 Wheels. Incredibly light at 1298 grams for the pair, the 62 mm rim profile has been optimised for sustained high-speed efficiency, balancing drag reduction with exceptional crosswind stability. 

The advanced carbon layup has been tuned to maximise torsional stiffness and power transfer under load, while maintaining controlled compliance for refined ride quality. Our latest technology is applied to hide the spoke nipples completely, allowing a more uniform transition of airflow from rim to spoke, which decreases turbulence and improves aero performance at no weight penalty. Precision-engineered hub internals further enhance rolling efficiency, ensuring minimal energy loss at speed.

The groundbreaking co-moulded rim-to-rim carbon spokes ensure fibre continuity, both decreasing mass, while opening a new world of aerodynamic opportunities. Enhancements in hub/flange bonding have allowed our engineers to exploit the material properties of carbon to increase hub/flange torque transfer by greater than 30%, increasing fatigue life and allowing the use of exotic fibres that transfer the riders pedalling torque into direct output, giving an ultra-bright ride quality that feels lively, direct, and ensuring a rewarding sense of efficiency that is unparalleled.

“The biggest standout for me is how much more responsive the wheels feel when accelerating out of corners. The ONE with the Black Inc Hyper wheel system feels like a single, cohesive unit. This is largely due to the spoke design,” Factor Global Sales Manager and five-time winner of the Taiwan K.O.M. Challenge, John Ebsen, explained. 

“The interlinked spoke structure significantly boosts stiffness, as the forces applied in one direction are distributed evenly across the wheel. This principle ensures a stronger and more stable ride. On top of that, the wheels are lighter and industry-leading in this regard. As a climber, I often describe the ideal climbing experience as “dancing” effortlessly up a mountain. Though these wheels may not be as light as a 20 mm climbing-specific wheelset, they deliver a similarly rapid response while offering the added benefit of increased speed thanks to their aerodynamic profile and depth.”

Hyper wheels seldom can also claim to be a practical choice, but in the case of the Hyper 62 Wheels, they have an unusual advantage over the competition: “From a sales perspective, one key advantage is that unlike similarly marketed wheels, it’s possible to replace our spokes. While replacing an entire side might be necessary, it’s still far more practical than the alternative,” John explained.

The collaboration extends deep into component development. We went to THM in Germany to make the carbon crank arms with a SRM powermeter. Several bespoke components such as the Selle Italia saddle with an Alcantara seat cover to match the material used for the Bugatti interiors, the Bugatti-branded CARBON-TI rotors and chainrings, and Continental Grand Prix 5000 TT tyres have been customised exclusively for the Bugatti Factor ONE, each made to complement the frame’s ultra-performance philosophy.

“This is a different bike from the Factor ONE,” Rob concluded. “The way all of the product has been picked and procured very carefully. Which saddles to use, which cranks to use, which power meter to use. No expense has been spared. Having Selle Italia, having SRM, having Continental all make a custom product. That’s not so normal for such a small batch.”

Learn more about the Bugatti Factor ONE

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