ONE + HYPER 62: The Ultimate Alliance

The Factor ONE first broke cover in prototype at the 2025 Dauphiné, where it powered Jake Stewart to an unexpected but dominant sprint stage victory. More recently, it has been Ben Oliver’s (Modern Adventure Pro Cycling) bike-of-choice for much of the 2026 season. Throughout the early part of the season, he had been compiling an impressive collection of podium places, until he and the ONE took his first professional victory in the Tour de Wallonie in early June.

As soon as the ONE burst onto the WorldTour stage, it redefined what can be expected from an aerodynamic racing bike. It not only focused on being aero, which it is, but it rethinks how a bike’s geometry can work with the riding style of modern elite racers. The ONE’s geometry was designed to accommodate these WorldTour positions without compromise. By decoupling the handlebar mount from the steering axis, we can give riders the extreme reach they want without resorting to unstable, overlong stems. We adjusted bottom bracket drop to compensate for the raised centre of gravity from shorter cranks and larger tires, preserving stability and keeping fore and aft weight balance in check.

The result is that the ONE is not only the fastest road frame in the wind tunnel, as third-party testing has proved, but fast and stable on the road, which allows the rider to get up to speed quickly and maintain those speeds with much less power input. As Stewart said after taking the biggest victory of his career: “When it hits 50 kph it really starts to fly.”

That feeling is a direct result of the frame design where the aerodynamic shaping of the tubes results in a tunnel-verified drop in drag at higher yaw angles, offering a distinct “lift” sensation once the rider reaches speeds at and above 50 kph. Stewart also noted that the bike felt as though it was helping him sustain top speed, particularly in exposed crosswind sections. The aggressive forward fit combined with front-end stiffness and balanced weight distribution allowed full sprint torque without steering deflection.

A HYPER wheel to match

Now with the recent release of the Black Inc HYPER 62, the ONE has the ideal aero wheel to reach peak speed. Having been in the design phase for many months, the HYPER 62 development went into hyper-speed when Factor and Black Inc’s engineers and designers began working on the Bugatti ONE. The Bugatti project then gave the team a reason to accelerate development and turn the concept into a full production programme.

Early prototypes were built around 48 mm wheelsets before the project evolved into the deeper HYPER 62 platform. Those first test wheels were extremely light and very stiff, confirming that the concept had potential. From there, the team focused on developing their innovative proprietary carbon spoke construction, bonded hub architecture, hidden threaded tip integration, and a more complete understanding of how a high-performance wheel behaves under load. The objective was clear: build a fast wheel that remains useful in the real world of racing, light, laterally responsive, aerodynamically refined, and structurally controlled.

The aerodynamic performance only partly comes from the rim profile. The proprietary carbon spoke technology combined with the hidden threaded tip integration prove to be the most effective design features to enhance the wheelset’s aerodynamic efficiency. The 62 mm depth also required special consideration to maintain stiffness without adding weight. The sidewalls of a deep carbon rim can be extremely thin. If those walls are not properly controlled, they can deform inward and outward under load, tyre installation, or impact.

To avoid the dreaded “oil-canning” effect, Black Inc engineers employed an advanced carbon layup and the use of a TexTreme outer layer. This has the dual advantage of producing an extremely stiff and responsive wheel that is also amazingly lightweight at just 1298 grams per wheelset. “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 62 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 quite 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 height.”

Read the ONE reviews

In line with its advanced appearance, the ONE has caught a lot of reviewers’ eyes. Bold performance claims deserve to be tested in the real world. But the consensus is that if you are a serious cyclist looking to ride and race the fastest, most aerodynamic bike on the road, then the ONE is basically the only choice for you. “The ONE is an absolute ripper and is surprisingly well-mannered. I was genuinely a little worried when I did the math…on what my fit would look like on it. The seat tube angle. The bottom bracket height. That impossible front end. I pictured something twitchy and hand-heavy, and very unpredictable. What I found was quite the opposite. The Factor ONE does all of the obvious things you would expect. It holds speed better than anything I have ever ridden. Things feel easier over 50k/hour. The bike almost lifts underneath you. It practically begs you to push down harder.”  – Barry Anderson, REGROUPWITHUS.com - Factor ONE Review, 40 Years in the making

“The Factor ONE is an all-out race bike designed for riders who care about every watt and every second. It's engineered to slice through the wind and that usually comes with trade-offs. Except here, it doesn't really feel like you're giving up very much. And that's the surprising part for me. For a bike that looks this extreme, it's actually very normal. You could train on it. You can take it out for big weekend rides and still feel like you're riding a machine built for the sharp end of a race. This bike is the future of road bikes…and I love seeing a brand push the limits of design. So, this bike has me stoked.” – Jake Cullen, Bici - I Rode the New Factor ONE for Months… Here’s the Truth

“If, like me, you’re a bike nerd, then the new Factor ONE is probably the most exciting race bike that you’ve seen in the last five years. We already know that it’s like nothing else on the market; we already know that it’s been independently tested as one of the fastest in the world, but what we don’t know is what it’s like to ride…until now! I got on a plane to Girona to find out…The bike is stable, feels rock solid underneath you during a sprint, planted on descents and quick to react to sudden inputs. In short, everything a modern race bike should be. It’s also very stiff, especially so at the front end, for better and for worse; during a sprint or a technical descent this is very welcome, but it’s chalk and cheese between this and the comparatively floppy front end of the Colnago Y1Rs, which I was riding before heading out to Girona.” – Jamie Williams, Cycling Weekly - Factor ONE first ride: Looks like a spaceship, goes like a train, rides like a... bike

The Future of Road Cycling

Thanks to Factor’s bold vision, the ONE is not only the future of cycling; it’s its present. It sits at the top of an innovative high-performance road line-up, with the OSTRO VAM and MONZA offering similarly advanced solutions to road racers’ needs.

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