I wish I was younger.
I wish I was faster.
This is the mantra that was pounding in my head about halfway through the first local Wednesday Night Worlds on board the new Scylon. I’ve long since been relegated to the B Group, but it’s always nice to think we’ve built something - either a new bike or a modicum of fitness - that will keep us from getting absolutely shelled by the younger, faster guys (Spoiler alert: the Scylon kept me in the hunt for a lap or two longer, but they still rode away like they were on E-Bikes with two to go).
Before joining Time in early 2025, I was a product reviewer for Competitive Cyclist - and I worked with them off and on for almost 20 years. In many of my past reviews I was accused of being biased and advertorial, so I’ll do my best to convey my open and honest feedback on the Scylon here. But full disclosure - I’m gonna be a little biased for more than a few reasons. So, no hard feelings if you take what I say with a few grains of salt. I promise I’ll do my best to keep it objective. Maybe.
From 2022-2024 I got to review (and own) every other bike in our lineup, and since then I’ve bounced between my first gen ADHX, a red on red ADH01 and a vertical red ADHX45. These three are all built on the same foundation, so aside from tire clearance and a few geometric nuances - they’re all very much alike. Which is a good thing, because you get the same road responsiveness and legendary ride quality across the entire platform. And let’s not blow past ride quality - nothing, and I mean NOTHING feels like a Time. And the Scylon is no exception. If you own one, you know what that means. But if you don’t, one of our retailers articulated it better than I can:
I have a beautiful collection of steel bikes that are amazing to ride.
But this Scylon feels way different
No effort required. No Unnecessary input. It is an intuitive machine that feels as nearly insulated from bumps and vibration as my steel rig with 35mm tires
-Tommy Barse, Cutlass Velo
I chose Brilliant Purple and built mine with SRAM Red AXS and a set of the new Vision Metron RS wheels (the new ones, with the carbon spokes? Yeah, those. More on them in an upcoming journal entry).
I’ve had it about a week, and aside from the Wednesday nighter I’ve done two other rides - one with a super steep 2-mile climb and lots of fast, technical descending, the other was a 2 hour out-and-back with fast rollers and a sustained 5 mile climb that tilts from 3-6 percent. And I’ll say this: Tommy’s right: this bike is different.
You notice it right away, from the first pedal strike. The Scylon surges forward like a heavy aero race bike, but feels like a light and agile climbing rig. It’s surprisingly quiet, but not dead and insular - it feels lively and nimble without getting squirrely. The frame responds to input from the rider and the road in all the right ways. And when you’re up to speed railing corners - it’s smooth, planted, and predictable. There’s ZERO deflection in the fork, so braking response and modulation up front is near perfect.
What does that mean? Well, I think I can address that by answering some of the most frequently asked questions we hear about the Scylon:
Is it an AERO bike?
Is it a CLIMBING bike?
Is it a RACE bike?
Is it a good all-rounder?
The answer to all of these is YES. But, then again...
I’m biased.
