Factor Bikes Enters the MTB Market With the Lando XC & HT

Factor Bikes (not to be confused with Factor Components) isn’t likely a name known to many mountain bikers, that is unless you follow professional road racing. There, the boutique carbon bicycle manufacturer is arguably the smallest brand with a presence at the sport’s top level.

Factor describes itself as a premium bicycle brand, and their somewhat rare combined competitive advantage is that they own their own factories in both China and Taiwan, and also offer direct-to-consumer sales. Prior to focussing on its own brand, the company existed as a contract manufacturer for the likes of Santa Cruz, Rocky Mountain, Pivot, and Cervelo, to name a few. And well before that was the involvement with some of the earliest uses of carbon fibre in cycling.

While Factor may have only had its name to drop-bar and time-trial bikes to date, the company has now entered the mountain bike market with a fairly progressive cross country full suspension and an ultra-light hardtail. And the two bikes are joined with a few new components from sibling in-house carbon component brand, Black Inc.

Why enter MTB?

According to Factor’s CEO, Rob Gitelis, the company’s goal wasn’t to be a boutique road brand, but rather a premium bicycle manufacturer regardless of discipline. The entry into mountain bikes may be starting with XC bikes, but the company has already announced plans to offer a longer travel trail bike, and is currently assessing what it could do in the e-MTB space, too.

No doubt there’s an increasing convergence between riding disciplines, and Gitelis suggests that approximately a third of Factor’s existing (road) customers also ride mountain bikes. Meanwhile, the boom of gravel is acting as a gateway between those who have traditionally only ridden skinny tyre dropbar bikes and introducing them to the world of dirt.

Obviously selling more bikes to existing customers is appealing but Factor aims to do more than just that. However, given the market for high-end carbon mountain bikes is seemingly beyond saturated, what can a road brand bring to the table that isn’t already served?

That question isn’t so simply answered, but much of it boils down to owning the manufacturing channel. Factor believe they have the capabilities to produce high performing machines with premium materials, exacting tolerances, and carefully thought out details that may be too costly for others to pull off, all while hitting a price in line with other high-end options. In-house manufacturing also means that Factor can be extremely quick to create, test, refine, and produce such products. In many ways, it’s a similar story to what other manufacturer-owned or in-house-produced bike companies claim to achieve, but there aren’t too many operating with the extensive resources of Factor.


The Lando XC

Already raced at the Cape Epic, the new Lando XC is Factor’s answer to the modern cross country and endurance race bike. While the rear shock bares itself for the world to see, its progressive geometry and longer travel is otherwise not too dissimilar from the new Scott Spark.

Like a number of the latest XC machines, the Lando XC employs a single pivot suspension layout with a single-piece carbon rear end, intentionally flexible seatstays, and an adjoining one-piece moulded carbon rocker link. However, Factor’s approach also employs a truly oversized downtube, bottom bracket, and interrupted seat tube area.

The kinematics and suggested 27% sag figure both work to produce a more active suspension action than what’s typical of many XC bikes, and as a result, the bike is intended to run a remote lockout. The forward-positioned swingarm pivot is said to provide a flatter anti-squat curve that sits in the high 90% range across all gears. Meanwhile, the anti-rise numbers are said to be measurably low compared to what’s typical of the category.


Geometry

Available in four frame sizes, the Lando XC comes stock with 115 mm of rear-wheel travel that is intended to be matched with 120 mm fork (51 mm offset). In this configuration, the head angle sits at a claimed 67-degrees, while the effective seat tube angle is 75.5-degrees across all sizes.

With a 430 mm reach in a medium, the numbers point toward the slightly less progressive use of a 70-80 mm stem for my most riders. Sizing wise, Factor has strong sales in certain Asian markets and so the currently available sizes tend to trend smaller. There is no extra-large size on offer at this time.

Those wanting a more aggressive 100 mm of travel can achieve so with a shorter stroke shock and a matching shorter offset 100 mm fork. You can expect the angles to become subtly more aggressive in doing so, too. Such a configuration is not currently available for purchase and would be up to the customer to convert.


Frame Details

While Factor has gone to great efforts to place the rear shock within the shapely seat tube, the vertical shock position simply doesn’t leave room for a second water bottle in the same way that a number of competing bikes do. According to Graham Shrive, Factor’s head of engineering (and the former head of engineering at the innovative road bike brand Cervelo), this decision was made to optimise frame stiffness, shock durability, and standover height. Further attention was given to minimising shock and bearing sideloading, for example, Shrive claims that if the main pivot bearings – which sit outside of the chainstays – were pushed any wider they would contact the cranks.

Shrive states that some prominent component manufacturers in the industry are starting to suggest that rocker-yoke-driven suspension designs can cause excessive loading of the rear shock (picture the linkage action trying to bend the rear shock, an issue that Vorsprung recently covered – it’s something that leads to premature wear and failure. By contrast, the chosen vertical shock path handles loads at the already reinforced bottom bracket area and doesn’t require reinforcing the top tube. Furthermore, the base of the shock co-rotates with the main pivot, something that helps further reduce the need for excess hardware.

Speaking on the unexpected choice to go with a single bottle on a marathon-style bike, Shrive said, “It’s a trade-off we struggled with it quite a bit, but we hope that all the other mounts on the bike help to make up for this. Our customer base is predominately using hydration packs for the marathon racers where extra fluids are required. Shock durability and stand-over height were really important for us.”

Those other mounts are plentiful and perhaps take a cue from the gravel world where it’s often a matter of letting the customer figure out what they’re for. In this case, there are mounts on the top of the top tube behind the stem, something commonly often used in gravel and triathlon for a small snack bag (but if you’re like me, they will certainly go unused). Then there are mounts beneath the top tube for a tube strap or perhaps even a water bottle if you don’t mind riding a little bow-legged.

There are a few other features that may prove a little, um, conversational. Not unlike the previously mentioned Scott Spark, the front end is designed around an oversized 1.5” headset with optional internal cable routing through the top bearing for the rear brake hose (and dropper hose if you’re running a Reverb). Such a design typically means trimming a brake hose when the time for a new top headset bearing arrives, but Factor hopes to greatly reduce the need for such replacement by fitting CeramicSpeed’s new SLT solid fill (oil-infused polymer) bearings as stock.

Speaking of bearings, the frame pivots run on Enduro Stainless Max bearings, and Factor hasn’t ruled out replacing these with the SLT bearing if and when CeramicSpeed produce the needed sizes.


Somewhat related to the headset is the straight path downtube that doesn’t provide clearance for the fork crown. It’s something we’ve seen before from Trek who use a rubber bumper on the downtube and its KnockBlock headset assembly to limit the handlebar swing arc. By contrast, Factor is using just a rubber bumper at the intentionally reinforced downtube and headtube junction. According to Shrive, using a headset that offered both internal cable routing and a steering restrictor was overly complicated and would likely limit future compatibility with other emerging headset systems. To Shrive’s point, the frame will work with FSA’s ACR/SMR system.

Thankfully Factor isn’t forcing the use of the headset based cabling system and has also provided regular modular port options at the sides of the headtube to allow for any combination of mechanical shifting, dropper and/or suspension lockouts. Factor will provide two different headset top caps so that users can choose their own path. Using one of those side ports is the provided DT Swiss dual lockout remote.

The other lesser-seen feature is the use of a T47 bottom bracket shell. This oversized threaded system has become popular in the road and gravel market and is effectively a threaded version of a PF30 shell. Compared to road systems, Factor is using a wider width shell (88.5 mm) that places the bearings inside of the shell. A serviceable CeramicSpeed bottom bracket is supplied, with the total width designed to mimic that of PF92 system (regular mountain bike spindle spacing).


Other features include room for 29x2.4in tyres, Boost wheel spacing (max 36T chainring), a SRAM Universal Derailleur Hanger (UDH), flush-mount water bottle rivets, and a seatpost clamp that’s intended to provide a more integrated aesthetic while also providing pinch-free clamping tension for a 31.6 mm dropper. A painted medium frame with hardware and DT Swiss rear shock is claimed to weigh 2.1 kg.

There’s no denying that the DT Swiss R232 One rear shock (and FT232 One fork on the complete bike) is a polarising choice. Factor has a reputation for being clear and direct in its communication, and in this case, the suspension choice is related to existing supply chain issues. Those supply issues are apparently also responsible for decisions such as the rigid seatpost over a dropper, and the somewhat narrow 2.25” rubber fitted as stock.

The final potentially polarising choice is a complete lack of ability to mount a chain guide to this frame. Factor didn’t, well, factor it into the design.

Those supply chain issues strike once again strike when it comes to complete bike options. As a result, Factor has launched with a single bike specification option that features a SRAM XX1 AXS groupset and a number of Black Inc components (covered below), this high-end machine carries a price of $9,199 USD / €8,399 EUR / £6,999. Factor also offers frame packages, such as the $4,499 USD “premium” which includes the frame, rear shock, Black Inc one-piece bar/sten, Black Inc seatpost, CeramicSpeed bottom bracket and headset


The Lando HT

Factor’s new hardtail, the Lando HT, isn’t quite as progressive as the Lando XC and instead takes a few more cues from the company’s road bikes. The design is all about low weight and high stiffness. It’s pared-back without excess accessory mounting points or geometry angles that perhaps encourage it to be ridden where it doesn’t belong. And in turn, Factor claims a rather impressive 850 g figure for a painted medium frame.

Factor has designed the geometry around a 110 mm travel fork to provide a 68.5 -degree head tube angle – not the steepest, nor the slackest flyweight bike on the circuit. Perhaps more polarising is the 73.5-degree seat tube angles found on the medium and large sizes, a decision that emphasises long stints of seated pedalling and aligns with what Ibis Cycles said about its new Exie race bike.

The feature list of the Lando HT repeats much of what the Lando XC offers. There’s the optional integrated cable routing through the oversized headset, the bottom bracket is the same T47 threaded, and there’s the same unique seat clamp holding a 31.6 mm seatpost. Likewise, the all too easily missed flush bidon cage mounts are there, as is the clearance for 29x2.4in tyres with Boost wheel spacing.


The kinked seatstays pay homage to some of Factor’s road models and are said to aid in vertical compliance. The flat and curved toptube is also claimed to improve the ride quality.

Other road inspiration is seen with the one-piece 760 mm-wide handlebar and stem (60-90 mm lengths available) from Factor’s sibling company, Black Inc. The company is also experimenting with the adventure gravel space by offering an optional Black Inc rigid fork to suit this frame.


Lastly, Black Inc has a new 29in wheelset with a made-in-house 27mm internal width hookless rim and in-house engineered hubs which roll on fancy CeramicSpeed bearings. Claimed weight for the wheelset is 1,459 grams.

The Lando HT complete bike offers the same high-end specifications as the XC version and is listed at $7,099 USD / €6499 EUR / £5399. Like the Lando XC, the frame package ($3,299 USD) includes the one-piece bar and stem, the seatpost, and CeramicSpeed’s bottom bracket and headset.

No doubt Factor isn’t the first nor will it be the last road brand to enter the mountain bike market. And as gravel continues to be a top growth category and entry to dirt for many traditional brands, you can bet they are all watching to see how Factor’s introduction goes.

Posted In:
Reviews and Tech First Looks XC Bikes Factor Bikes Factor Lando