Thank you to John for taking the time to write a review of his MPA having owned and enjoyed it for 18 months. The first section is the review he wrote having recently purchased the bike and the second section is his review after 18 months.
Vaaru MPA
First impressions from a demo ride.
I am looking for a bike for club rides occasional sportives and touring. That would cover distance and offer comfort with speed. That would be agile handling but have a confident feel.
My current bikes are: Trek Carbon road Bike and a Scott Carbon MTB.
After an engaging and informative discussion with James at Vaaru I was offered a ride of the Vaaru MPA Titanium Road bike.
I visited James at Barnham near Chichester in West Sussex. And after attaching my pedals of choice I was off.
My ride took me across West Sussex to Chichester, then north passed the Goodwood hotel up on to the South Downs, over to East Dean, then west to Singleton, then back up over the downs passed Goodwood race course, Goodwood house to Chichester and back to Barnham.
First impressions were of how comfortable I was over all road surfaces including some sadly poorly maintained roads, the bike seemed to absorb most of the vibration and shocks with very little of the expected buzz reaching the rider but still gave good feedback of what was under the wheels.
The bike was nicely stable through the turns, with very natural steering but agile enough to feel fun through the twisty corners.
The bike also climbs well and is very responsive to accelerations out of corners or climbs.
All in all a very satisfying mount, so much so that I will be taking delivery of one built to my specifications in the near future.
I will let you know how I get on with it in the longer term.
MPA review Part 2
18 months ago following my demo ride on the Vaaru MPA I took delivery of my own custom built version.
My Vaaru frame came with Kinesis carbon forks. The Group set is Shimano Ultergra with hydraulic disc brakes. Rotor 3D chain set with Q rings, Kinesis Racelight wheels, USE carbon bars and a Selle Italia saddle.
Working through what I wanted with James was a great deal of fun and a very rewarding experience. James knowledge and attention to detail is second to none and you are assured of a bike that is tailored to your exact requirements.
The result is a well-balanced, neutral handling very comfortable ride which really does live up to its name and has covered a good number of miles per annum.
I have taken the bike on several trips over and above the very regular day rides, from long weekends away, 8-10 day tours, to a couple of long trips, notably London to Nice in June 2016, using the ‘Velo en France’ route and most recently, this year, a circular route from London taking in parts of Belgium, Luxembourg, Germany France and the UK covering 2700Km’s in 23 days, solo and carrying my own luggage.
The overwhelming feature of this bike is its comfort, over my tours I have had some fairly long days. This year’s trip I averaged well over 70 miles a day with a couple of days over 90 miles. But moreover, day on day riding with up to 15 days without a rest day and still completely comfortable.
The comfort does not come at the cost of a fun ride. This bike is inherently stable over all surfaces but agile and precise when taking on twisting fast descents. Long alpine passes can be attacked in full confidence and bring a big smile to your face even with Luggage!
This in part due to the great feel and feedback the bike provides ensuring you know exactly what is going on under the wheels in any conditions.
The MPA is also very responsive to rider input. Accelerations show another aspect to the agility of the bike with all the riders effort seamlessly transferred into forward motion. Climbing also shows the frames capabilities where, even over rough surfaces, the rider’s effort is transmitted to the road driving you positively forwards.
A few parts of this year’s trip, particularly across Belgium, took me along some rough gravel tracks and regular sections of Cobbles. Even with luggage the MPA seemed to glide over the surfaces. The feel and feedback from the bike gave you full knowledge of what was happening under the wheels but still went a long way to protect me from the pounding I would have experienced on my other road bike. This has to be experienced to be believed!
All in all this bike is a virtually flawless all-rounder. It climbs superbly, descents are fast and fun. It’s quick and agile and above all supremely comfortable. I covered well over 7000 miles last year on this bike. Let’s see how it goes for the rest of this year.
You owe it to yourself to give a Vaaru a try, you won’t regret it!