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The Moda Finale is the flagship aero road bike is the brand’s recently revamped range.
It uses an aerodynamically styled, modular monocoque construction using good-value materials in an attempt to balance price with performance. Moda offers the customer the option to custom spec their bikes to suit particularly needs and budgets.
Middling handling characteristics married to a tight back end means the bike manoeuvres nicely, while the tall head tube minimises the need for spacers, facilitating a clean look.
It isn’t the most comfortable or lightest aero bike out there, but offers good performance for its cost and hints at an exciting future for the re-emerging British brand.
Some years ago British brand Moda had a small presence in the bike market, but was ultimately off the pace compared to many competitors. However, the company changed ownership in 2020 and that shift triggered an overhaul of its entire range.
‘Most of the old models were hugely outdated, so we looked at the acquisition of the brand as an opportunity to start from a clean slate,’ says new owner Dave Williams.
Two years on it’s mission accomplished – Moda now has a tidy range of contemporary bikes covering the established road and gravel niches. All tend to be priced competitively and can be adjusted to the customer’s tastes and budget because every bike is built to order, which is something still only a few forward-thinking bike brands offer.
The Finale spearheads the revamped range, occupying the aero race category. Technically, the Finale did have a predecessor but in reality the only thing this latest bike shares with the old Finale is its name.
The previous bike was a decade old and had external cables, 23mm tyre clearance and – you may want to sit down for this – rim brakes. It has made way for a bike with CFD-informed aero tube profiles, 28mm tyre clearance and disc brakes.
‘I was a national team time-trial champion so I appreciate the value of aerodynamic efficiency,’ says Williams. ‘When we started designing the Finale we were aware that Shimano was going to follow SRAM – at least in part – in terms of wireless design, so we were able to make the frame really clean, particularly at the front end, while still preserving adjustability.’
Such distinctive tube shaping is labour-intensive, so the Finale is made in a modular monocoque fashion – where sections of frame are formed, then bonded together – rather than true one-piece monocoque design, which is more expensive because if a serious imperfection is found the whole frame must be scrapped.
Moda also uses a composite blend centred around the use of Toray T700 carbon fibre, which isn’t the Japanese company’s highest modulus fibre but is generally recognised as providing a good compromise of weight, stiffness and value.
Moda was one of the first brands in the UK to get its hands on Shimano’s new 12-speed 105 Di2 groupset, and there’s a nice parallel with the frameset. Like the Finale, 105 Di2 uses slightly less premium materials at a weight penalty (which is around 500g over Shimano Dura-Ace in a similar guise) to lower the price with little perceptible performance disadvantage.
It’s a fitting spec choice for the frameset and as a total package the bike comes across as an appealing proposition for a budget-conscious racer.
Why a racer specifically? A quick look at the Finale’s geometry chart answers that question. In size large, the Finale has uncommonly short 394mm chainstays, which when combined with a 73.5° head tube and 43mm fork rake make for a short and snappy 979mm wheelbase.
That’s for a 565mm top tube; it’s pretty short. Curiously the head tube is tall, 165mm for a size large and around 10-15mm bigger than you might expect. Initially this seems at odds with the rest of the setup, but the more upright position it affords will make sense for a lot of riders.
That head tube being a little taller means the bike can also be run with fewer, or no, headset spacers. This delivers a clean, pro look without the extreme fit usually associated. It may put off some keen racers that the bike might otherwise suit, but for most it’s a neatly contrived feature.
The geometry and specced 28mm tyres should make for handling that’s middling rather than quick, but balanced with the short wheelbase the Finale turns sharply without feeling nervous.
That tight rear, combined with an oversized bottom bracket junction, also lends the bike a punchiness that belies its 8.5kg weight. That heft does mean the Finale doesn’t cope with long or steep climbs naturally however, with the bike best suited to rolling terrain where its aero design and sturdy character aid momentum.
I’d be inclined not to stray narrower than the 28mm maximum tyre clearance. There’s little in the design to suppress bigger jolts, so the superb Continental GP5000 S TR tyres were welcome both for width and their tubeless ability to run at lower, road buzz-filtering pressures.
Considering the sensible balance of features in the frameset and general build, the Finale is a fine re-entry into the UK bike market – and Williams promises there’s more to come from this brand.
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Specialized says it leveraged the information it collected by its Retül fitting system to inform the development of the Torch shoes, a process which apparently extended to over 110,000 foot scans. It’s no surprise that the resultant design is excellent.
Specialized says it found shoes need to be wider, so increased the width of the Torch’s last by 4mm compared to their predecessors. That move has paid off: despite being light and stiff, the Torch shoes are brilliantly comfortable, offering my feet a firm hold without squishing my forefoot.
£5,299 will get you a SRAM Force eTap AXS-equipped Venturi STC from another British brand, Orro. The frameset uses ‘spread-tow’ carbon fibre, which is lighter for the same stiffness as it requires less resin.
Just under the cost of the Moda sits Vitus’s ZX-1 Evo CRS (£4,799). An accomplished frameset is at the heart of the bike, and its build is centred around SRAM eTap AXS shifting and Reynolds AR 58/62 wheels.
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