SpeedX Leopard Pro – My new racing bike

My new racing bike SpeedX Leopard Pro I will receive it sometime in September, the anticipation is already great and I had only reported it happen wisely on my Facebook page. Now I want to give a detailed intermediate status here.

I already had the extraordinary bike with me in April Kickstarter discovered. Touted as First ever smart aero road bike I was immediately hooked. Since February 2015 I have been riding my converted Centurion Cyclocrosser with Tiagra gears. Of course, that's not really long, but you know how it is: You can tell that you've discovered a new passion and want to show it off permanently, so you're looking for something more serious. It quickly became clear to me that next time it should be an aero racing bike. I love the shape of the frame and the stem and seatpost. I also dreamed of a Di2 drivetrain after test driving it once. Insanity!!! Anyone who has tried an electrical switch will want to have it.

Since I'm not a money rat, the Giant Propel Advanced 0 was at the top of my wish list, but even that costs almost € 3000 in the absolute standard version.

Then, in April 2016, I found the SpeedX Leopard Pro on Kickstarter. € 2400,- For a carbon aero road bike including Di2 and complete routing of all cables and cables in the frame, you can only find that on bikes over the € 6000 mark.

I struggled with myself for quite some time, € 2400 is a lot of money. When I got over it, I realized that my credit card only allows transfers of up to € 1000 abroad. It took me more than a day just to find that out.

However, the SpeedX team answered me promptly when I told them about my problem. After the end of the campaign on Kickstarter, the offer migrated to Indiegogo.com, where you can also pay via PayPal. Now I didn't want to have the butter taken from my bread and ordered immediately. I've been waiting since April 29, 2016 and I'm still looking forward to it, it should finally be here in September.

Now I have already measured myself and sent the data and I have already chosen the color.

This is how it will look

Once it is there there will be an unboxing on it Youtube.

Ride ON!

Information from the manufacturer can be found here: SpeedX.com

12 comments

  1. Hello Ray!

    Great bike, no question. Nevertheless, I still have too many question marks on my forehead to order it. Did you also ask the manufacturer where your bike is assembled? It's a Chinese company. There is an anti-dumping duty of 48,5% on bikes from China, which would make the bike unaffordable for me. The normal customs duty of 4,5% and import sales tax of 19% are definitely added.

    gruß

    Jörg

    1. Hello Jörg.
      You're right, of course, you have to add up to almost 25%. The bike is made in Taiwan and also shipped from there, so the shipping of $ 300 comes on top of that.
      $2099 for the wheel
      +23,5% – $493,-
      + $300 shipping
      = $2892,-
      = EUR 2550,-
      Of course that's a lot of money and believe me, I struggled with myself for a long time. At this price, I won't be able to get a carbon aero bike with Di2 anytime soon, not to mention the bike computer, which according to tests is as capable as the Garmin Edge.
      Of course, there is a certain residual risk because nobody has seen or ridden the finished bike. At least not the final model, prototypes do. I'm excited and hope I won't be disappointed. I'm definitely curious what the expert will say during the fitting.

      Regards, Ray.

  2. Has the wheel finally arrived, Ray? After all, it's already December. Sorry, I don't want to rub salt in the wound.

    All the best!

    Jörg

    1. Hello Jörg.
      Salt in the wound is good! The bike isn't here yet. I think next time I'll invest in an existing product and spend a little more money, even if it hurts. Now I'll bite the bullet and wait.
      A lot of SpeedX Leopard and Pro have already shipped, so I didn't get scammed. For the Pro model (which I ordered) there were also delivery problems on the part of Shimano, the Di2 components could not be delivered and other manufacturers also had problems with this. In addition, I bought through Indigogo and the Kickstarter backers are supplied first and the wheels for UK & EU buyers are made in Taiwan due to the China tax problem.
      Realistically, I'm counting on the bike in March and I hope I don't have to adjust my expectations again.
      Thank you for your sympathy 😉

  3. Hi, I ordered the Leopoard Pro in black and am really looking forward to it. I've seen a lot of unboxing videos and I think we made a good choice. According to my last email, the bike should arrive at the end of January/beginning of February. Well, let's see……
    Have you already seen the latest bike from the SpeedX forge? The new unicorn. I also find it very cool but unfortunately also a bit more expensive.

    1. Hey Carsten.
      I'm also really looking forward to the Leopard Pro and it's definitely the right choice for me. So far I've only skimmed the unicorn, I'm overlaying how I'm approaching the topic editorially. At first glance I wouldn't want to deceive, I like the Pro so much because of the consistency it has. All in all, the unicorn no longer seems like a bargain to me.
      I'll compare what other manufacturers call for such equipment.
      Regards Ray

  4. I'm also one of those people who thought about buying this bike. With the Leopard Pro I unfortunately decided too late for one, but now with the Unicorn there are completely new possibilities. And then also with watt measurement.
    The only thing that's always on my mind is importing bicycles. A few years ago I imported a frame from China and, even though I was prepared for it, I was so deterred by the import duties that I have never done it a second time.
    How does that look with this bike? Is there anyone here who already has their bike in their hands and can perhaps tell me how much I still have to pay at customs? Would be very grateful for relevant information. Unfortunately, Speedx is not much help at this point, they only want to assume. (With my frame back then it was almost 500€ at a price of 600€, a shocking amount)

    1. SpeedX delivers to Europe from Taiwan, so no dumping duty. Here is my invoice for the Leopard Pro:
      $2099 for the wheel
      +23,5% – $493,-
      + $300 shipping
      = $2892,-
      = EUR 2550,-
      I'm not quite sure if the Unicorn would be something for me, and I don't think it's a snapper anymore. The long wait scares me so much that I don't want to wait that long again. 9 months and I'm still waiting.

    2. Hi, I have spoken to SpeedX and they are aware of the problem of tariffs. My Leopard Pro comes from Taiwan, where it is "only" about 23%. Unfortunately I have a problem with the delivery time. Rad is still not there and I was one of the first backers on Indiegogo. So I can only recommend the Unicorn if you have time because you won't have it until May.

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