An Archetype for the Ages: Bastion’s New Aero Road Bike

3rd June, 2025 / Photos by Andrew Grant
In May, our good friends at Bastion released their new bike - their first completely new road platform in a decade. It’s called the Archetype. As you might expect, it’s visually stunning, but, like all Bastion bikes, the beauty is always more than skin deep. In many ways, the true elegance of a Bastion is unseen, overshadowed by the outward aesthetic that draws the sighs. Inside, a Bastion is every bit the marvel it appears to be at first look.

To orientate you to the new model, here’s what Bastion has to say about the bike:

“Crafted with filament-wound carbon fibre tubes sculpted into NACA aero profiles and joined together by 3D-printed titanium lugs, the Archetype positions itself at the vanguard of modern bicycle design. With tyre clearance up to 34mm and a UDH-compatible rear axle, it is as practical as it is beautiful.”

Sending it in Silverstone

Expect a fast - very fast - road bike with modern appointments and Bastion’s signature engineering excellence. The emphasis on speed is due to Bastion’s stated focus on improving aerodynamic performance, which turns into wins in the wind courtesy of refined tube profiles and an ultra-efficient joining structure.

Of course, claims mean nothing without data to back them out, so before the launch, Bastion reached out to us to help them put the Archetype to the test with a dedicated session at Silvertone’s Sports Engineering Hub.

As you may know, we’re regulars at the Silverstone facility and its wind tunnel, which we use to test bikes and athletes, conduct bike fits, and more. It was that experience and our fluency with biomechanics that Bastion required when they reached out to us.

It was a fun day. We tested the Archetype and Bastion’s iconic (and no slouch) Superleggera and were met with some striking results. As Bastion notes: “Compared to the Icon Superleggera, the Archetype reduced drag by 6–8 watts across 0–15° yaw angles at 35 km/h. For an average rider outputting 200 watts, this represents a significant advantage. At higher speeds, the gains are even more dramatic: at 50 km/h, the Archetype slashed aerodynamic drag by an impressive 18–25 watts.”

Beauty Below the Surface

So it’s fast, but if we return to where we started, it’s quite possibly Bastion’s most beautiful bike so far. According to James Woolcock, Bastions’s Co-CEO, “Every surface and joint has been reimagined. We’ve leveraged over a decade of experience to refine finishes and create a frame that celebrates the raw beauty of our materials. It is complexity born from simplicity—what we call ‘Ascendant Complexity’.”

Verifiably fast, gorgeous and brought to the road with a legacy of engineering excellence, the Bastion Archetype is a superbike for the ages.

Commission Your Bastion Archetype With the Bike Tailor

As an official brand partner, The Bike Tailor is the natural choice to commission your Bastion dream build. From the Archetype to the Superleggera and more, from first thoughts to a first ride, don’t hesitate to get in contact with us to start your Bastion story.

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