Race-ready feel at a wallet-friendly price
Words and photography by Jack Lynch
At Cyclist, we’re fortunate to review the best bikes in the world. Bikes that spin heads at the local cafe, spark conversations with strangers and make you the envy of your riding crew. We’re spoilt and we know it, and every time a new bike comes in for review, we’re ready and willing to put it through its paces.
So, when I was told I’d get to review a sub-$3k Polygon, my heart skipped a beat. Although $2,800 is still a lot to spend on a pastime, when it comes to road bikes in 2025, we all recognise it’s an affordable price tag. But when you take a look at the spec sheet and see it’s a full carbon frame with Shimano 105’s electronic rendition, it’s an absolute bargain.
Unboxing and building
Polygon bikes are sold exclusively through BikesOnline in Australia, which means buyers need to do their own research and hit “Add to cart” as you would a T-shirt or a pair of shoes. It feels a little strange, but this retailer isn’t the only one in the bike scene to rely purely on e-commerce to shift units.
My bike arrived within two days of the order going through in a standard cardboard bike box.
In my time I’ve built more than 1,000 bikes and this one was as neatly packaged as any I’ve seen. Everything was bundled together thoughtfully, with velcro and cardboard keeping all the items from rattling around and damaging one another.
I’m pleased to say there was no single-use plastic packaging in the box – even the tape that held it together had a brown recycled finish to it.
Once the packaging was discarded, I had this bike ready to ride in about 20 minutes, using all the tools Polygon provided. It was a pleasure to see the brake rotors perfectly aligned, but unfortunately the Di2 battery was flat so I couldn’t tune the gears straight away. After some charge, I put the bike in the workstand to find both derailleurs were perfectly in tune.
First impressions on the road
I felt comfortable on the Strattos instantly. Its geometry, billed as an endurance bike, is noticeably more racy than others in the category. The head tube length for my small is 105mm and the chainstays are 415mm. Its design struck a nice balance between
race and relax. The 977mm wheelbase meant a significant toe overlap, but the 72.5-degree head angle gave a sure-footedness in through the bends.
On my first ride I was surprised to see I had my second fastest time down a local, twisty, steep descent… and it was pitch black. I’ve done this descent dozens of times and it’s a credit to the bike, and the Schwalbe tyres, to inspire such confidence.
Up the hill was a bit of a different story, however, with the 1,847g wheelset dragging. I didn’t push ascents, so the sluggishness didn’t affect my riding experience and I can still recommend the bike to someone who isn’t used to riding brands with more lustre.
Pedalling on, making adjustments
I don’t consider myself someone who likes to make a fuss. ‘If I don’t have the solution,’ I say to anyone who asks, ‘I won’t pick faults.’ With that in mind, the more I rode the Strattos, the more I wanted to upgrade it.
To straighten things before you get confused: I would 100 per cent recommend this bike for anyone looking to get into road cycling, with a couple of caveats.
Firstly, these handlebars are just awful. They’re far too long from the tops to the hoods, and bend at a right angle. As a result, when in the drops my wrists were constantly knocking on the top bends of the bars. Additionally, the drops have a significant downward angle that placed stress on my wrists and meant reaching the brakes was more difficult than it should be.
Of course, there’s a simple solution to these issues: new handlebars. You can get a pair of name-brand alloy bars for around $50 and it’ll be the best money you can spend on this bike.
The next thing I wanted to upgrade were the wheels. They ran true out of the box, and Novatec hubs are easy enough to service. Yet at more than 1,800g, they slow the rider down, and they also shake and rattle the rider – you feel all the road surface’s imperfections. This solution is not as cheap as handlebars, but new wheels are something for Strattos S7X owners to save for.
I replaced the stock wheels with some pretty spectacular ones from Farsports. The rims were 50mm deep with a 24mm internal width
and weighed just over 1,250g with included CeramicSpeed bearings. Using the same tyres (although set up as tubeless), rotors and cassette, the wheels transformed the Polygon into a bona fide race rig you could be happy with at any local event.
Its compliance was on another level and it accelerated swiftly up to speed, where it could hold as long as I was willing. Yes, at $2,750 these wheels are a touch over what you can buy the whole Polygon, but Farsports and other wheel companies make lighter carbon wheels cheaper than this that would be a genuine upgrade.
So many options…
Look at BikesOnline’s website and you’ll see a whole range of Polygon bikes from $1,399 to $11,999 (that’s the Helios A0, which has Sram Red AXS and Zipp wheels on an aero frame. Insane value).
In my small sample size of one bike, which is at the lower end of the offerings, I’d suggest Polygon provides more than the price suggests in performance terms.
The finish on my Strattos wasn’t perfect and there were a few easy upgrades for performance gains, but on the whole this is a rig that will satisfy any newcomer to the road bike scene.
The only question is, why choose the Strattos S7X when the S8X – with carbon wheels, Ultegra Di2 and integrated cockpit – is an absurd $3,999 at time of print?
In the end, that’s the customer’s decision to make, but one thing’s for sure: Polygon and BikesOnline are offering an alternative to traditional brands that are increasingly pricing potential new riders out of the lifestyle. And if it gets more people on bikes, I’m absolutely here for it.
