Factor O2 VAM review: A racy featherweight you'll buy with your heart.
by Matthew LaPrade on Oct 24, 2023
The Factor O2 VAM was launched at the 2023 Tour de France, a few weeks after we spotted one with Simon Clarke's name on it at the Israel Premier-Tech team hotel at the Grand Départ in Bilbao.
It was immediately evident that it was a lightweight bike, following in the footsteps of the previous O2 VAM. The 'VAM' suffix refers to the term Vertical Ascent in Metres, a widely known term that covers how quickly someone ascends a hill. It wasn't a thoroughbred lightweight bike though, it had been given an aero makeover to more closely resemble the brand's more aero-aligned (but by no means aero-only) Ostro VAM
With the Ostro, we all thought Factor had combined its aero and lightweight race models into one. Factor's own website says it can "easily be built up to below the UCI 6.8kg weight limit," so the launch of the lightweight, semi-aero O2 VAM was an unexpected one.
