Carbon Bikes created in the heart of Europe – by TIME
by Robert Thorpe & Nadezhda Pavlova
For those of you that haven’t noticed, carbon bike frame production in Europe is not only alive and kicking; they’re still leading the way in innovation and engineering excellence. Yes, tucked away between Vienna in Austria and Bratislava in Slovakia, the small town of Gajary is home to the legendary carbon manufacturer, TIME Bicycles – the brand of former champions such as Paulo Bettini and Tom Boonen. And, TIME has been extremely busy since the Cardinal Cycling Group bought the brand only a few years ago with a seemingly endless drive to innovate and create new bikes to feed the global cycling communities’ thirst for quality and performance.
Leading the way on carbon bike engineering
TIME has always been at the forefront of carbon bike innovation. They’re one of those brands that cyclists aspire to ride. When somebody asks you what you’re riding, you simply say, ‘It’s a TIME’ and they know immediately that you’re riding one of the best carbon bikes in the world.
Their bikes are produced in-house at every stage. They weave the various threads themselves, using their proprietary Braided Carbon Structures (BCS) process, and their in-house Resin Transfer Molding (RTM), which in short, creates possibly the best carbon bike frames in the world. If you click the link at the foot of this article, you can read more about these processes on their own website.
And so, under the guidance of CEO, Tony Karklins, an industry veteran from the USA, but with deep European cycling industry connections, TIME is once again moving forward – pardon the pun – with a number of new bike models, all had crafted and hand painted by their artisans in Gajary, in the heart of Europe.
TIME Scylon
World-leading aero bike made in Europe
These days, too many bike brands use the phrase ‘designed in Europe’ or ‘assembled in Europe’, to hide the fact that many of the engineering processes are carried out elsewhere. Not so at TIME, who are legendary for their industry-leading carbon bike frame expertise. Their latest race offering, the TIME Scylon is testament to this, and is the ultimate expression of what a modern, high-performance road bike should be.
It embraces all the learning from nearly 40 years of carbon fibre expertise, to create a road bike engineered for aerodynamics, speed, and precision handling. Yes, the all new Scylon features their advanced carbon fiber technology, full cable integration, ultra-efficient power transfer, and clearance for 32c tires without sacrificing that legendary ride quality and durability that a TIME frameset has. It’s a bike with no gimmicks and unnecessary elements – pure speed wrapped into a work of cycling art. TIME engineers, under the leadership of Tony Karklins and his team, spent almost 2 years agonizing over every detail of the new Scylon, before releasing it is mid-2025, because balancing aerodynamics, weight, and stiffness is challenging. They increased tube sizes, which can add weight, and narrowed the frontal areas which can affect performance and ride quality – all risky changes, but for TIME, challenges worth exploring.
And, in true TIME style, this iconic bike brand overcame these challenges – in line with their motto, Le Defi – and they produced a lightweight, sleek and aero race bike that responds with precision and rides like a dream. Just ask our editor in chief, Nadezhda, who’s been riding and racing the Scylon since its launch!
TIME can also be fluid
The new TIME Fluidity endurance bike
In May of this year, TIME deliberately flew under the radar, releasing their latest endurance bike, as they set out to capture a proportion of the growing endurance cycling scene. With a focus on all-day comfort, the TIME Fluidity raises the bar on performance and quality – literally! Yes, the Fluidity has a higher stack height and is completely re-developed to meet the needs of the modern performance-orientated endurance cyclist.
Fluidity’s endurance geometry places the rider in a more upright position compared to a pure race bike – shoulders back, breathing freely, sustainable over 200-kilometre days. This they say is not a softer ride. It is, however, a more relaxed position, and one that supports those all-day epic rides. The performance characteristics are equal to those of the previous TIME Alpe D’Huez, but the difference is in how you feel after four hours. As TIME themselves say, cycling is about effortless pedaling that is driven by emotions, and a natural synergy between bike and rider – a passion for exploration. The new TIME Fluidity takes you on a journey into what TIME believes is the future of endurance bikes, whilst keeping one eye on the road taken to arrive at this point. It’s a seamless marriage between performance and comfort – an aspect of cycling that TIME is legendary at creating.
Within their new carbon frameset, they use DYNEEMA woven into their BCS frames in way that others don’t, taking a lead from the aero industry. This technical fibre dissipates high-frequency road vibration, reducing fatigue over long distances. It’s lighter than carbon at the equivalent strength, and it also has superior toughness, improving durability and confidence. It ensures that the new TIME Fluidity retains their legendary handling and performance, whilst being as light and strong as possible. It’s a bike for the future, not just for one ride.
The new TIME NXR
Everything you want from a carbon road bike
Finally, then, those busy engineers at TIME and their European factory have just released another world-leading carbon road bike to join their range – the new, 2026 TIME NXR. It’s not just a high-performance and high-quality road bike; the paint finish on the NXR is designed to show off their unrivalled braided carbon structures, with every strand of the weave on display and beautifully reflected in a modern styling. Yes, the NXR is literally ‘art on 2-wheels.’
Built on a proven platform, by using their proven BCS carbon, it comes with a new Scylon-inspired fork, to deliver the signature ride quality that TIME bikes have held and refined for decades. The geometry is built for taking on challenges and responds instantly to your input – it has 32mm tyre clearance for the roads you actually ride. This pure road design of the NXR positions the rider in a balanced, classic road posture — neither the extreme reach of an all-out race bike, nor the taller stack of an endurance frame. It’s the road position most riders actually want – powerful, comfortable for hours, and ready to attack the moment the road turns skyward. Yes, the NXR draws on the tried and tested and legendary design from the TIME Alp D’Huez, when it comes to climbing, whilst bringing in subtle new elements to continually innovate in their pursuit of the ultimate ride.
And so, yes, TIME definitely hasn’t stood still for this iconic brand, who still have more bikes up their sleeve and in development. Whilst many brands seem confused about their own current positioning and the influx of bikes from China, TIME are tackling things head on, in the only way they know how – through their unrivalled innovation and excellence in pursuit of the best possible ride. For me, TIME isn’t simply a world-leading aspirational brand; it’s achievable, and it’s ready and waiting for you to join their legendary cycling family, still proudly based in the beating heart of European cycling.
