Basso Venta Disc 105 review

The Basso Venta Disc is a premium endurance road bike with Shimano 105. Its somewhat racy personality and thoroughly likeable all-round performance make it an appealing option.

Stealth is a valuable weapon. When I was at primary school many decades ago, one quiet lad in our class was on the end of an inordinate amount of stick – essentially due to his extraordinary mop of curly blond hair (think ‘eight-year-old Bob Ross’ and you can picture him).

After a few years of seemingly quietly accepting his fate as the class whipping boy, he finally snapped and broke one of the bullies’ noses. Nobody had the slightest inkling that he’d been diligently attending Taekwondo classes since he could walk.

In a nutshell, that’s the story with the stealth-black, unassuming Basso Venta Disc 105 that I did the lion’s share of my riding on in early winter. You wouldn’t give it a second glance, but it possesses surprising reserves of performance.

Basso Venta Disc 105: Frameset and build

Fun fact: it’s actually 22 years since Italian firm Basso first introduced the Venta model to its line-up.

Two years ago, it was remodelled, and the bike you see before you now boasts a hand-crafted carbon frame which runs internal cabling across the board, as well as featuring a hidden ‘3B’ seatpost clamp at the rear of the seat tube.

To create a frame with minimal flex (and therefore maximum power efficiency), the Basso Venta Disc 105 sports an oversized bottom bracket, whopping down tube and equally expansive head tube.

Ally this to a compact rear frame triangle and the mitigation of losses is taken to high levels, although a flattened seatstay junction with narrow stays does offer compliance on rough roads.

A steeper head angle than traditional endurance bikes (a measured 72.7° on this size 53 bike) aims to offer a swiftness of reaction to rider input. To maintain its short, 994mm wheelbase, a seat tube cutaway accommodates clearance for the rear 28mm Continental Ultra Sport tyre wrapped around a tubeless-ready MCT alloy wheel.

The groupset on this example is – with the exception of an FSA Gossamer Pro 50/34 crankset – entirely Shimano 105, synonymous with effective, reliable gearshifts, and reasonable performance-to-weight ratio.

Braking is taken care of by a Shimano 105 hydraulic disc set-up, with its pads biting on 160mm rotors front and rear.

Swept-back alloy bars from Basso’s in-house finishing kit concern Microtech offer a comfortable perch for palms when grinding out a hill, while an aero-profile carbon seatpost provides vibe-damping comfort at the rear (although it’s a bit of a fiddle to adjust, owing to the awkward position of the hex bolts).

The seatpost is topped by a Selle Italia Model X saddle, which features a sizeable ‘central relief channel’ to prevent pressure on the pelvic area, a very good amount of padding across its surface, and alloy rails to keep it firmly anchored to the seatpost.

Basso Venta Disc 105: Performance

Comfort is the most obvious calling card of the Basso Venta Disc 105 as I initially roll out of town and on to roads less fastidiously maintained by the local council.

The high-volume Continental Ultra Sport tyres combine with workaday alloy finishing kit up front and the carbon seatpost/flexy saddle combination to provide a platform that allows me to push on as muscles warm and heart rate rises.

A long descent through nearby villages also imbues me with confidence not only in the the wet weather grip of the tyres but also the Venta's deceptively quick steering and the ability of the hydraulic disc setup to haul the bike up with well metered power and zero screech.

It’s a scene which is repeated multiple times over a 50-mile loop, and if it weren’t for a cold air on my face, I’d almost say the ride had a summer feel to it – there’s fun to be had from the Venta Disc 105, even when the weather forecasters suggest otherwise.

Once familiar local climbs rear their heads, the Basso presents another side to its personality. The ability of the frame to resist lateral forces combined with the reliable input of shifts from the Shimano 105 groupset makes climbing something approaching pleasurable – and the gearing is spot-on for most climbs you’ll encounter, with 34/32 low gear.

When the time comes to jump on my pal’s wheel – he has a habit of sitting on for miles then springing an uphill sprint on me – the bike responds with willingness.

It would, however, respond with more of the same if it weren’t for the relatively hefty alloy wheels spinning beneath it; swap them out for something as satisfyingly lightweight as the Cadex 36 Disc Tubeless wheelset I’ve also been testing recently and the difference in perceived performance is night and day – it’s almost like the one thing this bike is crying out for is a performance wheelset to complement its racy ambitions.

I’d wager at least half a kilo could be lopped off the 8.86kg weight of the Basso Venta Disc 105 with a svelte set of wheels, and lightning-fast reactions assisted by more immediately responsive hubs.

Basso Venta Disc 105: Verdict

Inarguably, there is a wide choice of cheaper road bikes out there with higher spec groupsets than the Basso Venta Disc 105. However, as with many bikes wearing mid-level components and costing north of £2,500, the heart of the machine is beyond reproach.

The compromise between all-day comfort and performance potential makes this bike one which I wouldn’t hesitate to live with, albeit with a change of wheels to really spice things up. Obviously, that comes with its own price implications, however.

As it stands, the Basso Venta Disc 105 is still a cracking bike; fit for an all-day ride, quicker training rides, Sunday socials and much more besides.

It will certainly allow you to spring a surprise when the roads dry out and we’re back to full smash-fest mode again.

Basso Venta Disc 105 specs