This evening on the way home I stopped by my dealer, who just a few days ago received the two new monocoque Birdies for the Japan market: "Sport Disc" and "Standard Disc". All in all, there aren't too many differences between them. The Sport Disc model has a 10-speed cassette (11~34T), while the Standard gets a 9 speed (11~32T). Both have mechanical disc brakes. Also, the Sport gets a sporty Sella Italia X1, while the Standard has a comfort saddle. Both the Sport and Standard have an offset stem that can be flipped between 21 degrees and 10 degrees.
Although the folded up size of the new monocoque is supposed to be 15% smaller, it's not readily apparent side by side with the old model. Even the dealer wasn't sure if it's any smaller.
I took the Standard for a spin around the block, and the lower BB height is noticeable. It's now 279mm vs 291mm of the old monocoque. For comparison, the BB height of the Classic is 290mm. The top-tube is also longer at 591.6mm compared to 586mm of the old monocoque (588mm in the Classic). I had no problem standing up on the pedals.
The first pic shows the Standard side-by-side with my Reach. Unfortunately, my stupid iPhone was in "square" mode so it's horizontally truncated, but on the left side you can just make out the right-hand grip of the Birdy is the same distance from the seat as the tops of my Reach's dropbar, although a few centimeters higher.
The second pic shows the Sport, which a chap purchased just as I arrived. He was kind enough to offer me a test ride, but I declined, afraid to put any scratches on it. The glossy black paint looks stunning.
