Ali came to us wanting a bike primarily to be used for longer rides rather than racing, which was “quite stiff at the BB, but comfortable on crap UK surfaces”. We chose to use a sloping top tube for a more modern aesthetic and compact frame. Tubing is Columbus XCR throughout with the slightly smaller than normal diameter top tube chosen for comfort. Keeping the comfort of a 27.2mm seatpost was an important specification, so we shimmed a larger XCR seat tube to allow for this, and used an integrated pinch bolt to keep the lines clean. The head tube is for a standard 1 1 1/8″ fork and is bi-laminated to give a nod towards the more traditional lugged bikes – with the design as clean, simple and contemporary as possible. All exposed stainless steel is brushed to keep the effect subtle. The head tube angle is slightly slacker than Ali’s other bike at 72.5 degrees to give a more sure-footed feel to the ride.
Wheel were handbuilt by Noble Wheels using Pacenti SL23 rims and Chris King hubs, finished with custom Pacenti decals. The Ritchey finishing kit follows the the clean and elegant design intention and a little colour was added to the inside of the fork to pick up on the tones from the Cinelli Caleido bartape.
It was a pleasure to build a bike for Ali, he gave us a solid brief but still allowed for our creative input for his new bike. Ali: “It’s a bloody lovely ride. Really solid, felt great up punchy Kent climbs and looks stunning, lets not forget that. Beautifully responsive, super comfortable”
