Nicholas’s brief was pretty simple; he wanted a lightweight steel bike which was fillet brazed to have a smooth transition from one tube to the next. He wanted the bike to be slightly aggressive and fast . We achieved this by using a mix of Columbus spirits and HSS tubes. The tubes are oversized where they can be to maximize power transfer. All the contact points are stainless steel. This is a standard with all our carbon steel tube sets
The overall weight of the bike is astonishingly low at 7.1kg This is quite light even for some top end carbon bikes!
“It’s dried up a bit here today so got to take the new bike out and thought I’d let you know how happy I am with it – I had high hopes for this project and the end result has exceeded my expectations, I’ve had quite a few things made over the years and it’s quite rare in my experience to end up with something where you wouldn’t change even a small a thing. The bike felt great on today’s spin, really smooth but also really responsive, whatever ingredients are required to make a bike feel fast are all present and correct. I’ve been fortunate to ride some great bikes over the years and with this one you’ve managed to combine the best aspects of several of them into one, so I couldn’t be happier”
The components choice was very easy for Nicholas. It had to come from italy or it was not getting on the frame. There were a couple of American expectations to this though.
We went with rim brakes and mechanical gears. The wheels are for tubs. You don’t see many people riding tubs these days. But i have to say they are beautiful to ride!
Groupset
-Campagnolo Super Record
Fork
-Enve
Wheels
-Campagnolo Bora Ultra
Tyres
-Vittora tubs 25mm
Finishing Kit
-Ritchey, Extralite
Saddle
-Selle Italia SLR
Headset
-Chris King
We spent a long time working with Nicholas to bring his idea for a paint job to fruition. The rear end of the bike is painted in a soft yellow-orange “Saffron” colour. The shapes and lines on the front of the frame are directly inspired by stained glass windows in Nicholas house. These shapes are wrapped around the tubes, extending down the fork, and with a grid of decorative lines surround the Saffron lettering on the down tube. While this style is a bit of a departure from the usual direction our paint designs run in, we think the finished piece is very pleasing to the eye, and we particularly like the balance between the busy front end and the plain block colour on the back.
