When Nick first approached us to build him a bike he was in the process of emigrating to Sweden and wanted to be able to ride all year round in it’s harsh climate. We designed the bike around the most challenging conditions with the slightly relaxed geometry and enough clearance for studded 33mm tyres. For allroad riding for the summer, Nick fits slimmer file tread tyres.
Other than the specifications for it’s use, Nick left the design of the geometry and tube selection entirely up to us. We designed the frame with oversized tubing to add strength for rocky roads and carrying a heavy load. A Columbus Mega oval top tube, a modern HSS downtube run “reversed” , an externally butted oversized Zona seat tube and Life short-taper chainstays. All weather use means disc brakes were the best choice, for a clean utilitarian look we ran he hydraulic hose through the downtube. Ultegra Di2 means shifting will be perfect all year round without any degradation due to the elements. We used an Enve cross fork with custom mounted eyelets for mudguards. We added the pinch bolt system in the seat stays to keep the clean silhouette of the frame (this seems to be becoming a Saffron signature!)
Death Spray Custom were commissioned to paint Nick’s bike. Death Spray: “It’s an abstract flame design of red, orange and yellow on metallic charcoal supposed to sit at odds to it’s surroundings in winter”
A mixture of Columbus. HSS, Zona, Max, Mega and Life
Enve Cyclocross
Chris King hubs with Pacenti SL25 rims