Recently one of suppliers asked me to write about my new bicycle, as shown below. Forgive me, as I have not time to make this brief, but here we go: The model is “Il Barone”, named for brother Andy’s pal, mechanic/driver Gerardo, who helps out with Cinghiale Cycling Tours.
The frame is TIG-welded steel with a 1.125”-steerer Enve carbon fork and features seat and top tubes of 31.8mm, a down tube of 35mm, and a fairly robust rear end using asymmetrical chainstays. The idea was that we could have one frame that would work for probably 80% of our customers using tubes with the same diameters but varying the wall thicknesses and butt lengths depending on the rider. On this frame we used primarily Columbus Life and Spirit/HSS in the main triangle and Columbus Zona in the rear; braze-ons, dropouts, and BB shell are all from Paragon Machine Works.
This frame was welded by Jason Grove at El Camino Fab who, among others, has been helping with the workload around here. The paint is by Eric Dungey at Colorworks Palette based on artwork from Roger Rilling/Svelte Cycleworks and is our Anno20 paint scheme. The original Anno20 - our tribute to Piet Mondrian and Andy’s pro first team, La Vie Claire - featured a white base as a nod to Andy’s wearing of the white jerseys for best rider 22 and under in the year’s TdF - but you knew all this, right? The gray, then, refers to the team bikes and jerseys that used large splotches of that color interspersed with bright primary colors - and we like gray. And new bikes.
How does it ride, we hear you asking? Well, quite nicely. It has a fairly stiff, immediate feel, some of which is attributable to the wheels, but always with a reminder that this is a steel frame, with the combination of road feedback and comfort that we get from that material. It’s not a harsh ride but the rear feels planted and unyielding when climbing and accelerating while the front absorbs bumps just fine.
Compared with Levico, our traditionally-sized-tube frame with steel fork, it feels less springy and forgiving but with more rigidity at the head tube and and bottom bracket. Compared with Superissimo, our oversized tubing steel frame, it soaks up the bumps better but with slightly less of the imperturbable feel of that frame while sprinting and descending. And yet… it’s enough. Stiff enough, light enough, comfortable - and classic.
Wheels: Astral Veil (White Industries hubs, Sapim spokes, their own rims, Enve ti QRs, Vittoria Speed tires)
Components: Shimano Ultegra, SRAM Force cranks, White Industries headset and BB
Other: Bingham ti seatpost, Fizik saddle and stem, Zipp bars, Deda tape, King cages, Wahoo Nano pedals, KMC chain. Assembly by Kenny at Slug City Cycles.
Price as shown: $6700-ish
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