Jean-Philippe‘s magic carpet
Jean-Philippe wanted a road bike to crush miles in complete comfort. We advised him a stainless steel frame, as the material would be more flexible than the carbon of his old bike, and would absorb vibrations better. Jean-Philippe’s only requirement was regarding the frame’s finish: he wanted the bike painted orange, with some sections left in bare stainless steel.
The frame is made of Columbus XCr tubes, an extremely strong and light stainless steel. These tubes have a larger diameter, which makes it possible to obtain a reactive behavior. The responsiveness of a bike depends a lot on the stiffness of the frame, and this stiffness is more easily achieved by increasing the diameter of the tubes, rather than by increasing their thickness.
Jean-Philippe opted for a seatpost clamp that is integrated into the seatstays, to give the frame a slicker look.
The stem was custom-made in our workshop. It helps bring this project together from an aesthetics standpoint. Also, it raises the handlebars by ten millimeters, in order to obtain the riding position defined during the fitting session.
The 12-speed cassette, ranging from 10 to 33 teeth, combined with the new chainring teeth (46-33T) gives a very versatile range, effective on both long rides in the plains and in high-mountain.
The waiting period and the discussions were really essential for me to find the bike that I needed. I still cannot believe it. As I said many times, it rides like a magic carpet! I‘m sure this bike will be with me throughout my retirement. And some more!!!