The Rouleur Classic sees cycling’s most desirable brands assemble at London’s Victoria House and, in turn, some of the most drool-worthy bikes on the planet. From limited edition dream machines to exquisite custom paintjobs, here are 11 of the best bikes at the 2018 Rouleur Classic.
Saffron Frameworks has a well-earned reputation for turning out jaw-dropping custom-built bicycles and the machine pictured above, fresh from the paintshop, only bolsters that.
The steel frame itself is a collaboration between Woolwich-based Saffron and professional cyclist Dan Craven, and is built to tame the toughest of gravel roads, while the paint scheme is designed to remind the bike’s lucky owner, Till Schenk, of the colours of autumn in New York.
Moving on and while we may have already shown you this collaboration between London-based clothing brand Romance and artist Felipe Pantone, it’s well worth another look – not only because the one-off paint scheme is truly stunning, but the bike will also be auctioned with all proceeds going to World Bicycle Relief.
The bike itself is a Specialized Allez Sprint, dressed in a full SRAM Red eTap groupset and Roval CLX 64 wheels. Not bad, right? Bidding closes on November 27 and you can register your interest on the Romance website.
Let’s go back to the future with this, the Zipp 2001. This bike dates back to 1994 and was originally produced by Zipp for Winning Magazine’s time trial test.
The custom-painted carbon frame, complemented by a set of Zipp 3000 three-spoke wheels, was discontinued in 1997 after the UCI announced all non-double diamond frames would be illegal for road racing and time trials.
Fat Creations is one of the UK’s leading custom paint providers and this is one of a handful of the company’s bikes on display at the Rouleur Classic.
Read – Turbo time: Tacx Neo 2 smart trainer breaks cover at Rouleur Classic
This Cannondale SuperX cyclo-cross bike was designed in collaboration with Jolt Creative after its owner, James Allaway, was diagnosed with testicular cancer, which subsequently spread and resulted in a three-month cycle of intense chemotherapy. Less than a year later, James was back on the bike and racing once again. Chapeau.
Here’s another mighty-fine looking machine from Fat Creations, this time in collaboration with Saddleback, the UK distributor of 3T. The 1x-specific Strada aero bike is already one of the most striking frames out there, but this paintjob is sure to turn heads.
The candied orange finish is reportedly three times more labour intensive than a regular custom paint scheme – you can see part of the process in the photo above. Five of these bikes will be produced and are set to go on sale for around £4,200 (frameset only).
Titici, an Italian custom bike builder, expanded its range earlier this year, with the addition of an aero road frame, a full-suspension mountain bike and a carbon track bike.
The Titici RT01 was designed for fixed gear racing and this particular bike has received a splatter paint finish, complete with 24-carat gold detailing.
Colnago launched the C64 in February and we were lucky enough to ride the iconic marque’s latest super bike in Lanzarote. As if the regular C64, handmade in Italy using Colnago’s famed lugged carbon construction, wasn’t special enough, the C64 Gold Private Collection gets, you guessed it, a gold finish.
Read – Red and blues: Trek launch 2019 team kit at Rouleur Classic
The dream machine treatment continues with the spec – you’ll find the finest components money can buy, including a Shimano Dura-Ace Di2 groupset, Lightweight Meilenstein C 24D Schwarz Ed wheels, a CeramicSpeed bottom bracket and an SRM Origin power meter. Just 64 of the limited edition bikes are available.
Regular readers will know we’re fans of BBUC, the upstart clothing company out of Vienna.The BBUC folk make some of the freshest bike kit out there and have applied that eye for design to this collab with Czech carbon specialists Festka. Sitting proudly on the Sigma Sports booth at the Rouleur Classic, this beauty wears a Campagnolo Record groupset and Knight 50 TLA wheels with Chris King hubs.
Focus Bikes was founded by former professional cyclists Mike Kluge in 1993, a year after the German become cyclo-cross world champion.
This limited edition Focus Mares is a nod to Kluge’s CX heritage and that victory in Leeds, and was also produced to celebrate the company’s 25th anniversary. Focus’ design director, Björn Geissler, is responsible for this one, with the gold theme extending to the chain, saddle rails and pedals.
WyndyMilla describe themselves as ‘the kings of custom performance bikes’ but we were still stopped in our tracks by these two custom-painted fixed gear crit machines. The bikes were raced by Juliet Elliott and Keira McVitty, who ride for the Hype Energy WyndyMilla team, at the Milan round of the Red Hook crit series in the summer.
The post Dream machines: 11 of the best limited edition bikes at the Rouleur Classic appeared first on The world's finest cycling magazine.
