Where there’s a Will there’s a way

Luke’s Spoon Customs Izoard RR with SRAM Force AXS 2x and an out of this world paint job from Sam Weeks at Gun Control Custom Paint.

When Luke came to us for a bike I felt like he’d been kind of strong-armed into it (by an old buddy of mine) called, Will. But that didn’t mean that with a little guidance from us he didn’t know exactly what he wanted. This marble green and gold Izoard RR with Force AXS is the stunning result. 

I had not seen Will since school really but we’d got back in touch via facebook etc in the last fifteen years or so thanks to a shared (or in my case renewed) love of cycling. 

Gold and green is a classic everytime, but this time Sam Weeks played with some marble effect masks over a silver metallic base to mimic Luke’s favourite gemstones.

In the time since I’d last seen Will regularly he had been plucked out of Manchester Uni by the British Cycling programme and got pretty handy on a bike in that lengthy intervening period. Winning a couple of National level track titles in his first season. By then I’d almost forgotten all about bicycles and gone off to work in The City. We lost touch but then rekindled things in the last ten years or so and have been in regular conversation since I escaped to the mountains to make my bike company dream real. 

Eventually, Will agreed to buy a bike (I was over the moon) but before he could get out of work to come up here from Cornwall for a fitting he had spent the money on a new swimming pool instead. He offered up his mate and colleague Luke as a kind of alternate - compensation for the mild inconvenience caused. 

Ceramic Speed Jockey Wheels and a KMC 12 chain on our Spoon Customs Izoard RR for Luke. Who cares about watts when they look this good. Pic by Simon Eldon.

Luke and I hit it off on the phone and tentatively he agreed to come in for a fitting. He’s been riding for a couple of years and seemed keen but I was initially convinced Will had coerced him into buying a bike and I wasn’t really sure if he knew what he’d gotten into. 

He got so into it however this bike is the result. One of the most spectacular bikes we made last year. 

The green marble on Luke’s Spoon Custom’s Izoard RR shown here fading out to black. SRAM Force levers, Chris King Headset, Deda cockpit. Pic by Simon Eldon.

Luke’s brief was simple on the technical side in that he just wanted something current that would suit his needs but not cost him his swimming pool, so we ran with SRAM’s incredibly good Force AXS set up, rolling on a set of hand-built carbon wheels from Ben at Sharp Precision Wheels.

Use the Force AXS (from SRAM). Pic by Simon Eldon.

The frame is a custom fitted HSS road racing frame with a short wheelbase and our progressive geometry married up to his necessarily higher than stock front end to suit his most efficient position, but balanced out with a slightly compact geometry look to stop the bike looking lanky or overly laid back. 

Luke found a piece of his favourite gemstone and sent that in to have his frame colour matched. The gold and green also present in the KMC chain and Ceramic Speed jockey wheels tying to the marble candy-green at the front of the bike. Expertly applied by Sam Weeks at Gun Control Custom Paint. 

Thanks for coming to us, Luke. For trusting us with your dream bike brief but also for bringing so many good ideas which pushed us to deliver something so special.

Seating taking care of by Deda, Fizik, and some immaculate metalwork built with Columbus tubing.

Will and Luke are both working as Surgeons based in the South West. 

One serendipitous side effect of Will putting me in touch with Luke (apart from this outstanding looking bike) is that we got chatting and the three of us are now working on a adaptive variable length crank system which maintains Q factor and can be adjusted on the fly to help knee and hip replacement patients with pre and rehab following reconstructive surgery. 

Watch this space for more on that project over the next year or so…