Polizia blues over flawless Italian XCR on Julian's new bike
Julian and his wife have been WyndyMilla customers for years but have a stack of other bikes, too. So a few months back, when Julian showed up at the new Spoon x WyndyMilla workshop for a service on one of these other bikes before undertaking a massive charity ride, we offered to lend him a more suitable option for the event instead: the new XCR demo.
He was nervous at first, as he didn’t want the responsibility of a fancier bike, but we explained that it was fully insured and to treat it like his own, and off he went. On his return, he was so impressed with the ride quality that he put down an order for his own version straight away.
After going back and forth on specifications, we settled on the bike you see today: custom fitted for Julian, of course, with the help of Tony’s expertise; rolling on Ben’s handmade wheels built around our in-house favourite filament-wound rim laced to a bombproof DT Swiss 240 hub; and finished off with Dura Ace mechanical shifting and hydraulic brakes.
The colour is Polizia Blue, a hue reminiscent of the police cars you see on the Autostrada in Italy. I’ve wanted to do a bike in this colour for years, and as luck would have it, it’s one Sam picked without prompt and Julian went for immediately, having originally handed over some grey-blue references and instructing us to find something that could work.
The symbols on the top tube were added to remind Julian of his family, with each hieroglyph representing an individual member. Other details include the brushed finish on the chain stay, an exposed steel decal on the downtube, the old English white Columbus Dove, and the SC monogram on the fork. The bright blue hue was then finished in a flawless coat of matte clear. Sam from Gun Control Custom Paint really shows his experience here, as there’s nowhere to hide mistakes with such a minimal finish.
The Deda carbon kit is topped off with dark grey tape while the soft finish of the Specialized Power Saddle sits nicely alongside the details on the Continental GP tubeless tyres to seal the deal. The total build weighs just 8.2kg without the inclusion of any especially lightweight parts (the Power saddle is a Ti rail version, not carbon, for example).
Thanks to Julian for letting us keep this one so clean and classy. This colour really shows off the effort that goes into ensuring our bikes are fabricated and finished to the standards that make each Spoon a Spoon.
