Creator's Corner: Northern California-Dreaming

Andy approached us with a fun challenge. He wanted to create a steel gravel-friendly training bike that was much more than just a collection of parts. He wanted a premium bike that he felt he could grow with as he evolved as a cyclist. A personalized bike that begins to tell a story, his story.

Northern California-dreaming was the theme we set out to create for his new Grimes R1. The result is an intricate paint job representative of the riding terrain Andy and his Grimes will be experiencing. We stripped all logos from the frame, as we wanted the paint-job to speak for itself.

While the emotional aspect of the bike was heavily considered, performance was always a crucial part of the story, as this piece of art is meant to be ridden hard. The striking and intricate paint on the steel Grimes is complemented by high performance modern components. SRAM's wireless electronic Red eTap HRD system along with a Red Quarq Power Meter were the groupset of choice.

A matching Mango Chris King Inset 7 headset and Threadfit 24 bottom bracket outfitted the frame, adding some beautiful color pops.

Ritchey WCS carbon components were custom painted to match the frame up top and ensure his fit parameters were hit.

Lastly, the Enve CX carbon fork provided the necessary clearance for his two wheels of choice - hand-built HED Belgiums, laced to Chris King R45 Ceramic Mango hubs with DT Swiss Comp spokes, both in a 700c setup and a  650b setup. Each wheel is pre-loaded with a cassette and rotors so that a simple wheel swap can have him running 28s on the road or 47c knobbies on the dirt.