There are two kinds of cyclists: those who think they are buying a new bike even though they just bought a new bike, and those who say they are not, but are lying.
Because, let’s face it, bicycles are objects of desire at any age. As children, as teenagers, as adults, if we pass by a bicycle store, we stop and look at its window. And if we have to pass a cyclist on the street, we do it very slowly and from a distance out of respect and, most importantly, to look at every detail of his bike. Indeed, bikes are also extraordinary design objects but that is not what I want to talk about now.
The bicycle was born to enable humans to get around more easily and economically. This is its main purpose; everything else came (soon) after.
A means of locomotion that needs no special expense, environmentally friendly, and gives you just the right amount of speed to have fun but also to enjoy the scenery, the bicycle has always been used for traveling. My grandparents went on their honeymoon using bicycles, to say.
Bicycles for traveling, indeed
I don’t know if it is right to talk about “fashion” when referring to bikepacking: it is a discipline that has always existed, and I like to think that its recent explosion is related to the fact that we want to rediscover the pleasure of travel, at the right speed, in the most natural way possible. But I don’t just want to talk about big trips.
The explosion of gravels is also related to the fact that they are bicycles that we can also use to ride to the office; what, in English, is called commuting. Or to get around the city. Or for any other displacement.
They are sturdier bikes, with wider and more stable tires, with more comfortable geometry, and the thing I like most is that-thanks in part to the use of traditional materials such as aluminum or steel-so many new brands are emerging. And they have new values: exploration, camaraderie, adventure, style, fun.
Not the “usual” speed.
This allows us to ride out of the choir, with almost unique means, created by people who have the same values as we do, who think of cycling not only as the maximum speed to start from point A to get to point B.
Precisely because I, too, am one of those cyclists who, despite already having one, is always thinking about buying a new bike, I want to share with you some of these unknown beauties. Which, in fact, are not so unknown.
RODEO
I start with
Rodeo Adventure Labs
because, right now, it is my favorite brand. The brainchild of a group of friends in a Denver bar, Rodeo embodies my favorite bike concept: you can ride hard, if you feel like it; you can explore, if you feel like it; you can travel, if you feel like it; you can ride on the road or off-road, if you feel like it. In short, to make it simple for you, it is the bicycle that was born to accompany you in everything you feel like doing, at the time you want to do it.
To accomplish this requires knowledge, expertise and technology, and there is plenty of that here.
You can choose between the titanium Flaanimal, or steel and carbon, or go full carbon TrailDonkey. You will still have at your disposal a vehicle that allows you to do anything, on any route.
LOCOMOTIVE
Locomotives
makes steel bikes dedicated primarily to travel, even the longest trips. It is the bike that Dino Lanzaretti uses for his adventures, and you probably saw it on TV because it was the vehicle used by Jovanotti in his travel-documentary
I don’t want to change the planet
.
It is a very specific bike but you can find models-such as the Blue Train-to be configured for both gravel and travel. One thing is certain: it was born to accompany you faithfully everywhere.
OPEN
Probably
Open Cycle
is the brand a little less “out of the chorus” among those I recommend today. In fact, Gerard Vroomen, one of the two founders, has a history of success in the cycling industry. Co-founder of Cervélo, then proponent of the revival of 3T (which is not on this list because it is now “in the bigs”) and now with Open as well. In short, everything this newly 50-year-old touches becomes gold on two wheels. Although, in truth, it is all carbon.
UP. and WI.DE. are my two favorite models: gravel bikes that are great on the road but have no fear of tackling even the most difficult trails. And yes, aesthetically they are very beautiful.
LEGOR
Dulcis in fundo, the Latins used to say.
Legor Cicli
is a workshop, an atelier, an artisan reality in which bikes are custom-built from Columbus steel.
Born out of the will of Mattia Paganotti-a young man from Brescia, now relocated to Barcelona-to make sure that all the knowledge of old canvas artisans did not go to waste.
With these bicycles you know you have a unique product, tailor-made for you like a tailor’s shop.
Craftsmanship passion and expertise has no comparison, even in bicycles.