There are some benefits to dating a “bike blogger” but there are more benefits to being friends with Andy from Fyxomatosis and Dan from Shifter Bikes. When we were in Melbourne, Andy had this beautiful Casati Ellisse road frame hanging up. I took one look at it and knew it had to be Lauren’s. We haggled, arm wrestled and played a few games of hangman over the cost and eventually came to an agreement. What went from a Chorus build turned to a C-Record build and then, to top it off, Dan offered to build it up, prior to shipping it out.

Weeks passed and Lauren’s bike showed up on a Saturday morning. I put it together and made sure it fit. After a quick test ride, she was ecstatic. Tomorrow we’re going to go get her fit for some road shoes and Sunday will be its first ride in Austin. I think it’s safe to say, we’re both thrilled with this bike. How could you not be? Ti Grammo Art stem, C-Record, Ambrosia wheels? Life’s too short to ride shit bikes.

Click on the above photo to launch the gallery, or here to open in a new tab.