Sometimes our weekly Readers’ Rides posts are repurposed, vintage MTBs turned into commuters and other times, framebuilders showcase their latest personal bikes. Today we have Jan from True Love Cycles in Warsaw showcasing his “Roadkill” All-Road bike, which also happens to be for sale… This one’s a stunner so let’s get to it!
There are a few reasons I want to show this bike, and all of them make it a pretty special custom machine:
The frame is a Roadkill All Road. I designed this model with road ultra races in mind, but it became a much more universal machine than I initially planned! I’ve built one for myself to test its capabilities! It’s a road geo, not the raciest one, with a low sitting bb and focus on stability and comfort for the long rides. It fits up to 38mm tires. Officially. These Schwalbe Pro One 38 mm measure 40 mm on a 25 mm wide Dandy Horse Wheels rim.
This particular frame has been one of the first ones to accommodate our take on the UDH dropout and was designed and made in-house. I have also experimented with the super thin and lightweight seat stays that proved to be solid options and are being offered to our clients now. The seat stays have to resist mostly compression forces, so these tiny lines are just enough for certain rider’s needs and certain bikes.
The small diameter adds some tire clearance and comfort (which is hard to measure, so it’s debatable). I picked some of the lightest Columbus Chromoly tubes: Spirit and Life families from Columbus. These have been beautifully brazed by our builder, Franek, finished for a brushed-steel look, and covered with a super strong semi-matte powder coat.
The frame was paired with a wet-painted metal-looking carbon fork by our paint artist, Velove. The frame came out very light at 1700 g in size Large. I have planned to use it with 32-35 mm tires mostly for road riding, but I couldn’t resist the feeling of riding a fast, responsive, and lightweight bike on gravel roads.
Finally, I’ve ended up with the Schwalbe Pro One 38 mm slicks, which proved to be fast on tarmac and sturdy enough for gravel use (all Pro-One tires except the TT version have sidewall protection)! The fork can take even a 42mm tire, and I’ve also tried a nice gravel-specific setup of Vittoria Terreno Dry 35/38 (which measured 38mm rear and 42mm front).
The build. It’s an “all shades of metal” look. The central component instantly draws your attention is a customized brushed-aluminum Easton EA90 crankset with a Garbaruk 46t chainring. My favorite Hope RX4 4-piston calipers in silver paired with wireless Sram AXS drivetrain. Classic Thomson aluminum stem and seat post (I’ve been dreaming of these visible machining lines since early 2000’!). Ritchey Classic bars are finished with a washable Grepp bar tape made of natural fibers! This bike was shown at the Bespoked show last autumn, and it did its job: it attracted people like a magnet!
To keep things playful and not to get bored, I’ve reached out to a (mysterious) graphic designer (and biker) hiding under the nick PX CEREMONY. PXC [ PX CEREMONY ] is a conceptual project inspired by the dark turn of the 80s and ’90s, 8-bit games, demoscene, Teletext, mono melodies, magic, occultism, and city secrets. Our logo and the badge have been redesigned manually, pixel by pixel, in a craftsman’s manner rather than using computer automation. The simplified pixe-logo and head badge will be available as an alternative paint scheme for all True Love Cycles models.
The new life. Time flies, bills have to be paid, and there are new projects that we want to develop, so I need to sell this bike, preferably in the EU. The bike is really lovely to ride, so I hope I will be able to build a similar one soon!
Build Spec:
- Dandy Horse Wheels Pulsar 30 ARV carbon wheels, 1285g for a set. 25mm internal width, 30mm deep.
- Schwalbe Pro One 700x38c tires
- Easton EA90 brushed aluminium crankset.
- Garbaruk Components 46t chainring.
- Hope RX4 brake calipers.
- Chris King headset.
- Sram Force AXS XPLR derailleur and 10-44 cassette.
- Sram Rival AXS Levers.
- Thomson Elite X4 90mm stem
- Thomson Elite seat post
- Ritchey Classic Evocurve handlebar
- Grepp bar tape
- Wolftooth Performance headset
- Orange Seal sealant
The bike will be sold without saddle, pedals, bottle cages and computer mount.
It weights around 9kg in this setup.
Price: 5700EUR
Contact True Love Cycles for ordering.
We’d like to thank all of you who submitted Readers Rides builds to be shared here at The Radavist. The response has been incredible and we have so many to share over the next few months. Feel free to submit your bike, listing details, components, and other information. You can also include a portrait of yourself with your bike and your Instagram account! Please, shoot landscape-orientation photos, not portrait. Thanks!
