Product Description
Drop dead gorgeous bike Joseph of Ahearne Cycles built for the 2008 National Handmade Bicycle Show in Portland. It is fillet brazed steel, with a delicious paint job from Spectrum Paint & Powdercoating in avocado green/yellow with blue and pink accents. It's build is highlighted by color matched pink "Pretty & Strong 2008" Chris King headset and BB plus a Sugar Wheelworks built wheels w/ Chris King hubs in blue & matching blue nipples. The top tube features delicate French-style box lining in metallic gold and dark blue, lending classy high end vibes to the otherwise playful aesthetic. The box lettering in the Ahearne logo mirror the box lining with metallic deep blue letters thinly lined in metallic gold. The downtube cable stops are a fancy teardrop shape, polished stainless steel with a cutout and white lining. That polished stainless steel finishes off the build with an intricate headtube badge reminiscent of many butterflies. This bike planes exceptionally well and carves perfect arched corners. This machine is truly one of a kind and sure to draw attention. It weighs a scant 16.95 pounds as pictured.
*I did my photoshoot for this bike outdoors, as in my studio setup I couldn't get the white balance set to accurately portray all the colors in this frame.
Condition
This bike is overall in VERY clean condition with low miles, but it's top tube cable stops have a rust issue. Joseph & Ollie of Spectrum/Dark Matter Finishing tell me the stress of the cables pulling on them can cause powdercoating to crack and let rust develop. One stop's paint is mostly gone and the metal rusty, the other still has most of it's paint but the rust is peeking through. Aside from this the frame has very little wear. There are a few imperfections here and there but none worth noting. The wheels, headset, and BB are original to the frame with minimal use and are in wonderful condition. The rest of the components were swapped in later, and are also fairly low miles. The crank has some light scratching, but otherwise the components are near mint to mint.
Frame details
- Seat tube: 54cm c-c
- Effective top tube: 53cm
- Head tube: 165mm
- Chainstays: 410
- Head angle: ~73.5
- Seat angle: ~73.5
- Built in Portland, Oregon
Components
- Wheelset: Chris King R45 hubs, HED Belgium rims, blue nipples. Handbuilt by Sugar Wheelworks of Portland.
- Headset & BB: Chris King Pretty and Strong pink, limited edition 2008
- Drivetrain: SRAM Rival/Apex 2x10
- Crank: 175mm x 48/34t
- Cassette: 10s, 11-32t
- Tires: Challenge Strada Pro Series Handmade, 700x25c
- Brakeset: SRAM Rival