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Spoon Customs, the award-winning custom bike brand, has launched a new, fully integrated version of its Izoard RR road race bike.
With cables at the front end now internally hidden, the new Izoard RR presents a cleaner aesthetic than its predecessor.
The updated bike will be displayed at Bespoked 2023, the world’s biggest handmade bike show, which takes place in Dresden this October.
Spoon is not the first manufacturer to offer steel tubed bikes with integration.
To fully integrate cables into the bike, the brand has been waiting for engineering solutions and technology to achieve both the aesthetic and handling characteristics that have underpinned the success of the original Izoard.
Challenges around creating an integrated Izoard RR were linked to achieving that ‘perfect ratio’ of steerer and fork blade, which gives rise to the precise steering that is an integral feature of many modern road race bikes, including the Izoard RR itself.
Columbus, a long term supplier and friend to Spoon Customs, approached the brand with its innovative new steerer design (complete with extensive CFD work proving the validity of its approach) with the Izoard project ‘green-lighted’ almost immediately.
Andy Carr, CEO of Spoon Customs, said: “The Izoard RR is a life’s work for me, Gianluca, Ben and everyone that has worked on it. Its success as a fast road race bike – the way it feels, looks and rides – is perhaps down to our refusal to compromise on any one aspect of its design.
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“Until now, nobody had solved the problem of getting cables into the top bearing race in a steel tubed bike without oversizing the head tube (ruining the form) or hacking at the steerer to make the space, consequently ruining braking or steering.
“With Izoard RR integrated, you don’t need to compromise on fit, handling, or aesthetics. The Izoard RR is able to meet the needs of those customers who want to stow cables and achieve that look, without sacrificing proper handling. The bike once again closes the gap on moulded carbon and gives die-hards who can’t step away from the cookie-cutter big brands one less reason not to ignore bespoke performance bike design.”
