If you’ve been following the European Cross Country and Cyclocross scenes recently, you might have noticed a Romanian racer with a certain affinity for the color pink. In the 2011 season, after losing his mother to a battle with breast cancer, Imprezzio Cannondale Racing’s Vlad Sabau started appearing with pink argyle socks and pink parts on his bike to show his support for the fight against breast cancer.
After that first season in pink Sabau decided he could do more to help. He began a tradition of auctioning off his race bikes after each season, with all the proceeds going towards individuals battling cancer. With some help from companies like Cannondale, Sram, ESI and Tune, Sabau’s 2014 race machine will be the third one he’s sold to benefit cancer treatment and research.
Click more to see the finer details of the bike!
This year’s auction bike is a pink framed 2014 Cannondale F29 equipped a Lefty XLR fork, Sram X0 1×10 drivetrain, Xpedo XMFo8ti titanium pedals, plus pink ESI foam grips and pink decals and accents throughout. To top it off, the frame is also autographed by two of Cannondale’s Factory Racing superstars- Manuel Fumic and Marco Aurelio Fontana.
While this would make a great collector’s bike, it’s definitely a race ready machine. Sabau rode this bike in last year’s world cups in Nove Mesto (CZE) and Albstadt (GER) and the world championships in Hafjell (NOR). It is important to note that Sabau rides a size large frame, so if that’s not your size this bike is for display purposes only.
Every penny from the auction is donated to a specific cancer charity case, and any cancer patient could receive the funds (not limited to breast cancer only). The bidding starts at 2700€, and the bike will be sold directly from Sabau’s website.
Vlad intends to ship primarily within the EU, but interested North American bidders can send an inquiry email before bidding to ensure shipping is feasible. This year’s auction ends Feb. 24th, so if you’ve got some disposable income think pink- You could buy a pro’s actual bike and support the fight against cancer. For more information or to place your bid, check out Vlad Sabau’s website.