Three big road stage races mean one pink, one yellow & now one red limited edition bike in Festka’s ongoing Grand Tour series this year. And not only is the Spanish bike the most colorful, it’s also the most exclusive – with just 7 complete bikes to be made.
Festka Spectre x La Vuelta a España limited edition
While the Vuelta’s leader’s jersey is red these days, Festka tells us of a history that saw the leader wearing orange and yellow. That plus some matte black gave a wider color palette. And then Festka reached deep in their own history to the mixing of Czech Cubist architecture and Spanish Cubist art that they’ve turned into their limited edition colorful geometric Pablo paint jobs since 2012.
Adapting a more subtle look than the Pablos, the Vuelta Spectre seems more aligned with the style of Cubism, shifting perspectives depending on how you see it. Yet at the same time the bike folds more neatly into Festka’s more common styling. Unlike the Giro & Tour bikes that scream PINK or YELLOW and to be just commemorative pieces, this is a bike that quietly speaks to its Vuelta inspiration in a look I would be happy to ride everyday.
Looking into the details, inside the chainstay is painted “Edicion limitada” with the number of the frame out of the seven bike series, plus the name & year of the race. Then painted to match, the Deda 35 Superleggera stem calls out 73 – the edition of the race.
Festka Spectre Tech Details
Under the pretty paint, don’t forget, this is Festka’s premium light, ultra-stiff carbon race bike. Not built to shed grams at all cost this is the ~900g race-ready bike that Festka had UCI certified so you can roll up to a pro bunch start.
Unlike the Spectre x Tour which featured disc brakes, this Spectre x Vuelta opts for rim brakes to build an even lighter setup for conquering the steepest gradients of the Pyrenees. With that comes a painted-to-match tapered carbon fork, 130mm road spacing, QR axles, a 44mm headtube, PF 86.5/41mm BB, and road race clearance for up to 28mm tires.
The Spectre uses the special wound tubes made exclusively for Festka in the Czech Republic by the carbon masters at CompoTech. From winding the entire tubeset including round tubing and the more complex shaped chainstays, Festka creates unparalleled stiffness at competitive light weight.
Pricing & Availability
The 2018 Festka Vuelta edition Spectre is going to cost you – but surprisingly enough, not more than their standard race-stiff Spectre. A frameset option is available starting at $4490/3990€, plus another $450/400€ if you want an integrated seat post like this one.
The suggested SRAM Red eTap complete bike (of course the groupset should be color-matched!) will set you back $9970/9400€ including a geometrically-pleasing Tokka carbon clincher wheelset. In that price you get to pick from Festka’s 22 possible standard sizes/geometries, or they can give you custom geometry too.
But remember there are only a maximum of seven of these bikes being made. They went on sale with the start of La Vuelta a España this past weekend, and are available to order until the finish in Madrid on Sept 16. So if your wallet allows, act fast.
