Custom Italian frame builder Officina Battaglin has just released their first true endurance road bike – the new limited edition steel Grand Tour – and it’s built to go the distance with all-road tire clearances. While Battaglin is best known for their shiny chrome finishes, unique lugs, and classic road racing roots… most buyers of their premium handmade-in-Italy bikes will benefit from modern high-volume tires too…
Officina Battaglin Grand Tour custom endurance road bike
Let’s not forget that the namesake and founder of Officina Battaglin,1981 Giro-Vuelta back-to-back double Grand Tour winner Giovanni Battaglin is now 71-years-old himself. And while many of Battaglin’s customers are younger than the man himself, lovers of classic handmade Italian steel road bikes tend to be quite a bit older and less race-focused than those young guns racing around France right now on carbon super bikes.
If you are going to have a modern steel road bike custom-made for you these days, there’s little reason not to add the comfort of modern wide road slicks on top of that classic forgiving steel frame ride. And really if you buy a custom Italian steel road bike, it deserves to be ridden on a bit of strade bianche gravel too, right?
For many of us, the sense of freedom that comes with exploring unfamiliar and unbeaten roads is what makes a long ride worthwhile. We designed the Grand Tour to satisfy this craving for exploration.
– Alex Battaglin, Officina Battaglin CEO
Tech details
The new Grand Tour is fillet brazed from a custom-drawn oversized Columbus GB81 tubing in Officina Battaglin’s Marostica workshop in northern Italy. Its signature feature beyond that shiny custom steel is clearance for up to 700c x 35mm tires. That’ll surely boost rider comfort, all-weather grip, and reduced rolling resistance, plus it makes it a capable all-road bike that can move from smooth asphalt to fast dirt & gravel roads, too.
You get fully-internal cable routing through the oversized 1.5″ DCR headset, slightly dropped seatstays below a classic round seatpost with its regular external clamp, a threaded bottom bracket, flat mount disc brakes, and 12mm thru-axles.
True to Battaglin form, the Grand Tour comes in one of two high-gloss polished cromovelato colors standard, and with the most simple subdued logos we’ve seen on one of Officina Battaglin’s bikes. Just the pantograph painting of the headbadge logo, a simple Officina Battaglin label on the top tube, your limited edition number plate on the top of the downtube, and a little bas-relief Italian flag on the chainstay.
Battaglin Grand Tour – Pricing, options & availability
The limited edition Battaglin Grand Tour frame kit sells for 4000€ – including Officina Battaglin’s Certificate of Authenticity signed by Giovanni Battaglin – but only 50 will be available this year. That gets you the custom-sized (following a remote consultation with Giovanni & Alex) steel frame its individually numbered plate and carbon fork finished to match in your choice of ultra-shiny red or blue cromovelato. Plus, the frame kit also includes a Deda Superzero carbon seatpost, Superzero DCR carbon handlebar, Superbox stem, DCR headset with full internal routing guides, plus lightweight alloy thru-axles.
Battaglin is always happy to work with buyers to put together a customized complete bike build and can deliver it worldwide. This sample build with Shimano Ultegra Di2, Deda carbon finishing kit, and 30mm Conti GP5000 tires is said to weigh in at just 8.5kg complete.
