The last time we heard from Caterham in the bike space it had to do with some wild looking E-bikes. In a move that should please many of the commenters on said article, Caterham is back with a line of bikes that are all human powered and all beautiful. Called the Duo Cali (Caterham Advanced Lightweight Innovations, the carbon road bikes will be offered in three models, the Duo Cali Record, Chorus, and Urban EPS. All of the carbon bikes are produced in Europe with the composites team based in Cologne and design, engineering, production, paint, and assembly completed in Germany.
The line is not all carbon though, as Caterham is also introducing the Fairspear steel bike that is said to be linked to the Super 7 race car. While the company is busy putting out bikes, they’re also working on unique stems and even custom flat bar shifters for Campagnolo EPS.
Details next…
At the top of the range is the Duo Cali Record which will be limited to just 73 pieces. The frame uses a monocoque carbon frame design that is tuned for an even balance of aerodynamics, speed, comfort, and stiffness.
Caterham designed their own stem for the bike which is pretty slick. Incorporating the steerer tube compression cap and a Garmin mount, the stem is taken a step further with a locking collet system to hold the bar in place. The design is super clean, but it does look like you will have to remove the tape and shifter on one side to swap out the stem or bar.
The frame also uses its own integrated seat post design that clamps the saddle with 3T internals. Offered in just 4 sizes (48, 52, 56, and 60cm) the Limited Edition bike will be speced with the highest end components including Super Record EPS. Pricing is TBA.
Using the same frame as the Duo Cali Limited Edition, Caterham will be selling the Duo Cali Record EPS, and Chorus EPS (above) in drop bar configurations.
The final carbon bike is the Duo Cali Urban EPS which uses a different stem and a flat bar for one hell of a nice townie. Again using the same CC-DC-01 frameset, the Urban EPS uses a Chorus EPS group and some high end parts for a gorgeous commuter or fitness bike.
In addition to the stem with an integrated Garmin mount (this one with a split clamp), the very finished looking EPS flat bar shifters caught our eye.
While the flat bar shifters on the bike look like a finished piece worth of Campagnolo, they’re actually prototypes made by Caterham. They 3D printed the button pods, playing with a number of shapes and designs to get to this point, which isn’t necessarily the final iteration. When Tyler swung by the booth later in the show, two Campy employees were chatting them up with keen interest.
The challenge, as explained by Caterham’s folks wasn’t the electronics -those were pretty simple. It was getting the ergonomics correct for intuitive thumb use and easy reach without intruding into the grip area. They also spent considerable time developing the button feel, going so far as to test virtually every cycling computer on the market until they found buttons they liked, then tore those apart to see how they worked. Whether or not these make it to a production bike remains to be seen, but judging by the interest, we’re betting either Caterham or Campy will do something.
If you’re not into carbon then the Fairspear might catch your attention. The classically shaped steel frame hides a number of modern touches all wrapped up in a beautiful green package.
Smooth internal cable routing meets a seat post with a hidden internal frame wedge for some serious clean lines. Details were pretty limited on the Fairspear, other than what you see here. Stay up on the latest at caterham-cycling.com.
