Crossed Tourmalet. Very good road. Perfectly feasible. Those were the words sent by assistant Tour Director Alphonse Steinès just days after nearly dying while trying to cross the Tourmalet pass in the Pyrenees. Clearly, Alphonse told a bit of a lie in his telegram to the office of Tour Director Henri Desgrange. In spite of his need to be rescued to keep him from freezing to death in the Pyrenees, Steinès convinced Desgrange to route the 1910 Tour de France through the Pyrenees for the first time and the grueling Tour became even more brutal.
That story plays a large part in the inspiration behind FiftyOne’s first gravel bike, the Steinès. Obviously, the high mountains have become an integral part of the Tour, but at one point they were completely uncharted territory and required a stout mind, body, and machine to attempt the journey.
That theme of perseverance against all odds continues on the downtube of the bike where the words of William Ernest Henley’s Invictus are inscribed.
As usual, the finish on the Steinès is spectacularly worthy of the custom carbon creation underneath. Painted by hand by a local in Ireland, this finish is part of the limited run of just 10 bikes that FiftyOne will be selling. The bikes will use the same paint, but each will include custom geometry for the owner to make it yours.
As FiftyOne’s first gravel bike, the Steinès will clear 42mm tires with a 52t chainring on a double crank. The frames include a 12mm thru axle front and rear and the “only bottom bracket we use” – a T47 threaded. Pricing is set at $7500 for the frame and Enve fork.
