If you were to enter a competition for the best Campagnolo equipped bike, what would you choose? That question brought together nearly 22 bikes from different builders and different eras with everyone putting their own spin on the competition. In spite of a few casualties that never made the show or only partly made the show due to a heavy blanket of snow snarling traffic and deliveries just before showtime, the quest for Best Campy bragging rights made for an awesome collection of eye candy both at the Campagnolo booth and around the show.
After the jump you’ll find all of the carbon fiber bikes that were entered, both new and old…
This bike drew a lot of attention and it’s easy to see why. The Team Z carbon bike built by Calfee for Greg LeMond in 1991 was in fantastic shape and carried the full vintage Campy build kit (with a Sachs chain). This particular bike was submitted by Jason Cruz of Calfee.
The Delta brakes might not have worked all that well, but man are they attractive – especially for the time frame.
And yes, it has a Campy seat post…
John Siegrist entered a bike into the competition (two actually, but one got lost in shipping) but this time it’s not a DEAN. Instead he chose one of the ALAN frames his new VeloSport Imports is bringing into the U.S. The frame features a bonded carbon tube to tube construction that has been painted to mimic the lugs of the original ALAN bonded aluminum frames. John had also planned to show a Zullo Pista ’85.
This is the bike that stirred a lot of controversy and certainly got people talking. Getting his start with bicycles in the seventies, Allan Abbot built and piloted his first bike to a world paced bicycle land speed record on the salt flats at 140.5 mph. He also created the first human powered hydrofoil. After retiring as a physician and professor of sports medicine, Allan decided he would try his hand at carbon fiber. Claiming to have had the idea for this creation in his head for a long time, Allan built his first carbon bicycle: Signorina. We’ll leave it at that…
Another first timer for the carbon fiber category is this cool ride from Ventus Custom Cycles. Make sure to follow that link to read up on the build process for the bike above.
There was a little confusion as to which Ventus Custom Cycle was a part of the build competition since both of Mark Kangol’s bikes use carbon and were hung with Campy components so we shot both. The bike above is actually from NAHBS 2012 and uses a combination of titanium sections with carbon tubes in blue.
We’ll just cut straight to the chase on this one – this is easily the most expensive bicycle I’ve had in my hands. This, my friends is a apparently what $27k looks like in bicycle form. One of two entries from Enrico Sarto, the 18k Limited Edition as they call it will be available in just 25 pieces. To be honest though, I’d much rather pay $27k for this bike than a gold plated Giant Defy 3…
That huge chunk of change gets you fully custom geometry with top quality Italian carbon fiber craftsmanship and a tube to tube construction. Oh, and it also gets you plenty of 18k gold plated accents and alligator skin wrapped bars, saddle, top tube badge, and chainstay guard.
Featuring a new seat tube junction, each build will include the serial number on the gold plated seat post clamp. You’re looking at numero uno. The also uses what looks to be a new saddle from Sarto with a full carbon fiber construction and replaceable padding structure – with gold plated screws and alligator leather of course.
Oh, there were some Campagnolo bits on the bike as well. Specifically, Record EPS with Gold Plated Accents. Naturally.
Even with all that gold, it was actually chrome that took home top prize in the Campagnolo Build Competition for Sarto. The chrome paint reminiscent of a McLaren F1 car was stunning.
Combined with an Italian made custom frame, color matched cockpit parts, and the best Italian components from Campagnolo, it proved to be too much for the competition.
