Cyfac has recently designed a steel gravel bike for a lover of products "Made in France". It is not every day that we see a steel gravel bike coming out of their workshop. What's more is that this one requested quite some time for its design, its owner is quite a perfectionist. The team of Aymeric LEBRUN took up the challenge brilliantly.
Made in France ! Here is the leitmotif of the happy owner of this Gravel bike CYFAC. This falls well, CYFAC has received the French label Living Heritage Company. And as we will see about components, the made in France and Made in Europe have been privileged.
He wants to intensify his practice of cycling. He decides to acquire a new bike to ride more regularly. He imagines his new project as a bike to be able to tame both the road and path. But this bike must also offer him the possibility to carry light luggages in the front as well as in the back if he wish to ride for several hours or days. And of course, it must be comfortable and having a sporty temperament : a reactive machine.
Its owner has been the man orchestra for the designed of this tailored bibe. It took 18 months to complete it. Each tube, for its thickness and diameter, has been validated by a round-trip game with sometimes a latency, the future pilot of this machine travels a lot abroad. The same applies to elements such as the positioning of the seatpost clamp and the way the interval cable routing has to go inside the frame. We could almost speak of a bike tailored to the extreme, because making a bike to measure has no limit.
This is a gravel bike with 700c wheels. CYFAC STI: L / CX: "STI: L" means steel and CX for Cyclocross even if we are rather in the presence of a gravel bike. The handmade steel frame is built from Columbus Spirit HSS (Oversize) steel tubes. A body geometry was made so that the bike geometry sticks perfectly to the 172cm of the cyclist. The frame is slightly slopping with a descending top-tube of 542mm long and with a diameter of 35mm and a down tube with a diameter of 44mm. The down tube is massive to withstand the deformations caused by the movements of the steering and the pedaling. Its shape, coded HX at Columbus, looks like a square with rounded edges surmounted by a dome pressed when getting closer to the bottom bracket (see attachment in the pics gallery). The front triangle is equipped with three bottle holders, two inside and one under the down tube.
The rear triangle is also made of Columbus Life steel tubes and incorporates mudguard and luggage carrier eyelets. The S-Bend seatstays are with a diameter of 17mm and curved to offer a good rear tire clearance well over the 700x30 tires mounted on the bike. Same for the chainstays with a diameter of 24mm. Those latter are short, only 405mm long, favoring or sport and reactive temperament. Rear dropouts are from PARRAGON: disk - 142x12mm thru axle.
At the front, the headtube is tapered and welcome a carbon fork Columbus MUD DISC. This one has been modified by CYFAC and now includes eyelets to mount a front rack a mudguard. CYFAC excels in the mastery of carbon, the best example is their steel-carbon bike OXYMORE, and loves to create those kind of little fantasies.
For components, the leitmotiv is the same as the frame: a maximum of French or European components. The transmission is 1x11 type with a unique 46 teeth chainring. The crankset is a Spécialité TA Carmina. But difficult to have a 100% transmission with the two giant company Shimano and SRAM that are controlling the market. Shifters as well as the rear derailleur and the 12-25T Cassette are from the SRAM FORCE 1 groupset.
Wheels are GRAVEL Edition from Asterion WHeels France - equiped with MAVIC Yksion Elite AllRoad 700x30. The saddle is a model BROOKS CAMBIUM C15 made in Italy. The headset is the great model CHris King INSET7 - manufactured in the USA, it could has been possible to mount one from HOPE manufactured in England to stay in the "European leitmotiv". At the front of the bike, the stem is a French model TIME Monolink Ulteam made of carbon, same country origin for the bar-tape from VELOX.
The paint is also completely personalized. The paint is a kind of blue-sky that mix 3 types of varnish : satin, shiny and matte. The lettering CYFAC is affixed in mirror mode : a little nod to the pilot of this CYFAC GRAVEL bike who signs with a signatures readable from the right to the left. Awesome !
CYFAC is an handcrafter who offers a wide range of standard or custom-made steel bikes. If you which to afford an handmade bike, the communication with the handcrafter is paramount. CYFAC plans many exchanges with you to design your dream frame or bike. Shipped around the world, you can contact the brand to get a quote in your currency and / or be put in touch with a Cyfac distributor in your country.
CYFAC Website : http://cyfac.fr/
Facebook : http://www.facebook.com/cyfac/