Friday, March 3

WIND CYCLEWORKS – WIND23 RACING BIKE – COLUMBUS ZONA

wind-cycleworks-wind23-velo de route-acier columbus zona-veloacier

This racing bike whose finish does not leave me indifferent is the WIND23, one of the last racing bikes made by the Dutch framebuilder WIND CYCLEWORKS. This bike is designed for Bart, a former triathlete who will now enjoy the pleasure of road biking whith its freshly new machine.

The WIND23 is a bike made to measure that now rides in the Zuid-Limburg which is the most "mountainous" area of The Netherlands. Of course climbs are not like in the Alps, but each one has its "bundle" of high percentage which explains in part the choice of transmission that we pass in review down below. This part of the Netherlands is also the land of the Amstel Gold Race’ classic.

The specifications are very precise. Bart suffers from discomfort from hands when he is riding long hours. This is due to a very poor position on his previous bike. It is decides to start from a clean table with a new bike tailored instead of adapting to the best the previous one. Comfort is as important as the sport side of the machine. The geometry must be ad-doc so that its pilot can use it several years without feeling pain. Another important element, removing the "overlap" or "Toe Clearance", Bart does not want the tip of his foot to come into contact with the front wheel. The brake must be disc brake type, wheels with quick release and cables have to be be routed internally.

Wind Cyclewords has worked with VeloFysics, a company owned by Jacob Wijnstra a physiotherapist and a cycling competitor. This is how the measurements were taken so that the frame geometry fits exactly to Bart's morphology .

This is with all those data in hand that WIND CYCLEWORKS has designed and built the perfect bike for BART. The frame is made of Columbus ZONA steel, only the seatstays are made of Reynolds 525. Those steel tube series fits perfectly with the morphology of its rider and saving a few grams on the frame is not his top priority.

Indeed, ZONA is a series of steel tubes that is regularly used on frames intended for rugged terrain such as gravels or mountain bikes. However, the ZONA is not really heavier than the Life or Spirit series, if you take a closer look at the different thicknesses, diferences are minimal: 0.7 / 0.5 mm for ZONA compared to 0.65 / 0.45 for a Life. Likewise Columbus has developed specific ZONA seatstays and chainstays for road bikes. One advantage, not least, is that ZONA tubes are offered in a greater number of references in terms of length, thickness....

The top tube is 520mm long (non effective) Double Butted - thickness 0.7-0.5-0.7mm. The rear bases are 415mm long to filter bump of the ground. The rear triangle allows a maximum tire clearance of 28mm. The height of the bottom bracket is in the low middle with a BBDrop -70mm, providing a good stability to the bike.

WIND CYCLESWORKS has used ISO brake mount, a format that is still well-used by framebuilder. It is simple to set up and perfectly functional. This also avoids operations such as drilling or cutting the left chainstay to place a postmount or flatmount brake-mount that could damaged the tube. Here, he uses a lowmount-type rear brake-mount, avoiding him to bend the seatstay.

The fork is also handame. The steerer is from Columbus steel while the legs are made of Cromo steel - but they are from a specific series specifically designed for disc brake. The fork was developed in conjunction with the frame to avoid the overlap without compromising the handling of the bike.

The finish was designed by Bart himself, based on an existing bike with a combination of orange and black. The paint has been entrusted to NICOLOR, painter "appointed" of WIND CYCLEWORKS.

Let's now go over the components. The wheels are DT Swiss SPLINE R32 DB models in 100x9 axle at the front and 135x10 at the rear, suitable for Bart's powerful size. The tires are Continental GP4000 (25mm). For the transmission: groupset Shimano Ultegra 6800 in 2x11 speeds outside of the shifters Shimano RS685 that commands the hydraulic disc brakes RS785. The crank is a compact 50x34 model coupled with a cassette 11-28T allowing Bart to climb every hills without any problems

Handlebar, stem and seat post are from the PRO PLT range (shimano). The handlebar, model PLT Ergo, is ergonomic with a flat grip on the top. The whole is covered with a thick handlebar tape to filter the vibrations and improve the comfort. The saddle is a SAN MARCO CONCOR model, a choice based on the results of the seating test carried out by VeloFysics.

WIND CYCLEWORKS frames are sold over europe. You ll find all the necessary details about options pricing on its website http://windcycleworks.com/yourbike
A presentation of the Dutch handcrafter has been done here...but sorry only in French : https://www.veloacier.com/fr/velo-de-route-acier/wind-cycleworks-artisan-neerlandais/

WIND CYCLEWORKS : http://windcycleworks.com/
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