One of the fun things about building a custom bike is that you get to make it exactly like you want it. Seems obvious, right? But hey – that’s actually really cool. Especially if you’re on the taller end of the spectrum, and bikes don’t always fit the way you want them to. Being able to work out ideal frame geometry, to pick your frame material, paint scheme, and parts build… that’s kind of the dream. Especially when you get to bounce your ideas off the bottomless well of knowledge that is Sam Whittingham, founder of Naked Bicycles. With the cumulative wisdom of nearly two decades of building frames, and a shelf of NAHBS awards to boot, Sam knows a couple things about how to build bikes that look good and ride like a dream. Specifically, you’re dream. Or Andries’ dreams, in this case. And, as it turns out, Andries dreams of titanium.
Andries also dreams in orange. This possibly has something to do with his Dutch heritage. Not to make crass generalizations, but the Dutch kind of like orange. Or oranje, I guess we should call it. The old Rabobank kit, their flag, their national football side – the Oranje – their national champ jerseys …. other people representing The Netherlands, and probably quite a bit more. It’s all oranje. Add the blue accents, seat collar, and blue Chris King headset, and you have yourself a theme. While the oranje/blue definitely grabs your attention, Andries’ ti road racer is full of the subtle and amazing details that we love Sam’s bikes for. The neat external cable routing and sleek ti rear dropouts are just a couple of standout details on this beautiful frame.
While the frame may be hand made in Canada, featuring a very Dutch theme, the rest of the build is largely Italian. Andries’ ti road gets full a Campagnolo Chorus 11-speed groupset, making sure there’s plenty of carbon hanging off the ti frame. In addition to the Chorus parts, Andries has some fast looking Campy Bullet Ultra hoops laced up on his Naked. The deep section carbon rims feature radial lacing up front, and the distinctive 3 spoke groupings of Campy’s G3 lacing pattern out back. They also have a nice aluminum brake track, for actual stopping.
As mentioned, Naked Bicycles are always full of elegant little details. So click through the gallery below to see more of Andries’ ti road racer!
