NUA URBAN BIKES


One of the many aspects of our lives which has been changed by the Covid virus is the way in which we move. The bicycle has once again become the prefered way of getting around town in a safe, healthy and fun way.

At Nuabikes we’ve noticed a definite increase in the demand for urban bicycles, so we thought we’d publish this post as a little overview of our urban bikes. And what better way to do that than to show you some of our most recent commuter builds.


SINGLE SPEEDS


If you live in a flat city and you’re pretty certain you’re not going to venture beyond its bounds on your bike, then a single speed is always the best option. Your bike will be lighter, cheaper, and require less maintenance. And not having to think about gear changes leaves your mind free to experience the ride.


Our single speed range is based on the Nua Minima, a bike which combines top-of-the-line quality with elegant simplicity. Here’s an example of a build we did for Andrew, in Washington.


But, as you know, we love to break the established mould (aka “special project”). Take for example this “Bullhorn” single speed we built for Julian in London.


Or this “Urban Racer” we made for Thomas in Austria. With those extra-wide tyres it looks both fun and ready for anything, don’t you think?


PINION GEARBOX


Another model which has been very successful lately is the Nua Kensho. With its Pinion gearbox, it’s a capable commuter in any city, but it’s also comfortable on weekend rides and even on gravel.
For example this sporty build for Gilbert in Zürich. In this case a 6-speed Pinion was more than sufficient (and kept the weight down).


Sometimes though, we give the model a classier and more practical touch, as with this build for Christian in Boston, which sports wheels laced in-house using a pair of Pinion hubs and top quality DT rims, a Berthoud saddle, Brooks Ergon leather grips, and a practical set of mudguards. In this case, we installed a 12-speed Pinion, making this build ready for anything you can throw at it, although we still consider it an urban bike.


ROHLOFF


Last but not least, we offer the option of constructing your bike with a fantastic and totally bomb-proof Rohloff 14-speed rear hub. This gearbox may be designed for round-the-world bike trekking, but it’s not at all out of place on an urban bike, especially if the build is done with style, something we think we’ve achieved in this minimal and classy bike made for Markus in Basel.


We hope you’ve enjoyed this selection, and that these examples will serve as inspiration for your own unique and personal Nua build.

Stay tuned to the blog, follow us on Instagram or Facebook, or sign up to our newsletter here to be sure to keep up with news about our latest bikes and be able to order your custom one.

Visit www.nuabikes.com to look at more of our bikes and to have a play with our bicycle builder and configure your perfect machine.

We hope you’re keeping safe and healthy in these interesting times.

The Nua Team

MORITZ’S NUA

 

Moritz has been in love with titanium bikes since he bought a 1998 Serotta in 2008, although lately, he’s also been getting around on a fully-equipped steel-framed Rotor Comet with a Rohloff gearbox.

 

 

 

So having experienced the benefits of both a good-quality titanium frame and a Rohloff internal gear hub, Moritz dreamed of combining both these elements in the perfect bicycle, which he described to us as a “lifetime road enduro tank”. After six months of fruitless searching, he found Nua, the perfect partner to help bring his dream to life. After dozens of emails and quite a few months of work, this was the result:

 

 

A bicycle for intensive use (Moritz rides a minimum of 5000 km a year); capable of riding on any terrain and under any conditions; useful as a daily commuter, but also up for weekend adventures, cycle tourism, or just doing a sporty lap of a local trail on a Sunday morning.

 

 

The heart of this bike is a Gr9 Ti-3Al-2,5V titanium frame, tailor-made to fit Moritz’s own big frame (192cm). In designing the geometry, we were looking for great stability when descending trails at high speeds, although a bike with a front rack is also going to need agile steering to compensate for the extra weight on the front wheel.

A big bike, to be nicely proportioned, needs big wheels, not only aesthetically speaking, but also for ride-feel. So we designed the frame to accommodate some generous 29er, 55mm-wide tires (Compass Antelope Hill Extralight). Their slick profile provides extremely low rolling resistance on the road, but as a tire specifically developed for gravel riding they provide exceptional grip, even on sandy trails. Their generous dimensions make the bike very comfortable thanks to the huge air volume. We chose them as the best compromise for on-road/light off-road use.

 

 

For great nighttime visibility, and vision to boot – and without having to worry about charging batteries – the Nua Moritz is equipped with Supernova lights (E3 Pure front light and taillight) fed by a Shutter Precision dynamo hub. Rather than on the racks, they are mounted on the handlebar and the seatpost, so that the racks can be removed independently of the lights.

 

 

The brakes and transmission of the bike are controlled by Sram Force Brake levers. We’ve modified the shifters to be compatible with a Gebla Rohbox and a Rohloff speedhub in a drop bar configuration. They also control powerful Sram force hydraulic brake callipers with 180mm rotors. The out-sized rotors were chosen to take into account the size of the rider and the potential amount of extra load carried on the racks.

 

 

 

 

A Chris King i7 headset, in navy blue, matches perfectly with the Brooks blue bar tape, wrapped around a dirt road bar from Ritchey (WCS VentureMax).

 

 

 

The pedals are these beautiful Hope F20 CNC machined platforms. They provide good grip even when bare so we left their pins off to make the bike more appropriate for commuting. They can easily be installed for off-road rides as needed. The pedals are mounted on a sturdy yet light Race Face Aeffect Cinch MTB crankset, providing an ideal chainline for the gates CDX belt drive/Rolhoff Speedhub system.

 

 

A highly ergonomic SQ-Lab 610 Ergolux saddle provides ultimate comfort during long rides.

 

 

One of our beautiful titanium bottle cages, always a good choice both because they’re so light, and because thanks to the titanium’s inherent flexibility, they hold a bottle like no other.

 

 

Adding considerable value to this bike are the racks, custom-designed and fillet brazed with stainless tube. The idea was to make the bike capable of carrying four panniers (front and rear) with or without the front top platform, which is attached to the front rack by four screws (custom-machined titanium) for quick and easy removal.

 

 

 

 

 

The rear rack has eyelet mounts to simplify and improve the attachment of the rear mudguard.

 

 

 

Designing and constructing custom racks like these ones requires an extraordinary amount of time, although we have to admit we enjoy the process.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And of course, we also enjoy testing the bikes we make. We’re very lucky to have these beautiful trails a stone’s throw from our workshop in Arbúcies.

 

 

 

To sum up, we’ve invested a huge amount of time and effort in this bike, in order to realise the dream of a discerning client with a very clear vision of what he wanted. A process which has helped us to raise the bar on our already exacting standards.

Moritz sent us this fun macro photo, and this review:

“The Bike is unbelievably beautiful and the best thing is that it rides even better than it looks.
Never in my life before I had a bike with these ride characteristics.
The Frame fits like a good glove, the absorption of the titanium is reference class and nevertheless it is very stiff at the same time.
The wheels are running very well and interact perfect with the Compass tires.
The Bike is very stiff even on higher speeds ( Downhill about 70 Km/h ).
I was a bit afraid that the Bike is too big for the city and small curves and streets, but in fact it is very easy to use and perfectly manoeuvrable
Even on small off road tracks.
The racks are perfectly crafted and very lightweight but strong.
The gear ratio in interaction with the belt is fantastic.
The Rohloff in combination with the Gebla Box and Sram Force STI is very cool and intuitive.
The Bike is very lightweight (round 13 Kilos with lights, mudguards and racks) and fu……ing fast.
I think together we create a Monster which is absolutely unique.
So again thank you for putting your heart and soul into this Bike”

 

 

That’s all for now.

Stay tuned to the blog, follow us on social media (Instagram or Facebook), or sign up to our newsletter here to be sure to keep up with news about our latest bikes and be able to order your custom one.

Visit www.nuabikes.com to look at more of our bikes and to have a play with our new bicycle builder and configure your perfect machine.

Safe and happy riding, and a very happy 2020!

The Nua Team

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

ANDREW’S NUA

 

Did you miss us? Lately, we’ve had a lot of bikes to build, and not much time for blog posting, but we’re back!

In this post, we’ll introduce you to Andrew’s new bicycle; our personal take on a gravel bike, or “go everywhere bike”.

Andrew wrote to us with the idea of commissioning a bike which could replace all of his current bikes: a Colnago C50, a Thorn Raven MTB with Rohloff, a touring bike, and last but not least a fixie! Building him something along the lines of our Silice or Tramuntana seemed like the best solution to this challenge, given that they are extremely versatile machines which can handle just about anything without turning a hair. A few weeks later his Nua was born.

 

 

With a 14-speed Rohloff – which has a wider range of gears than any currently available derailleur and chain system – Andrew will never be caught short of a gear. And a change of oil every now and then is all the maintenance it will need, especially since it’s paired with a Gates Carbon Drive belt.

 

 

All our wheels are hand-built in our workshop, with a huge amount of love and only the best components. Top-quality DT Swiss rims and spokes are our go-to option. In this case, the front wheel was completed with a SON dynamo hub.

 

 

This hub generates the power to feed a powerful Supernova front light and a Busch+Müller rear light integrated discreetly into the Curana mudguard.

 

 

A Gilles Berthoud leather saddle in brown with titanium rails, Brooks leather bar tape, a Thomson stem and seatpost, Ritchey VentureMax gravel bars, a discreet and pleasant sounding Crane bell, and our own titanium bottle cages complete a marvellous, versatile build.

 

 

 

 

Andrew wrote to us as follows:

“We’ve just come back from Catalunya on holiday and a chance for my Nua to be close to her original home! The bike seems to have been built for the dirt and gravel trails in Catalunya, I really put her through her paces on some very fast downhills where she gave great confidence: though with all the flying rocks I’ve added some patina to one or 2 of the components! I also had the chance to do some mountain passes on the road where she climbed and descended very nicely”

 

 

Stay tuned to the blog, follow us on social media (Instagram or Facebook), or sign up to our newsletter here to be sure to keep up with news about our latest bikes and be able to order your custom one.

Visit www.nuabikes.com to find links to our other customizable bikes and to have a play with our new bicycle builder and configure your perfect machine.

Safe and happy riding!

The Nua Team

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

THE NUA LA BESTIA

For a long time now, we’ve been dreaming of assembling an extremely capable “monster gravel” concept bike, the Nua La Bestia. Here is the final masterpiece:

 

 

It is an exciting titanium machine designed for the most adventurous cyclists.

 

 

A perfect hybrid between a drop-bar gravel, a dirt tourer and a plus-wheeled mountain bike, this “monster gravel” is designed to take riders further than any other bike.

It was also designed to be a great companion for your bikepacking adventures, thanks to the possibility of adding a full lighting and USB charging kit.

 

 

The original idea was to transcend a normal gravel bike in order to make it limitless off-road, thanks to bigger tires and the possibility of mounting front suspension on a bike still designed around a gravel geometry.

 

 

To do so, the pedalling position is kept highly efficient thanks to a Salsa Cowchipper dirt drop bar. and Wide 27,5×3.0” Schwalbe G-One Allround tires provide extra off-road comfort, grip, and low rolling resistance.

If further suspension is needed, a Lauf TR Boost fork or a regular telescopic one can be mounted instead of the rigid Cinq Adventure fork or the rigid Nua Titanium fork.

 

 

As always at Nua, the drivetrain is based on high-technology solutions. For a central centre of gravity, a Pinion C1.12 central gearbox was used on this prototype. This is, in fact, the big deal of the Nua La Bestia, opening the doors to a world in which highly efficient Pinion gearboxes can be used on extremely capable drop bar gravel bikes!

 

 

Coupled to a Gates Carbon belt drive, it provides an extremely durable gearing and transmission system. This combination is extremely silent, maintenance-free and particularly suitable for long-distance and adventure rides as a worry-free solution.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Long story short, we first had the idea of this bike a few years ago for Peter – an Australian customer – and engineered the first prototype of La Bestia. The name still remains from this first attempt. For those interested in this bike, you can read more here.

 

Old vs new shifting system.

 

 

As you might have noticed, back in those days we had to adapt the Pinion (flat bar oriented) rotary shifter with a specially in-house-designed part on the drop bar. Like other bicycle manufacturers, we were waiting for a proper drop bar compatible shifting system compatible with Pinion gearboxes so as to be able to achieve our goal a bit more elegantly.

We heard about Cinq Innovations’  intention to produce the Pinion  Shift:R Road system, and we waited impatiently for the first production versions to appear, so we could make a more refined version of our first La Bestia.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Cinq Innovations Shift:R Road uses a special shifting system assembled on your Pinion C.Line gearbox (shown above) and modified TRP Hylex hydraulic disc brake levers. They actuate both the powerful double piston TRP brake callipers and your Pinion gearbox precisely and rapidly. The left lever will downshift and the right lever will upshift. A great feature of the Shift:R road is the ability to change two gears at a time.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

For energy autonomy – should it be to feed your GPS on you favorite gravel loop or during a long bikepacking trip in the wilderness –  this prototype of the Nua La Bestia is equipped with a highly efficient Shutter Precision PD-8X dynamo hub feeding a convenient Cinq Innovations Plug III USB charger and an extremely powerful Supernova E3 Triple2 front light.

All the wirings are internally routed in the fork and the frame. The production version will offer an upgraded option with a SON28 dynamo hub and a Supernova tail light.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Have a look at www.nuabikes.com or stay tuned to the blog, follow us on social media (Instagram or Facebook) or sign up to our newsletter here to be sure to keep up with news about the Nua La Bestia a and be able to order your custom one.

Expect to see some pictures soon of this prototype Bestia being put to the test in the highlands of Iceland by our team member Antoine.

Feel free to play with our new La Bestia bicycle builder here or visit our website to find links to our other customizable bikes.

The Nua Team

THE NUA SÍLICE

 

One of the defining characteristics of our bikes is their versatility, and in this post we present one of our most versatile models yet: the Nua Sílice, a bike which could be classified as one of the new breed of Road Plus bikes, with 650B (27,5”) wheels and generously wide tyres (48mm). These tyres have an exterior diameter similar to that of classic 700/28 road tyres, but with no less than 2.5 times more air inside, and with a considerably lower pressure.

And what does this mean, in real terms? It means that we have a bike with the same dynamic performance as a standard road bike, but with a level of comfort and a capacity for absorbing impacts which allows offroad riding on almost any terrain.

If you’re asking if these tyres wouldn’t make your bike roll slower on asphalt, the answer is a clear “no”. In fact, if the road is not perfectly smooth (and how many actually are?), wide tyres can actually roll faster than narrow, high-pressure tyres. The reasons for this phenomenon are basically two:

  1. Better absorption means the tyre adapts to irregularities in the road, reducing suspension losses.
  2. The shape of the tyre’s footprint on the road reduces the torque necessary to turn the wheel, which again reduces energy losses.

On top of all this, wider tyres mean better grip and fewer punctures. Could it get any better? If you like to know more about all this, you’ll find various articles on the subject in Jan Heine’s (Compass) excellent blog, for example this one:
https://janheine.wordpress.com/2018/01/03/12-myths-in-cycling-1-wider-tires-are-slower/

Our take on the Road Plus genre is the Nua Sílice, of which the bike we proudly present here – custom built for David in Denmark – is a very nice specimen. He wrote to us looking for a winter/gravel/commuter bike to use for his 17 km daily commute along roads and gravel tracks, and for weekend treks on all kinds of terrain. Shortly afterwards, his Nua was born, looking like this:

 

 

David had sent us a fit sheet done by a specialist bike shop, so we designed his frame to perfectly fit his proportions.

 

 

David also had a clear idea of many of the characteristics he wanted his new bike to have, for example a carbon fibre fork, an internally geared hub, and a belt drive. For the fork, we chose a Dedacciai Gravel, a lightweight full carbon fork with sufficient tyre clearance to allow wide tyres (in this case Panarecer Pari-Moto) even with mudguards. It comes with a solid 12mm thru-axle.

 

 

For the gearing, we decided on a smooth and ultra-silent Shimano Alfine 11 speed. With its ample 408% range, it will be able to manage any kind of incline.

 

 

Combining IGH’s with drop bars isn’t always easy, but in this case it was no problem thanks to these microSHIFT brake shifters, designed specially to combine with the Alfine 11.

 

 

The microSHIFT brake shifters are only available for cable disc brakes, so we installed these Hy/Rd brake callipers from TRP with an integrated hydraulic system which converts mechanical pull to hydraulic push, vastly reducing the amount of adjustment and maintenance necessary, and slightly increasing the braking power.

 

 

For the front hub we opted for a Shimano Ultegra RS770, one of the only hubs on the market which combines a 12mm thru axle with 32 holes. We needed this combination so we could install WTB KOM i23 TCS rims, which will stand up to every kind of off-road punishment.

 

 

For the handlebar, we chose a Salsa Cowchipper, a so-called “dirt dropbar” with a radical 24º flare in the drops which increases leverage and stability for offroad riding.

 

 

Among other components we selected were the Crank Brothers Double Shot hybrid pedals – half flat, half clip-in:

 

 

A Brooks Cambium C15 All Weather saddle:

 

 

And some Curana C-Lite mudguards, beautifully integrated into the bike:

 

 

To sum up: a bicycle which will perform equally well on roads and on dirt tracks, and which will even allow for some serious mountain biking. A bicycle which will be David’s faithful companion on his daily commute, but also on his weekend adventures. We’re very happy with the result, and it would seem David is too:

“Today I received my Nua and after putting it together I couldn’t resist to go out and trying it out. The first impressions couldn’t be better, and not just because the looks. After a 2h ride mixing inner-city bike lanes, open roads and gravel roads I can’t remove the smile from my face. It’s such a nice ride. Super comfortable, very silent, stable and surprisingly fast! Can’t wait til next ride!”

 

 

 

That’s all for now. If you don’t already subscribe to our newsletter and you’d like to receive regular updates about our latest custom builds and ideas for your dream bike, sign up here.
Safe and happy cycling!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

THE NUA GRAVEL 1×11

 

Geoff wrote to us all the way from Australia. He explained that he planned to spend a few months in the south of France and would need a lightweight and versatile bike on which to explore the highways and byways and the beautiful offroad tracks typical of the region. On top of that, his new bike would need to serve as a daily commuter once he returned home to Australia. A couple of months later, his Nua was born:

 

 

This Nua is best categorised as a Gravel Bike: a machine which is equally comfortable on or off the asphalt. On this bike, Geoff will be able to ride pretty much anywhere.

 

 

The frame is tailor-made, with specially designed dimensions and geometry. Also custom designed are the chain and seat-stays, S-shaped to permit the use of Sram Rival road cranks, with a narrower Q-factor than usual.

 

 

Speaking of Rival 1 components, we substituted the original road-bike 11-36 cassette with an 11-42 MTB one to make steeper hills a breeze.

 

 

The hydraulic brakes are impressive, very progressive and strong.

 

 

The bike has been designed to be ready for whatever changes the future might bring: it has eyelet mounts for racks and mudguards, sliding dropout inserts ready for a Rohloff hub (as well as internal cable routing), a belt port to allow for the installation of a Gates Carbon Drive transmission, etc…..

 

   

 

It’s always a pleasure to use top quality components, like the Chris King headset, the Brooks leather bar tape, or the Gilles Berthoud saddle.

 

 

   

 

When we test-rode the bike we loved it, and it seems that Geoff does too:

“Hi Roberto, My Nua arrived safe and sound today and is even better in the flesh than the photos.

Thanks for all your help and time with the build…

 

 

That’s all for now. If you don’t already subscribe to our newsletter and you’d like to receive regular updates about our latest custom builds and ideas for your dream bike, sign up here.
Safe and happy cycling!