Eleven Speeds

There are 2 posts filed in Eleven Speeds (this is page 1 of 1).

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

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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!