YUKKA’S FLOC DE NEU

The Nua we’re presenting in this post has a big personality, and it’s been a similarly big pleasure to watch it come to life and to welcome it into the growing family of Nua bikes which populate planet earth.

Yukka wrote to us from Finland. Like other clients who live in the frozen north, he was interested in the combination of titanium frame and belt transmission; a combination which can cope with the adverse riding conditions in his country, where snow, ice, salt, and gravel form a cocktail which often proves lethal to lesser bikes, which struggle with rusted frames and chains.

Yukka is used to riding fixed gear bikes, and had been in love with the Nua Floc de Neu (our take on the fixie genre) for some time. But he needed to add certain components which are obligatory by law in Finland, such as lights and a kickstand. It was a challenge keeping the minimalist aesthetic of the Floc de Neu intact, but I think we did pretty well!

The wheels are laced by hand, and the rear one sports two Gates sprockets, one fixed and the other single-speed, so that Yukka has only to flip the wheel to change between the two.

For the front wheel, we opted for a super-light Shutter Precision hub, which powers a discreet and powerful LED light from Supernova, the E3 Pure. This light is held in place by a custom-made bracket screwed directly into the fork, which has been given some special eyelets for the purpose.

For the rear light, we went with a LightSKIN seat post with integrated battery-powered LEDs.

The front brakes are our old favourites, the Tektro R559 Long Reach, the only rim brakes on the market which fit around wide tyres while maintaining the same braking power as a good short-reach brake. And to operate them, a very pretty and super strong Paul brake lever, with metallic cable housing from Velo Orange:

The headset is titanium, a rare breed. It has a brushed finish which combines nicely with the sand-blasted frame, the lovely green of the stem, and the natural colour of the bar tape.

The saddle and bar tape, both in natural coloured cotton, are from the Brooks Cambium range.

The tyres are by Compass: wide, comfortable, and super fast-rolling.

By this time you will have noticed that we painted some of the bike’s components a pretty green colour. Here, for example, the F-Gimondi crankset, powered by MKS Japan pedals.

To sum up, a very personal bike, practical, but at the same time elegantly simple and exceptionally beautiful. And if Yukka’s comments are anything to go by, it’s adapted very well to its icy new home.

“The bike is very light, responsive (I drive fixed) and fast compared with my older steel fixed gear bikes. The wide Compass tires are really comfortable. Today we have about 5 cm fresh snow and icy ground, but the tires handled it well. I’m more than happy with my Floc de Neu, it really flies over ice and snowy sleet. I will surely treasure and cherish my Nua.”

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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…”

THE NUA AUDAÇ

The Nua Audaç is one of our favourite models, and also one of our most popular. Kitted out from head to foot with top quality components, it’s a bike which can do it all: from your daily commute to weekend excursions and light touring. It rolls equally well on asphalt or gravel, and will even venture into the mountains without turning a whisker. And it’s practically zero-maintenance, which means you can clock up the kilometres without a worry in the world.

This particular build, ordered by Mr. Baumann from Switzerland, is especially good looking, we think, and just goes to show that a practical and fully equipped bicycle can also be a beauty to behold:

The transmission is composed of a super silent 11-speed Shimano Alfine internal gear hub, (or with the option of an 8-speed Alfine or a 14-speed Rohloff), and a Gates Carbon Drive CDX belt drive. An oil change every 10,000 km and a replacement belt every 20,000 or 30,000 is all it needs in the way of maintenance.

The lights are perfectly integrated, and powered by a Shimano Alfine (or Shutter Precision) front hub dynamo, so they’re super bright with no need for batteries.

Hydraulic disc brakes by Shimano are a given, along with other superb quality components such as a Thomson seatpost and stem, a Brooks saddle and grips, a Tubus rack for side panniers, a titanium handlebar, and Curana mudguards with a Busch & Müller integrated tail light.

In a nutshell, a bike that’s versatile, long lasting, and elegant. Perhaps the only bike you’ll need for the next few decades.

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Safe and happy cycling!

Peter’s “monster gravel” bike

Peter wrote to us from Australia asking about a titanium fork for one of his bikes, and ended up ordering one of the most amazing custom builds we’ve made to date.

Principally designed to pull a trailer on long treks across the Australian outback, this bike will also be Peter’s welcome companion on his weekend bikepacking trips, and on quick excursions into the mountains.

We designed the frame specially with a gravel bike geometry: neutral angles and a low bottom bracket for extra stability. We combined this with 27,5” wheels, Plus tyres, a light and maintenance-free Lauf TR fork, and a Pinion 12-speed gearbox.

And, of course, we installed a Gates CDX belt to complete an extremely robust and low-maintenance assembly. One which will be able to cope with any climate and terrain.

The icing on the cake is the adjustable mount for the Pinion shifter, custom made for the bike. Peter often has his hands on the drops, and he has a bit of a bad wrist, so he was very particular about the positioning of the shifter. He has experience with Pinion, so he knew exactly what he wanted. This is precisely the type of thing we mean when we say we offer a custom service.

The fast-rolling 3” wide gravel tires are super comfortable, and the clearance with the fork is great.

We put in a third pair of eyelets for a water bottle, necessary if you’ve got a frame-pack taking up its usual spot.

A Ritchey WCS dirt road handlebar with a Thomson stem.

A rear hub by Pinion with 120 POE, and an indestructible front hub by Chris King.

The headset is a Chris King i7 tapered.

The new Hylex hydraulic brakes by TRP were an obvious choice.

In a nutshell, a beast of a bike which could withstand an apocalypse, but which nevertheless maintains the elegant lines which define a Nua. A bike you can throw anything at, bombproof and maintenance-free. We hope that Peter enjoys it as much as we’ve enjoyed creating it with him.

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Safe and happy cycling!

THE NUA RÁPIDA

Ladies and gentlemen, we take great pride in presenting our latest model, the Nua Rápida:

Its name says it all. A bike designed to get you from A to B fast. And we mean fast.

Its Gr.9 titanium frame is complemented by a carbon fibre fork. A combination which offers excellent stability at high speeds, as well as superb agility for zipping through urban traffic.

The drop bars allow for a more dynamic riding position: lean, mean, and ready for speed.

The Rápida is available as a single-speed or with a Kappstein Doppio 2-speed BB hub. Both models come with a Gates CDX belt drive transmission as standard: silent, clean, light, and maintenance-free. And thanks to the sliding dropouts, you can remove and replace the back wheel in seconds, without affecting the belt tension.

We’ve pulled out all the stops with the rest of the set-up, too: gorgeous Crank Brothers Cobalt wheels; Compass Barlow Pass extralight 38mm tires; Avid BB7 disc brakes activated by Sram levers (the version with 2-speed shifter for the Doppio model); Thomson seatpost and stem; Acros headset with Tune carbon spacers; Fizik Cyrano handlebars; Exustar pedals; and a Brooks C-15 saddle with matching bar tape.

Riding this bike you have a sensation of speed but also of security. It zips along, but at the same time it seems capable of reading your mind and responds instantly and effortlessly to any change of direction. You can feel how your pedal power is transmitted unhesitatingly to the rear wheel.
The brakes are top-notch, and the whole machine has a feeling of quality you don’t often find in a city bike. As with all our bikes, its titanium frame offers a level of comfort impossible to achieve with aluminium or carbon.

In a nutshell, a bicycle for those who are looking for superb quality in a commuter. Those who enjoy the adrenaline of speed, but who also know how to appreciate the simple lines of a superior quality product, built to last a lifetime.

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Safe and happy cycling!

A DAY IN THE LIFE OF A NUA

8 a.m. You’re out the door, bound for the office on your Nua Dual, looking forward to your morning commute through the sunny streets of Barcelona.

You pedal along effortlessly. The Schwalbe tires offer the lowest rolling resistance on record, and it’s noticeable.
The Pinion gearbox, with its Porsche-derived technology, is smooth as silk, silent, fast. You can even change down while you’re stopped at the traffic lights, with just a simple twist of the shifter.
You take a detour through the park for fun, and a little kid stares in wonder at your bike while their mum tugs at their hand because they’ll be late for school.
You arrive at the office and leave your bike leaning against the wall, where you can’t help admiring it for a minute with a smile on your face before you concentrate on work.

1 p.m. A colleague suggests heading to the beach to have lunch at a bar she knows there, so you both hop on your bikes and have a friendly race on the way.

6 p.m. Enough work for the day. You decide to do something different on the way home. Changing into your biking gear, you take your Nua Dual and head up into Collserola, the hills behind Barcelona, which are riddled with dirt tracks of all sorts. Here you can put the off-road capabilities of your Dual to the test while you burn off the stress caused by that difficult meeting.
The bike climbs beautifully. Finding the right gear is a breeze. You reach the top exhausted but happy. A group of cyclists all with almost identical carbon mountain bikes stop for a drink of water and eye your Nua Dual with surprise. Their curiosity gives rise to a pleasant conversation about its titanium frame and fork, its sequential gearbox, its belt transmission…
You wave goodbye and begin the descent. The geometry of the bike and its balanced centre of gravity make it incredibly stable. In top gear and at 50km/h you can still pedal. Its wide, low-pressure tires eat up the pot-holes and stones without a second glance. You think that the extra absorption afforded by the titanium also helps. You get to that hairpin bend and the brakes come into play, progressive yet strong. You have an agreeable sensation of control and security which mixes with the adrenalin which has been coursing through your veins for a while now.

8p.m. You arrive home at last, drenched in sweat. After a nice warm shower, while you’re toweling your hair dry, you can’t help admiring your Nua, hanging there on its wall mount, and you’re grateful to it that it will never ask for anything in return. A tire change and new brake pads every now and again, new oil for its gearbox every 10 thousand km (which you can do yourself in five minutes). And that’s it. It will be ready – with no maintenance or adjustment necessary – for the trip you’ve planned with friends next weekend: two days camping in the Pyrenees, exploring new paths, sleeping under the stars and enjoying a lot of laughs.

Like all our bicycles, your Nua Dual is totally customizable. Just drop us a line at contact@nuabikes.com and together we’ll configure a bicycle which is totally unique and adapted to your needs and tastes. And if you’d like to receive regular newsletters with updates about our latest custom builds and ideas for your dream bike, sign up here.
Safe and happy cycling!

3 NEW NUAS

This post is just pure self-indulgence: a photo-essay of three of the latest and sleekest Nuas to come out of our workshop. So scroll on down to get some ideas for your dream bike, or just to appreciate the beauty of a bicycle well made.

1. Santtu’s Nua Kuopio

Santtu wrote to us from beautiful Kuopio in Finland, looking for a bike he could use for his daily commute along stunning lakeside paths. Here are a few photos of the
drop bar single speed we made for him:

“My Nua rides very smoothly. No sound at all. Everything works great!
The bike is beautifully finished, light and lovely. Thank you so much :)))))”

2. Richardson’s Nua 8-Speed Alfine

We recently shipped this marvelous bike to Pensylvania. Simple in design, but capable of handling any surface thanks to its 8-speed hub and wide tires.

“Now that the weather here in Pennsylvania has been warming up in the last month, my Nua is getting a lot of road time. I’m really loving it! It’s also gotten a lot of attention and comments from my friends, all of whom mention how unique it is.

Thanks again for such a great product!”

3. Phillip’s Nua Single Speed

Phillip got in touch with us in search of the perfect single speed on which to ride the streets of Berlin in style. A few weeks later, this was the result:

“Just wanted to drop you some lines after my first commutes to work. The bike looks and rides awesome. I enjoy it very much. It is very clean and neatly assembled. Great quality.

Thank you for this amazing bike and the great service”

That’s all for now. If you’d like to receive regular newsletters with updates about our latest custom builds and ideas for your dream bike, sign up here.
Safe and happy cycling!

A NUA DOWN UNDER

John wrote to us all the way from Australia, impressed by our bikes. He realised he’d finally found what he’d been searching for all these years. He needed a well-equipped bicycle, big on quality and small on maintenance. One which he could use for his daily 50 km commute as well as for weekend adventures. In addition, he wanted something designed and made to measure. Something special. Very special. What better than a Nua? After almost a hundred emails and many hours of work, his Nua was born:

The process of defining John’s bike aesthetically was interesting. At first, he tended towards a strict classicism, but over time that changed to a mixture of classic and modern. The result was a neoclassical style which we love!

A Rohloff Speedhub IGH can circumnavigate the world several times in it’s working life, so it will certainly stand up to John’s level of use for a good few years.

Combined with a Gates Carbon Drive CDX, it makes for a reliable, silent transmission which needs no more maintenance than an oil change every 5000 km.

The wheels are hand built, with H+Son Hydra rims, Sapim D-Light spokes, and some gorgeous aluminium nipples, anodised in orange, also by Sapim. The front wheel uses a Chris King hub, so as to be up to the standard of the rear Rohloff hub.

John wanted the best brakes available. We suggested Trickstuff Cleg 2, and it was a case of love at first sight. Unfortunately, they weren’t available in the colour he wanted, so we had to order them in orange and blue, and then spend a good few hours polishing off the blue!

The quality of these brakes is impressive. They’re made in the heart of the Black Forest, and we think they might be the best brakes in existence.

In keeping with the orange theme, and also with the high-end componentry of this bike, we chose a Chris King i7 tapered headset, in “mango”.

If you’ve been following our adventures you’ll know that we love Gilles Berthoud saddles, especially the Galibier model with its titanium rails. In our opinion, it’s the best leather saddle in the world (not to mention the lightest).

Another component we have a bit of a fetish for are Compass tyres. They’re flexible, lightweight and they look great. Perfect for a top-end build. Here you can see them with some beautifully discreet Curana mudguards, necessary on a bike which will be in daily use, rain or shine.

To sum up, one of the most complete and best-equipped bikes ever to come out of our little Barcelona workshop. Now it’s riding the streets of Victoria, half a world away! We’re very happy with it, and so, it would seem, is John:

“I am very, very happy with my Nua. This bike is such a joy to ride, fits me perfectly, and the overall look exceeds my wildest expectations.”

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Safe and happy cycling!

KOUROCHE’S 2-SPEED

The first Nua in Miami is very special, and its owner, Kouroche, has become a good friend since visiting us in Barcelona a few months ago. He had been in love with our bikes for a good while when he finally decided to order a Nua Doppio, customised to his taste. This is the result:

Kouroche decided he wanted the crankset spider orange, so of course we painted it orange for him.

And we complimented it with a few other orange touches. Such as this superb quality Chris King i7 headset in “mango”:

Orange rear sprocket spacers:

And even orange gear cable casing:

This bicycle is the first which we’ve constructed with the rear light and headlight integrated into the seatpost and handlebar respectively.

The lights are nice and bright, and very discrete when not in use. They’re powered by a lithium-ion battery with its own USB charger.

Another first for us on this bike is the side stand.

A Brooks saddle in black leather with titanium rails will provide elegant good looks and comfort for years to come.

In a nutshell, a simple yet superb quality machine, sporty yet comfortable, elegant but with a touch of fun, exactly as our friend Kouroche had requested. Upon receiving the bike, he had these kind words to say:

“Hi Roberto, I just got the bike and it is even better than I had imagined it. It is very light which is impressive….
it is a beauty and piece of art. I am very happy with it”

Thankyou Kouroche for your friendship and your generous nature. And also for sending us this foto of your new Nua with Miami Beach in the background:

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Safe and happy cycling!

TOBI’S NUA

Zürich is a relatively flat city, but it does have some fairly steep hills in its northern suburbs, so when Tobi came to us looking for the perfect bike for his daily commute and occasional excursions to the lakes, he knew that a 2-speed hub would be ideal. The Kappstein Doppio, for example; integrated into the bottom bracket.
As little plastic as possible, lots of titanium, and practical, maintenance-free components such as a belt transmission. These were the reasons Tobi asked us to make his bike. And a couple of months later, his Nua was born:

The Kappstein Doppio 2-speed BB hub:

Controlled by a minimalist shifter on the handlebar:

The Gates Carbon CDX Centertrack belt drive. Clean, silent, and maintenance-free for the duration of its 20.000-30.000 km working life:

Titanium, more titanium and a bit more titanium….immune to the corrosion which salt on frozen roads causes in other materials:

The saddle and grips are from the Brooks Cambium range, this time in “natural” colour. It’s the first time we’ve used this colour, and we really like the way it combines with the titanium, giving the bike an ethereal look:

In a nutshell, a bike which is as simple as possible and as top-quality as possible. And one with which Tobi is extremely happy:

“it’s super fun to ride 🙂 super agile, also quite fast! Loving the gear set up! “

That’s all for now. If you’d like to receive regular newsletters with updates about our latest custom builds and ideas for your dream bike, sign up here.
Safe and happy cycling!