Limited: Open UP, California Sage

Go Google "California Sage". No for real, go do it, I'll wait here.

Okay got a photo handy? Good. That's the colour of this beautiful Open UP build, my photos hardly do it justice. I did my best to honour this limited edition colour from Open, I reckon it was a big success, what do you think?

Sagebrush is one of the most common sights in the US American West, or at least southwest. If you've ever driven across Wyoming, you'll know what I'm talking about, that state is just a sea of sagebrush (and f-ing beautiful if I may say so).

This sagebrush colour has been used by any number of companies throughout the years, including none other than Aston Martin back when they made the DB5 in the 60's, the most famous of the James Bond cars. Similar to the known silhouette of that DB5, the Open UP frame just has that sort of category-defining status and reverence.

The dropped chainstay, a previously new and unique thing to Open, now commonplace. Swappable frame hardware to (re)build your Open with or without cables... it's all taken for granted these days, but someone had to design that and take the leap, and well, you're looking the company that more-or-less did exactly that.

A whole suite of Beast Components rounds this build out, with one set of wheels being the RX40 laced to Chris King hubs for mostly road use, and a set of Hope RS4s laced to DT Swiss rims for all the less-than-road adventures. All that built in house, one at a time, with my often sore hands. Also both these sets of wheels are painstakingly adjusted to allow for seamless swapping without brake rub... that takes literal hours sometimes, but really is the cherry on top. The cockpit is the Beast Ultra Bar, easily one of the most comfortable and good looking handlebars on the market, and their seatpost holds up, your, well, saddle.

Bikes like these are a dream to build, working with such a high calibre of components is just wonderful but also a process. Parts for this bike come from quite literally all over the world, mostly from companies with employees you could count on one or two probably-tired hands. Not unlike a 1960's California Sage Aston Martin DB5 with a British, German, and American powertrain, topped with an Italian body... wonder how many phone calls they had to make to get THAT put together?

Fun Fact: Sagebrush is actually related to sunflowers!

Open UP RTP

The Open UP has been a class defining frame since it’s inception. After Cervelo restructured and Andy White together with Gerard Vroomen took off and started Open, it was only natural that they started such a detail oriented company like Open. The Open UP Ready to Paint is their answer to the custom market, a frame that comes as a blank canvas, ready for your local painter to spray the frame to suit. Read on below to learn more about this build and check out all the photos of this minimalist build.

Building a “premium” gravel bike like this, SRAM AXS was a pretty obvious choice, although 2x12 instead of a single chainring may be the less obvious choice. Living and riding the Netherlands means that there is enough asphalt duty before making it to the more chunky stuff. The smaller jumps of a 10-33 or 10-36 cassette mean you can fine tune your cadence while getting out of Dodge, all the while having that second 30t chainring at your disposal for when things go Up™. SRAM Force AXS Wide takes care of all the drivetrain on this bike, with a 43/30t crankset up front, and a 10-33t cassette for the groad wheels, and 10-36t for the more adventure-oriented 650b wheels.

Now we gotst’a talk about these Beast wheels. Being a wheelbuilder, you very quickly get an impression of quality during the build process. Although telling only half of the story, in the initial steps of build a wheel when all spokes have been tensioned equally using a specially designed tool, a wheelbuilder can see how straight and stuff a rim is, as well as how “round” it is. Honestly one of my favourite things about these rims is showing customers how straight these things are from the box, as well as the finish. Look at the photo again… that rim is not painted. Not even clear coated. That’s just how the rim comes out of the mould… Which, if you have no idea about carbon component manufacturing, I’ll just clue you in: that’s absolutely wild!

Pair some of that sweet, sweet German engineering with a Chris King hub in the back and SON dynamo in the front, and you’ve got one of the fastest wheelsets out there that’ll light your re-entry into the atmosphere when you cycle just a hair too far to get back in time for dinner. Good on ya.

When this client came to me, they had a pretty clear vision of what they wanted, and I just needed to fill in the blanks. A lot of the conversations we had were along the lines of “I’d like a carbon bar, what are the options?”, which is kind of a sweet spot for me. From the 1000 options, I can slowly whittle down what’s available on the market, trimming the options that don’t suit the user, maybe don’t fit the application, are of lesser quality, or just don’t fit into the budget.

Check out the gallery below and shoot me an email if you have any questions about this bike or your own! Mag ook gewoon in het Nederlands hoor!

Sour Clueless

I once read an article where someone made the remark that everyone thought Vincent van Gogh was mad, and that his paintings of the Netherlands were wild fabrications of the landscapes he painted. This was of course thought up by people who had never been to the Netherlands, or maybe never stood in the fields in spring, at sunset. The intense greens and yellows in the evening mix into the blues, pinks, and purples of the early morning light... All contrasted with the stark mix and contrasting presence of water. Water everywhere. It's just too intense to be real, right? Well that was the argument made for van Gogh not being mad, and that he was merely painting what he saw around him, and that it was in fact the landscapes that were truly unbelievable.

To put that into perspective, I took these photos without a filter, on albeit a cheap mirrorless camera, and STILL "had" to desaturate them to make them appear "normal". The Netherlands is very silently and quietly absolutely gorgeous.

Oh yeah, the bike. I like to call it the SS Compliant. The steel frame, tight yet relaxed geo, combined with the godly eeSilk seapost and flexy carbon handlebars mean this allroad bike is a KM-munching racing-lounge-chair.

Carbon Rodeo rims holding onto OG Compass Bon Jon Pass tires, laced to the venerable Chris King R45d mean this bike rolls noticeably smooth on all the roads, as well as "roads", the Netherlands has to offer.

Check below for the gallery and detail shots. Keen to know more or start a build of your own? Don’t hesitate to send an email today!