Remember those Hot Wheels Colour racers? The ones that changed color when you dunked them in a bowl of water? Well, our favorite Instagrammer, Bicycle Crumbs, just had his Allied Alfa Disc Allroad finished in the same paint —it’s both wet… and wild.
Our man in Portland, Bicycle Crumbs, is passionate about steel bikes but lately, he’s been wondering about carbon frames. To scratch that itch, he picked up the Alfa Allroad to discover firsthand how they performed.
Allied is based in Little Rock, Arkansas, and has an interesting history. Tony Karklins was the managing director of Orbea USA and during his tenure, became frustrated with the long processes involved with manufacturing carbon frames in China and Taiwan.
A Canadian custom frame builder, Guru Cycles, was shutting its doors for good and auctioning off their production equipment. Karklin flew north and won the auction, securing their assets to start his own venture.
He established Allied with the express intent of building a range of bikes that were designed, manufactured and painted all under the one roof. The advantage is that changes and developments to the frame designs can happen very quickly.
There are now three bikes in their range: the Echo, available with custom geometry, the road-specific Alfa, and it’s gravel-oriented brother, the Allroad. The Allroad is a disc brake-only machine that has been getting rave reviews in the press.
It was the Allroad model that Crumbs took possession of but, never one to stick with stock, he immediately sought out Lucas Strain, the in-house painter at Portland’s Vanilla Workshop, who laid down a red candy coat before a layer of thermochromic paint.
Portland’s propensity for precipitation means that every time the Allroad is taken out it starts to rain — as demonstrated by today’s photo shoot — the Allroad’s color changes from “icy holographic white” to sparkling red.
The palette chosen hearkens back to another Bicycle Crumbs collaboration, yet this one is a whole ‘nother level of techie sophistication. The Allroad’s performance is hailed elsewhere, so it’ll be interesting to see what Richard makes of it.
Hypercolor t-shirts were another product line that dazzled consumers in the early 90s with their thermochromic properties and we’ll be the first to admit we’re dazzled by the Bicycle Crumbs Allroad as well.
Allied Cycleworks Website | Facebook | Instagram
Big thanks to Bob Huff for the fine photography.
