Marin County is synonymous with mountain biking, and the paths around Mt Tamalpais can almost be classed as sacred cycling sites. Franco Bicycles’s Grimes R1 feels right at home on this terrain, and this one pays special tribute to that magic mountain.
The R1 just keeps getting rave reviews, most recently by Outside Magazine, which rated it at the top of their gravel group in their 2018 bike shootout in Tucson, AZ last month. Theirs was a stock model, but this one takes the local reference up a notch.
While Franco Bicycles adhere to a standard list of models, they sure aren’t afraid of off-piste variations — the recent collaboration with Bicycle Crumbs, ENVE and Ritchey Logic that we featured nearly melted our servers and caused a minor internet sensation.
This Mt Tam tribute is somewhat more subtle, but equally as intricate. Unless you’re party to the dark arts of master frame painters, the multi-layered vistas of the Northern Californian range are just as mesmerising as the real thing.
Andy, another Cali local, approached Franco wanting a personalised, steel, gravel-friendly training bike. In a brave marketing move, the team at Franco removed all of the logos from the frame and briefed the painters.
Once the US-made frame was cured, it was built up with a SRAM Red eTap HRD groupset, including a Red Quarq Power Meter, a Mango Chris King Inset 7 headset and Threadfit 24 bottom bracket, and a slew of Ritchey WCS carbon components painted to match.
Andy also had two pairs of wheels hand built for the frame: HED Belgium rims laced to Chris King R45 Ceramic Mango hubs with DT Swiss Comp spokes in both 700c and 650b — enabling him to run 28s on the road and 47c knobbies on the dirt.
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