There was carnage again at last Saturday’s Red Hook Crit race in Brooklyn. Last year the men piled up in a widely broadcasted event, but this year the women’s event brought the bloodshed. Luckily, Juliet Elliott escaped unscathed, along with her Hartley Cycle.
London’s Caren Hartley recently launched her Ambassador Programme, for which she is building bespoke bicycles for racing and endurance athletes. It’s the ultimate litmus test for both her skills and those of her partners, the first of which was Juliet.
Juliet Elliott is a multidisciplinary bike racer, journalist and British Cycling coach and her participation in this year’s Red Hook Crit circuit provided a fantastic opportunity to showcase Caren’s craft.
Criterium racing requires a specific design of frame: a higher bottom bracket for greater cornering clearance, the angles are steep for fast response and transferral of power, and construction is focused on rigidity.
Juliet’s Hartley is no different. Caren used Columbus Spirit HSS tubes for the frame and married it to the new Columbus Futura gravel fork. The downtube is as thick as a baby’s arm and is shaped with an aero profile.
Naturally, Caren applied her own touch, with a gold leaf and candy fade custom paint job which only becomes more hypnotising the closer you get to it. Underneath that coat, however, is the evidence of her exceptional framebuilding skills.
The asymmetric seat stay bridge and mast collar are her trademarks accents, mirrored by the hand-cut silver Hartley head badge — and Juliet’s name on the top tube. You can also be assured that the fillets joining the tubes are flawless.
A Brooks C13 Cambium and matching rubber tape is already race-proven, and won’t be letting Juliet or the scales down. There’s a ceramic bottom bracket inside that shell, which will provide the least rolling resistance possible.
Juliet’s Hartley held her in good stead: thankfully avoiding the crash, she placed 19th in the final standings and is ready for the upcoming London No. 3 RHC event on July the 22nd. Get ready to cheer her on!
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Massive thanks to Sebastein Klein for the studio photos.
