Our third NAHBS 2018 design was a show-stopper, built by the recently blowed-up carbon experts at FiftyOneBikes from Ireland. Check out our model info here.
First the gold-leaf Conor McGregor bike, which raised the roof, and now this...we are honored and appreciative to say that for our collaboration with FiftyOne, we took home...
First Place in the Silca Award at NAHBS 2018
Mainstream media coverage:
I'll let the proper journalists show off this beauty much better than I can ever hope to...click below for coverage from the champs at:
Bicycling - 27 Stunning NAHBS Bikes
BikeRadar - Three Stunning Road Bikes from NAHBS
BikeRumor - Lightweight Disc From FiftyOne
CyclingTips - NAHBS Custom Gallery
VeloNews - Personalities of NAHBS
Road.cc - NAHBS Awards Winners
The build details:
Builder : FiftyOne / Model : Road Disc
Notable : Custom paint-matched Silca Impero Ultimate frame pump and SuperPista Ultimate floor pump / Clearance for 32 mm tires / 850 gram frame weight / New rear stays designed with industry heavyweights
Features : Fifty One’s newest and greatest - thru-axle flat-mount disc, eTap (non) wiring ;) T47 OS BB, clearance for big tires, plus custom geometry & paint
Build : SRAM eTap HRD / ENVE SES Aero Bar, Stem, Post / ENVE AR4.5 on Chris King matte jet R45 CLD Disc hubs / Schwalbe G-One Speed 30 mm tubulars / C-Bear Ceramic T47 to 30mm BB / Rotor Q-ring Qarbon rings / Berk Carbon Lupina Leather-Wrapped Saddle / Leather bar-tape
The origin story:
God is in the Details. It is the phrase which graces the tombstone of Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, one which architects, artists, designers, and other craftsmen have drawn inspiration for decades. It may as well be written on our shop wall, words we very much try to live by at Blacksmith Cycle.
So when the classy and talented team at Silca announced their new award for the 2018 show, we got a little excited to show off what we do with some of our finest builders. Maybe too excited. We worked with four brands on Silca Award nominees, none of which blew the doors off quite like our custom-painted FiftyOne road disc machine.
We wanted to do something different for this design, and asked FiftyOne whether they could execute a subtle architectural theme. Of course, they said "give us all you've got". So we used photos of downtown Toronto's TD Center, where I worked for a few years on the 49th floor, as inspiration for this unique paint scheme. Most outside of Toronto would know the famous German-American architect for Chicago's equally incredible Seagram Building. We wanted to use the strong lines and verticality of the skysraper to begin the scheme. After some discussion, we settled particularly on shots of the sky reflecting off the building at different hours of the day. Shout out to my wife Jamie, our in-house crack designer, for that idea, and to Jesse for helping with voting for final details.
After three design iterations - both sides worked hard on the details - our FiftyOne was born. Since FiftyOne paints each and every bike with a unique scheme, we imagined that the matching Silca and ENVE pieces would do well to complete the scheme. The dropped jaws all over the NAHBS floor told us all we needed to know. The intricacies, colour fades, and line work on this showed off the mantra that we so believe in: God is in the Details.
The takeaways?
1. Aidan and Aaron from FiftyOne are both killer dudes. And building custom bikes with them? Also awesome. (Eloquent, I know. Ok, they are professional, diligent, patient, talented and wise.)
2. Designing amazing paint schemes is not really that hard, especially if you've got FiftyOne and Blacksmith in your corner. And...
3. Yes, this is basically the nicest carbon road disc bike ever built by anyone on earth. Did we just say that?
Really, we were actually very honored, more than a little shocked, and basically just appreciative to win the first ever Silca award. We will never forget NAHBS 2018, and even among our 5 awards received (#humblebrag) this was probably our blue medal winner. Thanks to the Silca team for supporting NAHBS, and giving us this massive award, which had tons of insane candidates. Shout out to No. 22, DeAnima, Stelbel, and Stinner, among others. But in the end our FiftyOne won the day. VINCITORE!
Thanks to Lifeisabeautifuldetail for the incredible photos!! And to Jesse for making the build so fresh and so clean. A great mechanic makes a difference.
