Bike of the Week: A California Sunset Open U.P.

Few things fill our stoke as much as building lasting relationships with the riders we build bikes for. This week, we got to build a new dream machine for one of our earliest riders who's become a close AC friend. His last off-road bike was one of the hottest bikes in our archives, a beautiful Moots cyclocross race rig. A truly amazing ride that served well for many years.  At a decade old though, it was getting a bit long in the tooth.

As great as that build was, it was time to step into the modern era and build an equally stunning gravel bike for the modern era. The result is this California sunset inspired custom Open U.P.

Coming off of years of riding titanium bikes, it's no shock that he was fond of gray bikes. This time around, it was time for some extra pops of color. Living here on the California coast, we easily take for granted the sight of the sun setting over the Pacific Ocean. Our rider took that as inspiration and we enlisted our talented friends at Velocolour to tackle the paint job. 

The more trail time we put on the new Enve gravel bar, the more we like it. This project was a perfect candidate for the flared drops. The custom painted bars are clamped by a matching Enve road stem, and wrapped in tacky Fizik tape. At the saddle end, a Fizik Arione VS Evo R1 saddle is supported by an Enve carbon post. 

Sram RED AXS was the drive train of choice, taking advantage of the 2x12 versatility and cleanliness of the wireless system. 10-33 out back and 44/33 up front, this has been an increasingly popular combo for both road and gravel bikes. Keeping an eye on performance, we equipped the bike with the Quarq powermeter version of the crank. The 160mm brake rotors will certainly be an upgrade in stopping power of the the cantilever brakes he'd been riding before.

After spending the last ten years riding 32c tubulars, our rider was ready to fully embrace modern wheel standards of tubeless and high volume. We ended up on a set of Enve G27 wheels wrapped in Schwalbe 27.5X2.0" G-One tires. Comfy, durable, and ready to roll over just about anything.

Ready to tackle the slopes of our beloved Mt. Tam, we're excited to see how this bike serves our rider for the decade to come. Having your own project bike like this come to fruition is a feeling that simply can't be expressed through photos and text alone. If you've been dreaming of building up something special, something, unique, something personalized just for you, don't hesitate to give us a shout as it'd be our pleasure to bring that dream to life.