Having your friend build and design you a bike is pretty special; especially when it ends up in making what becomes not just any bike, but a total dream. This was the case when Chris Hall of 107 fame came to us for a very special build. 

With the backing of Jam Cycling, we went ahead to start a build what would become his perfect cyclocross racer/ all road tourer. Firstly we started by working on the geometry of the bike. Chris has quite a unique position which allowed us to really make the bike appear quite aggressive (for a cyclocross bike) whilst still following traditions of a longer wheelbase, wide clearance and a higher bottom bracket. The ideal geometry was tried and tested from a bike fit with James Thomas at Sigma Sports. The beauty of a custom bike is you can literally do what you like. 

The bike has been magestically painted by Cole Coatings (If you don't know them, check them out!) Wording from Cole Coatings: 

'Inspired by modern NJS paint styles and taking cues from some high-end cars, this design features a 'top-down' (or a 'bottom-up'!) fade arranged in such a way that almost every tube has it's own gradient or 'colour junction'.

We took Chris' colour suggestions and gone one step further by utilising House of Kolor 'Kandy Basecoats'; specialist pearls which offer much of the depth and dynamics associated with traditional candy products but are simpler to apply. The Quirk and Columbus branding has been picked out in a flat black (an essential groundcoat colour for this type of paint) which is crisp and clean against the playful metallic effects in the blue and purple.

One final point of note that we wouldn't tend to mention is the sheen; a crisp, clean and lustrous gloss is something we aim for on every project... but the candy base colours are brought to life once under a well polished clearcoat.'

I think we can all agree this one is a beauty, keep an eye out for it at the London Cross Leagues.

The spec of the bike is as follows:

• Custom Quirk Cycles frame painted by Cole Coatings

• Kinesis Tripster fork

• Verve Infocrank powermeter with Praxis Works chainrings

• Kogel ceramic BB and Jockey Wheels

• Shimano Ultegra Di2 groupset

• Zipp 303 Tubs fitted with Vittoria Terreno Mix G+ tyres

• Fizik finishing kit

• Hope headset

• TRP Sypre cable brakes

Photos by the ever so talented  Nikoo Hamzavi