Bike Porn: Legend Il Re

Back in December 2012, just days before my wedding day and in the midst of the final planning stages, I snuck off for the afternoon (Vicky was probably having some 'treatment' or another no doubt) to Le Beau Velo in Shoreditch for a clandestine meeting about a new bike. A last chance for a self-indulgent purchase before everything became 'ours'....?!

I had heard great things about Le Beau Velo and had been encouraged to speak to Mal (the extremely knowledgeable and passionate owner) about having a bike fitting with a view to having a custom built frame made. If I am honest, not a huge amount of encouragement was necessary.

Despite getting initially lost trying to find the place, as you'd expect, I was still a little early and after a brief introduction with Mal I was offered a coffee (although, shockingly for a Shoreditch establishment, of the instant variety) and made myself at home on the sofa whilst I watched the customer before me being put through his paces learning some new (painful) looking stretches on the workshop floor.

Following a quick chat with Mal about what type of bike I was looking for (a 'bike for life') and what type of riding I was hoping to do / get out of the bike (long distances, some climbing, all at a modest pace) I was then weighed and various parts of my body were measured and catalogued. Once done Mal snuck off to put together the ideal frame geometry for a person of my size and shape and with my stated aims, leaving me with Jo who would be assessing just how flexible I was. Pretty flexible in some aspects and very inflexible in others it turned out. It was also relatively apparent I had grown up playing rugby (despite having shed most of the bulk from my upper body).

I was then on the bike jig (a kind of fully adjustable stationary bike frame), that Mal had set up for my suggested geometry based the measurements taken and some feed back based on my flexibility. After some pedalling, some tinkering, a little more tinkering and then a bit more pedalling a final set up was decided and agreed upon.

Armed with a full set of measurements and the ideal geometry for a frame the discussion then moved to the most important part - what frame was I interested in. We discussed it a little, but I had done my homework and already had a pretty clear idea of what I wanted. Le Beau Velo carry frames from a relatively new Italian company called 'Legend' headed by Marco Bertoletti (with over 20 years of hand-building custom frames). I had recently read an article in Rouleur about the brand and the titanium range of bikes sounded absolutely awesome. It really was only a question of which frame (the Il Re; I wasn't a fan of the integrated carbon seatpost on the flagship model), whether I wanted mechanical or electronic shifting (mechanical given the more classic styling of the frame and the fact that the technology is still, relatively speaking, in its infancy) and whether or not the cabling should be internally routed (internally routed gave it a cleaner look I thought). Subtle, muted graphics were also decided on (if the factory was able to do it).

I came away from Le Beau Velo with a number of feelings: (i) I had been extremely well looked after (I spent the best part of 2.5 hours one-to-one with Mal and Jo) and that Mal and Jo were both really interested in helping me improve my cycling and get more enjoyment out of it and not to just push an expensive frame on me (I wouldn't hesitate to recommend heading down and getting a bike fit done), (ii) considerably poorer..., and (iii) wondering how I was going to be able to wait for 3-4 months for the frame to arrive in Hong Kong!

Last week the waiting finally ended and the bike arrived, fully built up in Hong Kong and, after ensuring there was no chance of rain, I headed out to take the bike for its maiden ride this weekend.

Firstly, the bike looks amazing! Secondly, it rides like a dream. A combination of fitting me perfectly (I didn't think there was an issue with my Cervelo, but the difference is noticable) and the titanium frame result in a really comfortable and responsive ride. The titanium really smooths out the road without sacrificing too much rigidity. It doesn't quite have the punch of a carbon bike when you're jumping out of the saddle, but in reality I am not prone to doing that often in any event.

Anyway, full details of the build are below along with some pictures.

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Frameset: 2013 Legend Il Re, Titanium (made to measure)

Handlebar: Deda Zero 100 aluminium 420mm c-c

Stem: Deda Zero 100 aluminium 100mm

Seatpost: Legend Titanium

Groupset: SRAM Force

Crankset: SRAM Force, 172.5mm, 50/34

Bottom bracket: GXP

Wheelset: Fast Forward F6R Carbon/Alloy Clincher (decals painstakingly removed)

Power meter: CycleOps Powertap Pro Hub (24H)

Cassette: PG1070, 12-28

Saddle: Fi'zi:k Arione R1 carbon rail

Pedals: Look Keo Blade Carbon Ti Pedals 12Nm Spring (Yellow) 

Tyres: Continental Grand Prix 4 Season 

Handlebar tape: Lizard Skin 

Bottle cages: LifeLine Titanium

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