Giles’s V3

This project started coming together last fall when Chris King took pre-orders for a limited run of turquoise anodised components. Giles asked me to order up hubs, headset and bottom bracket, and he started thinking about the color scheme for the rest of the build…..

The frame is based on the V3 design, with Enve carbon tubes for the integrated seatmast and headtube added to a light steel frame. Giles opted to have the rear EE Cycleworks brake mounted under the chainstays, which combined with the fully internal Di2 setup, makes for a very clean appearance. The front end has an Enve 1.0 fork with a custom English stem, which features a boss for the Di2 control box, and a custom Garmin mount added to the faceplate – the Enve aero road bar doesn’t leave a lot of space for adding a clamp on mount.

With the frame built, and carbon tubes bonded in place, it was off to Eric at Colorworks for paint. Eric did a great job of matching the King turquoise, with highlights against the white gloss finish, with stealth matte white logos on the downtube. The custom paint even extends to the Whiskey carbon bottle cages. Giles requested Pillar rainbow stainless spokes for the wheels, which have Enve SES 3.4 clincher rims laced to the King hubs. The wheels are set up tubeless with Schwalbe One tires.

“It’s been seven days and I’ve been able to get six rides in on my new bike. I thought I’d send my thoughts on to you as I really love the bike. I’ve ridden on flats, hills, short and long rides. The first thing I noticed was how smooth the ride is. Next was how responsive the bike felt both climbing and descending. Descending on it is actually pretty incredible. It’s so balanced and steady. The cockpit and components are a wonderful match to the beautiful frame. Each looks and works perfectly well. I do love the electric shifting. I still have a bit of tuning to do on the FD but otherwise it’s perfect. The wheels are amazing. They roll so well and must be contributing to the great descending characteristics of the bike. I do notice they are a tiny but more sluggish off the line than my lighter wheels but that should be expected and the aesthetics are more than worth it. Speaking of how it looks…I’ve gotten comments on almost every ride. Lots of people have asked what type of bike it is due to the stealth read of the logo. A few have said, “I should have known” or “oh right… I recognize those stays”. But most just pretend to be in the know and likely look up your website later. I’ve had people take pictures and bring friends over to see it….and it’s just been one week! The fit is perfect. I feel better on it than my old bike even climbing 90 miles on Saturday felt good. I assume the material helps on the long rides. So this is a big thanks from a very happy client” – Giles

As usual, many thanks to Tina Buescher for the photography.

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