After Wes’ Cannondale FSi, meet the steel-er, road-er, America-er, Vanilla Workshop Speedvagan. This is Brian’s main rig for rolling around Old Mission Peninsula and is truly one of the sharpest bikes you’ll see.
Brian’s Custom SPEEDVAGEN Gravel Bike
SPEEDVAGEN BUILD SPECS
- Frame – 54cm CX Steel frameset with carbon seat tube & ENVE carbon seatpost head (with weatherproof Di2 battery housing), ENVE carbon CX fork, and titanium bottle cages & matching Silca frame pump
- Shimano Dura Ace 9070 Di2 drivetrain w/ disc brakes
- Chris King BB, hubs, & headset (w/ ceramic ball bearings)
- ENVE 100m stem, painted to match frame
- ENVE compact road bars, 42cm
- ENVE SES 3.4 Clincher disc wheels (currently running Schwalbe Pro One 28mm tires). Frame can take up to 45s
- Fizik Antares R1 carbon saddle
- Stages Dura Ace power meter
I originally bought this for gravel road and mixed gravel/pavement riding, but after about a year, this bike has become my do-it-all rig. I’ve sold both my carbon road bike and cyclocross bike because the #speedvagen is too fun not to ride and I always felt guilty when I rolled out of the garage on a different bike. It’s a CX frame so can take up to 45s, but is light and spritely enough to feel fast on the road running 25s. Right now it’s set up for pavement/light-duty gravel and commuting, meaning it’s running Schwalbe Pro-One 28s and Crank Brothers Eggbeaters pedals.
The Vanilla Workshop in Portland has a reputation for creating amazing steel bikes. The wait list for a Vanilla frame is years long. And last year, they introduced a ready made Speedvagen build, the OG-1, with limited component offerings. This bike is in the middle, it’s the “quicker-to-fabricate than a Vanilla frame” Speedvagen model, but is still full custom. You can check out their offerings here.
But how awesome it rides ignores the first thing anybody notices about it – how fucking gorgeous it is. I asked my wife if I could hang it on the wall in our living room when it isn’t being ridden. She said no.
