Leila's new bike

Meet Leila. Yesterday she picked up her new bike at BikeNüt.

Her bike is a Giant XtC Advanced hardtail frame.

Once again, bicycle manufacturers select the weirdest names for their bicycles. They make sense to the engineers in the company, but the rest of us have to translate them into something more generally meaningful. XC, of course, means cross country, but I will freely admit that I haven’t the faintest idea what the “t” in the middle stands for. I know, however, that the name Advanced is assigned to Giant’s most advanced (duh!) composite technology. I tend to believe their claims. Giant is the only manufacturer that controls production from the raw materials to the finished bike. That goes for road racing bicycles, too.

There wouldn’t be any spectacular difference between Leila’s bike and other Giant bikes if it weren’t for the paint job she requested. The frame was stripped bare, the shock absorbers disassembled, and a beautiful, sharp, pearlescent white glossy paint was sprayed over it. Now, this bike is truly Leila’s, and nobody else has one like it.

The paint job may make the bike visibly unique, but Peter, the BikeNüt mechanic who worked on this custom build, installed a number of pretty cool components. The wheels, 26 inches in diameter, employed DT Swiss rims, spokes, 240s hubs. DT Swiss is a company that is justifiably renown for their reliability, high construction standards, and a reasonable balance between price and quality.

The brakes are by Marta SL magnesium, known for their efficacy in technical, nearly acrobatic, off-road conditions. 

The company that makes them, Magura, is located in German city of Bad Urach, about 80 miles east of Strasbourg. I have no idea why they chose the name Marta for this particular series of components.

The drivetrain components are Shimano Deore XT, once again extremely reliable on all kinds of terrain and wet or dry conditions.

Finally, the pedals are extremely light platforms, made by Wellgo.

This is the kind of unique bikes of which BikeNüt is particularly proud, something put together with a lot of thought and care. It’s understated, but once you know what went into it, you go “Wow!”

This is a bike that is at home on city streets but also outside the city and off the roads. Leila seems happy with it. I hope she enjoys is for a long time and many, many miles.
Happy 4th of July!