Van Nicholas Amazon Cross
Van Nicholas Amazon Cross
Peter Cole’s Van Nicholas Amazon Cross has arrived…
We had the Trigon XQC-01 as our first cross project bike and now our second, courtesy of regular contributor Peter Cole, is a titanium bike, the gorgeous Van Nicholas Amazon Cross. As if that wasn’t enough, Tim will soon have a nice steel Ritchey cross project bike to join Mark’s Fixie Inc Pure Blood; all we need then is an aluminium framed cyclo-cross bike to finish things off…
Van Nicholas Amazon Cross
Though they are both cross bikes, designed to be raced in the most extreme conditions, the metal framed, disc braked Amazon is almost the opposite of the Trigon we built up earlier this year. It’ll be great to see how they compare.
Nothing looks rides lasts like titanium
There’s not a lot of information about the Van Nicholas Amazon Cross on the US company’ website. Simply it states, “The Amazon Cross has been engineered to relish the unique challenges of Cyclocross. It’s tough, responsive and loves to get dirty!” Short and sweet. Straightforward. Just like the frame. When you see it, it is just that. There’s nothing flash, no gimmicks or tricks. It is just simple, purposeful, beautiful.
Amazon Cross dropouts are works of art
It’s titanium obviously and uses 3AL/2.5V throughout, and there’s plenty of clever technology and craftsmanship gone into this frame in equal measure. For instance the integrated 1 1/8th head tube is very special. All of the tubes flair in all of the right places to offer maximum stiffness. There are curves to the stays to offer comfort and afford the back wheel extra traction off-road – Van Nicholas call all this ‘Optiformed’ tubing. The dropouts are CNC machined and are beautiful. The fork is carbon of course, and is the Van Nicholas VNT SLX carbon fibre touring fork with a 45mm rake.
Van Nicholas bottom braket
Peter is unsure as to how the final build will play out. Ultegra seems to be his current thinking as far as drive train is concerned and he has some Stans tubeless wheels, but don’t even ask about brakes as he is as yet unsure…
Van Nicholas Amazon Cross uses 3AL/2.5V grade titanium alloy
Its a really impressive looking frame and we can’t wait to see it get built up. It’ll just be a shame to see it then get very dirty… or will it?
Van Nicholas Amazon Cross looks a bit alright like this!
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[…] Coincidentally, Peter Cole has also gone for the same wheels, albeit with Hope hubs. Here’s some shots of his wheels, which he’ll be using on his Van Nicholas Amazon Cross. […]
[…] it would be the perfect accompaniment to a titanium frame such as the Sabbath Mondays Child or the Van Nicholas Amazon Cross we reviewed recently. […]