Project ALIZE Part 3

 

by Mark Tearle

 

Project ALIZE part 3 offers an update on the current build and recent news involving NeilPryde Bikes.

 

The bike has been built up for some time now, and I have ridden it, though I haven’t got it to a stage, as a build, where I am entirely happy. In between time the “Allez, Allez Alize!” scandal encroached on the social media airways with NeilPryde bikes announcing that they are retiring the name Alize in favour of Nazaré.

 

 

The message on the NeilPryde bikes website has since been removed but for those not au fait with the story I reprint the words below:

 

Effective immediately we are retiring our ALIZE bike name and replacing it with NAZARÉ. This is just a name change – your beloved bike will remain exactly the same.

 

This change comes at the behest of a well known bike company. According to their lawyers the ALIZE name was too close to one of their trademarked bike names and, as such, we need to stop using it.

 

We didn’t really see it the same way. Both the spelling and meaning are completely different. All our names come from winds (or other water sports references) which is in our heritage. ALIZE is a north-easterly wind found in central Africa and the Caribbean. Any similarity with the name in question, however questionable, was purely coincidental. We are proud of our bikes and our heritage and wouldn’t swap it for anyone’s.

 

In the end, after months of arguing with lawyers, we were forced to change the name to avoid a protracted and potentially costly legal battle. We prefer to focus on designing great bikes than communicating with lawyers. As such, all ALIZE bikes produced from this spring will carry the name NAZARÉ.

 

Nazaré is a town and a well known big wave surfing spot on the coast of Portugal. It’s fast, powerful and impressive – just like NAZARÉ.

 

We hope that you forgive us for this disruption.

 

So long ALIZE and allez, allez NAZARÉ!

 

 

 

Whilst that quietly dies down I will continue to build my bike.

 

The Rolf Prima Alpha test wheels sent to me by 2Pure have since been returned, I am grateful for them with the initial build, and my thoughts on the wheel set will be forthcoming shortly, but that does mean I am now on the lookout for a suitable replacement…
 

 

As I mentioned in my introduction piece I don’t have money to burn so a lot of the current build is cobbled together from bits and pieces from my shed. I have my eye on a number of choice pieces to customise and upgrade the bike, though since my boiler blew up at home any thoughts of moving to Shimano 11sp Di2 has been shelved for the time being. My old Ultegra 6700 works perfectly fine anyway and this build project was never to be about upgrade for upgrades sake.

 

I am, however, furiously saving up for a new crankset and chain rings – the build currently incorporates a Praxis Works BB/PF30 Bottom Bracket Converter so it would be rude not to include a sparkly new set of Praxis Works double chain rings and Rotor 3D+ cranks to complement the rest of the Shimano Ultegra 6700 build. This, at least, is the aspiration.

 

 
It’ll be difficult to refer to my bike as a NeilPryde NAZARÉ – it seems a shame to break up a collection of bikes, more or less all named after trade winds in keeping with NeilPryde’s nautical beginnings – I guess I will just have to get the tippex out.

 

Praxis Works Bottom Bracket Converter – £59.99 Upgrade Bikes

Praxis Works Standard 130BCD Double Chain Rings – £129.99 Upgrade Bikes

Rotor BB30 3D+ Road 130mm Cranks – £339.00 Velotech Services

 
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Neil Pryde Bikes