Jeremy's Gothic Aix
Proof that there's a custom bike for every budget
The brief
Jeremy was a regular gravel rider, but his old mountain bike just wasn't cutting it any more. He wanted something fast, something durable, in a drop-bar build.
He also had spotted one of our green and purple Gothics, and fell in love with the colour scheme.
Isn't it nice when you get the hard part out of the way first?
The bike
Like all of our custom builds, every Gothic is created specifically to suit its owner. Everything is carefully considered, from groupsets and gear ratios down to the smallest details, including the nuts and bolts. Consideration is also given to the overall budget, as everyone has different limitations. For Jeremy's bike, we had a specific pricepoint to work to, which meant that we had to decide exactly where we could splurge and where we could hold back. It forced us to get creative, and that's never a bad thing.
So which areas got the bulk of the budget?
Firstly, the groupset: Shimano GRX in RX820 mechanical. As always, GRX is an excellent and reliable gravel groupset, and opting for the mechanical version rather than Di2 helped really contain the cost without sacrificing quality.
Secondly, the wheelset: Spank Hex Flares. Picking off-the-shelf wheels instead of hand-building a wheelset also trimmed the price, but don't underestimate Spank: the Hex Flare wheels are still an exceptional product: lightweight, strong, and vibration-absorbing.
For the cockpit, we stuck with good-quality aluminium: Pro gravel handlebars and an Easton EA70 headstem. A Pro Condor was also the saddle of choice. Like Spank, don't sleep on Pro products: they punch well above their weight when it comes to price and performance.
Finished off with some BBB Gravelribbon handlebar tape, Jeremy's Gothic was ready to roll. Sure, it may not have gone through the Gothic Cycles Lightening process with titanium bolts or a weight-weenie Extralite stem, but, to be honest, it wasn't the purpose of this project. Also, did we mention how sparkly that paint job is? So sparkly!
This bike is proof—beautiful, glittery proof—that you can have an affordable gravel bike which is still fully custom-made, tailored just for you.
Want your own custom-made gravel grinder? That's what we're here for.
