I actually didn’t see this one coming, and I certainly didn’t think that I’d be buying a new gravel bike this year, but here we are, learning once again that anything can happen at any time.
This is a Cinelli Nemo Tig gravel bike, hopefully made with care in Milan, using Columbus Spirit HSS triple thickness steel tubes. The Cinelli was a long time coming, but I was always going to be buying the road version of the Nemo.
My thinking was that I wanted to get a steel bike so I could remember what it felt like (and to confirm that steel is, indeed, real), but a steel ‘performance’ bike never sat well with me considering I have two carbon road bikes and one (the Colnago) that could be dropped into the ‘superbike’ category.
While all this was stewing in my brain, two of my friends were telling me that I needed to get a gravel bike. I resisted till it hit me that I could tick a few boxes by doing so:
- I’d get my steel bike
- My long-time dream of owning a 1x could be fulfilled
- I could try disk brakes without putting them on my road bike
- And obviously, I could go out wearing plaid without feeling insecure. Win win all around!
I’m dealing directly with Cinelli and they’ve kindly agreed to sell directly to our company, making this move not very onerous financially, which helps a lot. Oh, and the bike will be custom made, although this is all done from a chart I had to fill out instead of going over to Milan to get sized up (Covid rules).
I suppose the next question is, what moustache style will I be sporting? I’m partial to the ‘chevron’ at the moment.
The Vicious Cycle 
It is an nice one! Please get an EKAR with it. A real pleasure! An better Moustache, than a handlebar bag
I can split the difference and get a handlebar moustache! Ah yes, EKAR, obviously.
Brooks leather saddle too, to go with the ‘stache? TBH, though, I’m jealous!
I still have a Brooks in the cave, so taken care of it I need it for the complete look.
Gerry, you DO understand that the mustachioed fixie-riding hipster in tight jeans trope represents an American’s attempt at impersonating a European, right? Imitation, flattery, all that, however clumsy and insensitive? Since you already ARE a European, you can dispense with that crap and get right down to riding your bike and drinking beer.
(BTW, if you are going to ride on dirt, there is a tool for that. A gravel bike ain’t it. Only a matter of time, my friend. Only a matter of time. Just saying.)
I think I know where you’re going with that, Tony, but if I became a mountain biker, surely I would have to start imitating a North American, however clumsy and insensitive? Anyway, it’s all academic because nobody has ever accused me of being too fashionable, European or not.
All it needs now is a hub gear and a belt drive so you don’t have to clean everything each time you go out on gravel and get dirty.
I was trying to forget the ‘dirty’ part.