A New Hampsten - Il Capo

[maxcolumbus]

It's alive.
Sometimes lightning strikes and an opportunity to do something special
presents itself. It did and I jumped on it.
Steve just dropped this across the hall and I couldn't be more stoked.
It's a teaser pic but it's looking good.

[Big Dan]

Sweetness....

[AngryScientist]

i like where this is going!

what model do we have here?

[soulspinner]

Yeow great paint.

[maxcolumbus]

It’s House of Kolor Kandy Red. It’s balleur.
I was going for something like Saronni Red but with a little more pop
to it. Steve is raving about the color, I can’t wait to see it in the flesh.

[maxcolumbus]

This.

[maxcolumbus]

one more..

[kingpin75s]

Beautiful color. Really sharp all the way around. Enjoy!

[KarlC]

Look amazing ! Now we need more details about the frame, the build and the opportunity

[mhinson]

Beautiful bike! Congrats!!

[bob heinatz]

That is a great looking bike. Enjoy.

[maxcolumbus]

I reached out to Steve H. after deciding to sell my MAX, I had it for 5 years and it was a really great bike but I found myself not riding it as much and decided to sell. He was really helpful in trying to facilitate the sale and we got to chatting "Let me know if you want to do another frame, but what do you want?" I said "Let's do an all out modern steel race bike, no tall head tubes, no all day comfort, something nasty." Steve was down to work completely outside of the box and start from a blank canvas. After a few drawings it fell into place and we were pretty stoked with the result.
He decided to name it Il Capo and might be offering it as a new Hampsten model. He's out test riding it this weekend and I think it's going to be in the blog. Pretty cool.

I really wanted this frame to be stiff and with no performance concessions made for comfort. More of a sprinter bike than a classics bike. So, the Columbus HSS tapered head tube with internal bearings mated to a Futura fork. He suggested the HSS down tube as well because it's big and nasty. After this we decided to stick to round tubing so Life TT, ST, and chain stays. We also decided on some massive seat stays, I'm not sure what tubes he chose but damn...
I sent the drawing from my aluminum race bike as a reference so this is a pretty aggressive geometry.

I wanted an aggressive red and House of Kolor Kandy Red was suggested.
I asked for the Columbus logo on the seat tube and surprisingly it happened...
I wasn't sure that replacing the Andy head would go over well. They had to cut a mask for it and I'm sure it was a PITA but I'm super thankful for the effort.

I don't want to ramble on here and I'm sure Steve H. can really provide more insight. I should be getting a ride report after the weekend and I'm sure he will be willing to share.

[delish]

Really lovely bike with great lines. The rear triangle is elegant with the chosen tubes. I much prefer those long taper of those chainstays to the short Life ones that look like turkey drumsticks to me. That and the seamlessness of the fork/HT/painted stem. Enjoy!

[Climb01742]

As others have said, that looks incredible. Both bad ass and elegant (who knew those two good go together?)

You got me thinking. What if someone gave a builder the exact request you did, a balls-to-the-wall, no compromise race bike...but then said, build me one out of steel and build me one out of alu. Built for the same rider, by the same builder, how might those two bikes be the same and be different? Not at all trying to get at better/worse, just got me to wondering about how they might differ?

Please do tell us how you like it. My guess is a grin ear-to-ear. Enjoy!

[joosttx]

Me likey the color. Consider blacking out the tape and seatpost. Really nice bike