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feature
Check out the Festka Spectre in a stunning limited edition ‘Bodies’ finish
Czech brand Festka has unveiled its Spectre road bike in a ‘Bodies’ finish from Polish artist Jakub Kois, available in a limited edition of just 10 pieces. We spotted this spectacular-looking machine at the recent Bespoked handmade bicycle show in Dresden, Germany.
> Check out 10 stunning bikes from Bespoked Handmade Bicycle Show
Festka specialises in high-end carbon frames and the Spectre is said to be “the stiffest and most explosive frame” in its range.
Location pics: Rory Hitchens/Greenleaves Cycling
It features a wishbone seatstay and you can usually choose between a standard seatpost and an integrated seatpost design (where the seat tube extends well beyond the top tube junction and has the saddle clamp attached directly to the top). You can even opt for a custom geometry if you like.
Festka says that the frame weighs 1,035g (in a size medium) and will take tyres up to 33mm wide.
Over a year ago, while riding with a group of clients, Festka’s co-founder and bike designer Michael Moureček had a big crash. The former professional road racer seriously injured his leg and underwent major surgery.
“Luckily everything went well and following hundreds of hours of physiotherapy and exercise, Michael was back in shape to ride a bike,” says Festka. “However, he soon realised his body and his current bike weren’t one anymore – the perfect moment to employ one of the main advantages of Festka’s production technology: the unlimited ability to alter the frames’ geometry enabling the brand to accommodate any rider’s special needs.”
Studio pics: Festka
The Bodies graphics came about after a chance meeting between Michael and Jakub Kois, an artist, illustrator and silkscreen printer who has for many years been living and working in Prague, the city where Festka is based.
“It was only a matter of a few weeks before Jakub could start devising a rich cast of characters forming a complex, conceptual design scheme in which human bodies appear in all sizes and shapes; some painted in full colour, some drawn in outline; cycling, running, flying, cheering, embracing,” says Festka. “The scheme is full of life and rich in details and ideas, brilliantly thought out and executed by hand.”
Festka decided to offer Jakub’s work as a limited edition called Bodies which will go on sale at 1pm UK time on Tuesday 31st October. Ten Spectre frames will be painted by the artist – by hand – and sold as full builds only.
Each Festka Spectre Bodies frame will be fitted with a Columbus Futura Disc fork. It’ll be built up with Shimano’s top-level Dura-Ace Di2 12-speed groupset, and Rocket Wheels (62 mm depth) with Tune Prince and Princess hubs.
Enve provides the handlebar/stem, the saddle is a Selle Italia SLR C59, and the tyres are Vittoria Corsas.
The price? Ah yes, well, that’s where things start to get tricky. You’re looking at €18,490 (around £16,137 at today’s exchange rate). Still, if you have the cash and you want to be pretty sure that you’ll never run into anyone else on the same bike, you can get along to Festka’s website. The Spectre Bodies bikes will be sold on a first come, first served basis.
Mat has been in cycling media since 1996, on titles including BikeRadar, Total Bike, Total Mountain Bike, What Mountain Bike and Mountain Biking UK, and he has been editor of 220 Triathlon and Cycling Plus. Mat has been road.cc technical editor for over a decade, testing bikes, fettling the latest kit, and trying out the most up-to-the-minute clothing. He has won his category in Ironman UK 70.3 and finished on the podium in both marathons he has run. Mat is a Cambridge graduate who did a post-grad in magazine journalism, and he is a winner of the Cycling Media Award for Specialist Online Writer. Now over 50, he's riding road and gravel bikes most days for fun and fitness rather than training for competitions.
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14 comments
One hopes the forum frockers have noticed this lovely
handbagpair of shoesbike-shaped-frock. Even the price tag is reet for buying and boasting of one's purchase!How much is a respray?
Much as I disagree with you on most topics, it's nevertheless clear that you have a formidable intellect, of a sort.
So I trust it won't take much prodding to get you to see the hypocrisy in your constant belittling of frockaliciousness on this forum and in the wider cycling community.
My frock is my bike; yours is your I'm-the-smartest-and-holiest-bastard-in-the-room self-righteousness. We all have our kinks.
If you actually cared about converting the heathens rather than simply parading your own censorious superiority, you'd adopt a tone and style that didn't put people off so much, see?
Wots this assumption you're making about little moi, that I wish to influence and convert others to my point of view? I abhor mutual admiration clubs, me! Multi-cultural divergency is a wunnerful thang, surely. (Unless you be a Toryspiv or other type of stiff-necked pompoid full of certainties).
Spurting censorious superiority about bike frockers - in the hope of avoiding the more generalised, "Aren't we all wonderful because we ride a (£12,000) bike and them others don't" censorious superiority - is just one o' my many hobbies.
But I see I haven't tried hard enough to put you off from reading then answering my drivel. Still, you had a nice time applying your own brand of censorious superiority, eh?
I made no such assumption! I quite advisedly said only that you'd behave differently if it were the case that you didn't want to be a frocking hypocrite. But you're clearly happy with your status. (Oh, how horrible it would be if the low, common masses and grand ol' me were to be seen having something in common!)
You'll notice it was only a short comment to which I responded--can't bear to suffer through the rest😉
Hoy, hoy! I claim to be one of the low common masses and feel that you bike frockers are the self-appointed grandees of the cycling scenes. Yous with yer £15,000 bikes sporting novel but bad paint jobs. (Each new review seems to have another couple of thou added to the price, just lately).
But perhaps you're a-one of these post modern folk who feels that all opinions are of equal worth so none of them should ever be criticised by those with a sceptical eye? After all, someone's feelings might be disturbed. Marky certainly gets barky.
But this to the side. I yam tempted by your remark to confirm my frocking hypocrisy by putting up pics of all me bikes, including both the one that could be named a dungaree and another that's probably a cheap frock from the bicycle shop equivalent of Primark with some even cheaper "jewellery" added from the bicycle shop equivalent of one o' them market stalls selling tat of every ilk & tittle for 99p a piece.
All would be welcome to titter, snort with derision or even emit a large sneer of distain tinged with disgust at such an unfashionable display, especially the higher bars and upward-rearing stems. And out-of-date parts.
PS Don't worry, though, I think you yourself are ever so nice and good and probably 'ansome an' all. And nice and clever too!
This is just misogyny. Stop it. It's not funny.
That is a very good point which I must admit didn't occur to me. It literally is "If you buy an expensive bike you're as silly as those silly women with their frocks and handbags and shoes", isn't it?
Yeah. Cugel has a lifetime of experience and a world of sensible advice, especially for those new to cycling, but also needs to drop this now, it's beneath contempt.
Have you bought a-one then? Why get all huffy puffy about my mockery of such things if not?
Perhaps iconoclasm concerning extreme marketing is just too uncomfortable for those who realise how often they fall victim to it. I know I cringe inwardly when I consider some of my past purchases.
But feel as much contempt for my posts as you can summon up. I offer these opportunities for you to indulge in queer feelings of moral superiority concerning inconsequential forum blather free of charge, you big skool prefect, you!
Glad to see it's being noticed. His go-to insults, however dressed up in tiresome sub-Blackadder silly voices they might be, are always based on an assumption that sensible people like "us" feel contempt for things that (stereotypical) women might like. It's frankly a bit creepy by this point.
Contempt? No, just a feeling that we humans (even me; and folk of all genders) can be so easily duped by advert glamour into admiring and buying things for far too much money merely to show off to others rather than to buy them for their supposed primary purpose.
Do you ever laugh at yourself and your human antics? No, it seems not. Don't fret - I'll do it for 'ee.
I do wonder - are the RoadCC reviewers of this latest stream of ludicrously priced bikes laughing at us all? See the dafties lust after shiny things like cats for the catnip.
Yes, that's it. (The bike frockers are as silly as £3000 handbag and £2000 shoe buyers, not "That is a very good point", as it ain't).
Do you think, then, that ladies are all immune from foolish purchases of overpriced nonsense? They are humans too, you know - although many blokes around here seem to think that they're a different species, who are all physically weak and only capable of looking after babies or making bloke-dinners.
But brave defenders of these imaginary weak creatures will sally forth to see orf poor Cugel. See them proudly level their seeing-orf lances, as they stiffen their frowns and spur their egos for'ard.
Of course, one has mentioned traditional daft bloke purchases such as them watches costing thousands & thousands not to mention the Italian man-cars of immense price and inclination to break down when actually driven.
And did you know that some menfolk do have handbags and daft shoes costing loads despite being not too functional! No, I suppose not, if you have somewhat ossified beliefs about what are for the mens and what for the womens. Some of the latter even buy daft watches and drive silly cars. Oh yes they do, despite the "men only" labels.
*********
I do enjoy the puffs and huffs of self appointed thought polis. Mrs Whitehoose would be proud o' ye all!
******
Now, who has bought a-one of these lovely painted bikes and why? Did you get a discount, eh?
Stunning paint job.