Singletrack/MTB
Gravel/All-road
Dirt-road Touring
Fat-bike
This week’s Reader’s Rig comes from Jimbo Safi in Switzerland, who shares a look at his colorful custom randonneur from B Bloque Bikes of Madrid, Spain. Learn more about Jimbo and his classic steel rig with some thoughtful modern touches here…
Words and photos by Jimbo Safi
Hi, I’m Jimbo, and I’m originally from Murcia, Spain. I previously worked as a framebuilder under the name Safi Works (@safi.works), and I’m currently the components product manager at BMC Switzerland. I now live in Heidiland, and it’s pretty much as the books show.
I first got hooked on cargo bikes (still love and actively use them), and later down the road, I discovered the bikes with equal ERTRO wheels front and rear. I love all sorts of properly designed bikes and making the right use of them: from the simplicity of nine tubes put together correctly, bringing to life such a simple and capable machine, to the mega-engineered, seamless, integrated, and unique design of a BMC bike. Bikepacking and taking things to places still takes the biggest part of my heart, and it’s what fulfills me the most.
This bike was projected as Safi Works, but I didn’t have time to build it before the start at BMC, so my first Swiss savings were destined directly for this project that Pablo of B Bloque Bikes from Madrid built for me. My buddy Alex of Quercus Outdoors took care of the soft goods. For those curious, the pack colors came first!
- Frame/Fork: B Bloque Bikes custom series
- Rims: Mavic A319 (622 ETRTO)
- Hubs: Shimano Deore LX
- Tires: Ultradynamico Cava Race 700 x 42.??
- Handlebars: Soma Highway One
- Headset: Tange
- Crankset: Velo Orange Grand Cru 30/46T
- Cassette: Shimano Deore 10-speed 11-36t
- Derailleur(s): Shimano Dura Ace 7800
- Brakes: TRP RRL SR levers and Box One Mini V
- Shifter(s): Microshift 10-speed
- Saddle: Berthoud Aspin Open Natural
- Seatpost: Deda RS01 27.2
- Stem: Soma Sutro Quill 100mm
- Front bags: Quercus Outdoors custom
- Frame bags: Quercus Outdoors custom
- Rear bags: Quercus Outdoors custom
- Accessory bags: Quercus Outdoors custom
- Fenders: Hammered Velo Orange
- Rack: Custom stainless by B Bloque
The idea was to build a randonneur bike and keep it as classic as possible while making it enjoyable, thus having a few guilty modern pleasures. So far, its taken me for long weekends in the Alps, but hopefully this bike will see Japan and Paris-Brest-Paris.
Even if the frame looks like a lugged construction, it’s actually bi-laminated. The reason is that we couldn’t get to the desired geometry due to the given angles on lugs. The rack is a custom one-piece stainless construction by B Bloque.
You can see more from Jimbo on Instagram @jimbo.safi.
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