The .1R combines the best of the worlds of automotive engineering and design and road bicycles, relying on modern production technologies, high-strength materials, and attention to the smallest details. Small but pointed details are present throughout, like the use of the Aston Martin Valkyrie’s ultra-thin titanium hyper bike badge, and a miniature replica of the hypercar’s wheel design on the titanium piston caps of the bike brakes. ‘Working in collaboration with Aston Martin we have not only taken our titanium bicycles to new heights but have also unlocked true innovation within the cycling industry,’ says Oliver Laverack.
‘We have created a bicycle with unparalleled levels of craftsmanship and performance engineering.’ As a result, everything is seamless, concealed and smooth, with no exposed cables or hoses. This meticulously finished machine is the result of a collaboration between Aston Martin and titanium bicycle specialist J.Laverack. The J.Laverack Aston Martin .1R is a handcrafted road bicycle that is tailored to each owner like a bespoke suit. Aston Martin will be offering up their hyper bicycles online configurator for customers to explore all the available options on a bicycle that blends high-tech materials with handcrafts. If many of the parts look familiar next to Serial 1’s other urban e-bikes, that’s because they share the same DNA. The SWITCH/MTN is built on a similar foundation, including the same 90 Nm mid-drive Brose S Mag motor and proprietary in-frame 529 Wh removable battery developed in part by Harley-Davidson’s LiveWire motorcycle engineers.
Speaking to BikeRadar in 2015, the UCI’s then-technical manager, Mark Barfield, acknowledged the UCI’s minimum bike weight limit “is a bit of a relic of the past”. Before the mass adoption of disc brakes on road bikes, for example, many pro-spec road bikes weighed less than 6.8kg and this was not widely considered unsafe. A full range of gearing options can be fitted according to personal preference, and all componentry is selected from the leading manufacturers in the field hyper bike of racing and road bikes. The .1R is finished off with a specially commissioned saddle from the esteemed British manufacturer Brooks, trimmed in the owner’s choice of leather or Alcantara, as are the handlebar grips. The Back tire isn’t fitted in place correctly and is slightly too high up on the rear tire axle shaft. It appears to be tightened in place and secure by the nut screw, but it creeps me out a bit that if the nut were to unscrew a bit the tire would fly out….
In 2010, Jean Wauthier, a UCI technical advisor, told BikeRadar the limit was set taking into account “sensory-motor coordination, stability, balance, manoeuvrability, adherence, postural comfort, a vision-posture system and safety”. Removable accessories, such as bike computers or water bottles, are not included in this, but fixed accessories (ones that can’t be removed during competition) such as pedals, bottle cages and bike computer mounts are. As the sport’s global governing body, the Union Cycliste International (or UCI for short) defines the technical regulations for bicycles and equipment used in its sanctioned races and events.
Canyon’s 2019 Ultimate CF EVO Disc 10.0 LTD, for example, weighed just 6.04kg in a size medium, while its 5.1kg Ultimate CF Evo 10.0 SL showed what was possible in the rim-brake era. In 2022, the opening stages around Copenhagen were pan-flat, meaning weight wasn’t a concern and riders went all-in on aero. On top of this, the lightest bike we saw – Simon Clarke’s Factor 02 VAM – weighed just 6.925kg ready to race. As a result, bikes such as the classically styled Cannondale SuperSix Evo of yesteryear are a rare sight nowadays; as are skinny tubular tyres and rims. Round tubes are typically more structurally efficient than aerofoil-shaped tubes, and can therefore be made lighter.