Italian small-batch bike brand TRed took home a second-in-a-row award for best track bike this year, and it was quite the looker, but it was two other bikes that really caught our eye at NAHBS earlier this year. The Hedera XC hardtail turned “beach racer”, and a new disc brake, drop bar version of their Levriero TT bike both stood out. We’ll start with the Levriere…
The Levriero RR model started life (and is still sold) as a 1x TT bike, typically shown with bullhorn bars and aero extensions. But, anything’s possible with custom builders, so they wanted to show off what else could be done with this frame.
Low set seatstays keep the rear end laterally stiff, but this design typically results in a more comfortable ride, too.
The TT version has rim brakes, but they can make it with flat mount disc brakes, too. This build was using carbon fiber rotors inside a Rotor 1×13 hydraulic shifting group.
Six Days track bike
An homage to the Six Days Racing events that are essentially a weeklong party at a track with some racing thrown in for good measure, their hand-polished (there’s no chrome treatment, the shine comes strictly from polishing) AlScaZir alloy track bike took home an award. This gives TRed back-to-back “Best Track Bike” awards, and it’s easy to see why when you look at the frame close up.
Ultra smooth welds with deeply shaped metal fairings leading into the back wheel, plus a filled in section leading from the top tube to the seat tube are not just beautiful…they likely also add a ton of stiffness.
The shaping continues down to the BB shell and through the chainstays.
Hedera tries something new…again
Their Hedera XC hardtail mountain bike frame was showing off its versatility by swapping to drop bars and balloon tires. Reminiscent of beach racer bikes from The Netherlands, this would would make an extremely fast cruiser for rough roads.
Smooth welds and a headtube sized to match the carbon fork keep the lines on point.
TRed uses a particular blend of metals, low set seatstays and shaped tubes to provide a bit of rear axle micro-suspension.
They showed off another interesting all-road/monstercross version of this bike with a wilder build at Eurobike last year, too.
