CIVILIAN BICYCLE CO. LE ROI LE VEUT

Cyclocross is gaining momentum stateside due to spectator friendly action, a relaxed atmosphere, and because it stretches the riding season well into winter-sport territory. Racers of all walks of life compete on bikes ranging from the latest space-age carbon featherweight to hand-crafted steel beauties. One of the great things about cyclocross racing is that you can't buy skill, making those traditional, hand-crafted rides just as competitive on muddy, barrier-peppered courses as the latest and greatest plastic rockets. The Civilian Bicycle Company's Le Roi Le Veut contains the history, attention-to-detail, and aesthetics of a handmade racer, at a price that justifies adding a cyclocross bicycle to your stable.

Unsatisfied with the offerings available from mainstream manufacturers, Tyson Hart set out building frames under the Civilian brand in 2005 after attending UBI, a respected frame building school in Ashland, Oregon. Relying on a combination of extensive personal experience and close work with clients, Hart crafted cyclocross, commuting, and mountain bicycles. The distinctive cyclocross bikes saw action around the west coast's popular 'cross series, and quickly gained a cult following for their seamless balance of a fun-to-ride attitude, lively handling, and responsive performance.

The Le Roi Le Veut retains the same attention to detail and purposefulness honed in Hart's custom pieces, and is packaged for the masses. The frame is constructed of 4130 double-butted steel tubing. This springy, lightweight steel helps keeps your pocketbook flush, yet offers the durability and supple ride that cyclocross courses demand. Hart shaped the seatstays and chainstays to fight deflection when sprinting for snappy acceleration, but it won't beat you up on bumpy courses, or when jumping back on the saddle after a barrier hop.

At the back end of the Le Roi Le Veut reside Tange Design 7075 T6 aluminum sliding dropouts and is single speed specific. The traditional front triangle is not so traditional with the inclusion of a Civilian Chubby head tube. This oversized head tube offers front end stiffness for negotiating rutted courses with ease, and it'll fight deflection from the powerful front disc brake and stout disc-specific, full-carbon CX fork -- keeping the Le Roi Le Veut planted in high-speed turns, and stable under hard braking.

Because Civilian is about purpose designed, no-nonsense performance, you won't find canti posts on its cyclocross bicycles. Let's face it; those brakes should have been put out to the pasture decades ago. But, because of UCI restrictions, they've continued to plague cyclocross bicycles -- until now. The UCI has lifted the ban, and the Le Roi Le Veut is leading the disc brake movement. The Tektro Lyra mechanical calipers and mud-shedding 160mm front and 140mm rear wave cut rotors, are mated to ergonomic TRP RRL-A brake levers, so you'll have all the power and modulation you need.

Disc brakes stop the Le Roi Le Veut, and FSA Gossamer cranks make it go. Flex-resistant alloy crank arms transfer power efficiently. They spin on Mega Exo outboard bearings to ensure mud and grime won't force the bottom bracket into the trash after of season of racing. The cranks carry a 42 tooth chainring, that turns an 18 tooth cog.

Civilian knows its customers like to tinker, and that this won't be your only bike. For that reason, the Le Roi Le Veut doesn't come with a single-speed specific wheelset. The 18 tooth cog rides on a standard Shimano compatible freehub body with a spacer kit. This design breeds versatility. All you need to do is add a cassette, rear derailleur, rear derailleur hanger, and shifter to make the Le Roi Le Veut a one-by-whatever-you-wish, with stuff you or a comrade probably have lying around in a parts box.

The Le Roi Le Veut wheelset consists of double-walled alloy rims with 32 spokes laced to Quando hubs. They're plenty durable for years of abuse and simple to service if the inevitable Fred falls on them during a race. Front and rear Kenda Small Block Eight 700c x 32mm tires have low-profile knobs for low rolling resistance on hard packed courses; if it's a sloppy race we'd recommend going with a knobbier tire.

An all alloy cockpit is equipped with 2014 aluminum handlebars, seatpost, and stem. They all feature gradient markings to ease adjustment. Velo perforated bar tape gives a secure grip and a Cutter saddle completes the package. The Civilian Le Roi Le Veut comes in 50, 53, 55, 57, 59, and 61cm sizes, and it's available in two colors; French Flag and Sweet Pea.