Pinarello

Catena Road Bike

'Steel is real.' It's a mantra teetering between absolute truth and over-wrought market-speak. But at risk of sounding the latter, it's completely true. The Pinarello Catena is the only steel bike in Pinarello's stacked lineup of carbon fiber and aluminum exotica. Fittingly so, because in more ways than one, the Catena is a subtle celebration of Pinarello's rich history, a history that began humbly in the village of Catena di Villorba in the late 1940s. It was there that Giovanni Pinarello retired from a professional cycling career to lay the foundations of the region's first and most renowned bike shop, in addition to initiating the manufacture of his own world-class bicycle brand. The bikes were simple back then, with the polished lugs and ruggedly classic aesthetic only found in steel frames. The single-speed Catena channels that classically beautiful simplicity and Pinarello's world-class pedigree to deliver a bicycle that is as much a pleasure to look at as it is to ride.

To ensure you're not committing to riding more than what you're capable of, the Catena comes with a flip-flop rear hub. On one side, the cog is fixed — meaning if the wheels are turning, so are the cranks. This lets you experience the 'purity' and 'zen' of cycling that all those messengers and bike-crazy urbanites are always talking about. And, quite literally on the flip-side, you're presented with a single-speed freewheel cog that allows you to freely coast to your knees' delight. The Catena is drilled for and includes both front and rear brake calipers, so choosing to run it as a single-speed won't result in a terrifying lesson in speed conservation and cautious brake modulation.

The Pinarello Catena Road Bike includes a contrasting silver Cro-Moly fork. It's available in four sizes and in two classic colorways: Black or Red. It comes as a complete bike only, so all you'll need to add is pedals. It is geared with a 46 tooth chainring and 18 tooth rear cog for a total gear of 86.4 inches.