There is something very special about Alpe d’Huez and its infamous climb, it is not just that our hero’s of Le Tour have battled up it or that it is magnificent in its own right, it seems to me that part of its charm is that it is accessible. Anyone who wants to ride it can ride it, it is not the same with other sports we can’t all play football at Wembley or cricket at Lords but we can all ride Alpe d’Huez. I don’t know how many people ride the climb each year but I do know that those who do, do so on a huge range of machines, mountain bikes and shoppers, fixies and electric and of course the race bike. The choice of bike is a personal one, for some it is a beautiful old steel frame for others a top of the range full carbon and for some it is a bespoke hand built bike.
It got us thinking,
Which hand built bike would be the fastest on the Alpe, and on the basis that not all frame builders have time to ride their bikes, more interestingly which frame builder would be the fastest on their bike up the Alpe?
So the challenge has been issued, which hand built bike builder will be the fastest up Alpe d’Huez?