BlackHeart Bike Company’s Allroad Al is vanilla in all the right ways
BlackHeart Bike Company's Allroad Al is vanilla in all the right ways
It’s often said that when one door closes another opens. And so while aluminium bike lovers may have recently lost Bowman Cycles, there’s now a new kid on the block – BlackHeart Bike Company.
Based out of Los Angeles, California, BlackHeart Bike Co launched a couple of years ago with a titanium Allroad model that sought to keep things simple, feel like a road bike, and fit up to 700x40mm tyres. Now BlackHeart is offering that same model in aluminium and with half the price tag.
The Allroad Al
No-nonsense is how I’d describe Black Heart Bicycles’ approach to the Allroad Al, and the length of this article perhaps shows just how simple things are with this disc-brake frameset.
There’s an English threaded bottom bracket, 31.6 mm seatpost, external seat clamp, an IS-standard tapered headset, and a proven approach to cable routing.
The Asia-made frame itself employs round double-butted 7005 tubes, and the approximate 1,600 gram frame weight suggests it’s built to go the distance and then some. The included carbon fork is claimed to weigh 480 grams, while the matching carbon seatpost is 268 g (claimed).
Geometry intentionally sits at the road end of things, with relatively quick angles and a trail figure that sits at 59 mm (based on 54/56 cm frame sizes 700 x 30 mm tyres or 650 x 47 mm). Interestingly the stack figures aren’t too aggressive and I suspect this is a bike that the masses should be able to get comfortable on.
With stock landing in May, Black Heart is offering the frameset in a simple matte black or chalk-like colour. Custom paint is also available at an additional charge, something that is done locally by Mike Hurley from MPH Paint – custom fork painting starts from US$200 and you can wild from there.
Framesets (including carbon fork, carbon seatpost, CaneCreek headset, and WolfTooth 12 mm thru-axles) cost US$1,375 (inc US shipping). And while parts supply is surely limited, Black Heart will offer complete bikes starting from US$3,000 (Shimano 105/Ultegra mix). The frameset carries a five-year warranty.
We’re in talks to get one of these new aluminium frames to review, supply allowing of course.
