Isis
Isis the Egyptian Mother Goddess of Peace is embodied in this light and boundless Hybrid whose ability to adapt to the task at hand is simply magical.
Easy to ride, easy to climb, easy to corner and easy to stop. The Isis is also easy on the eye… a beautiful piece of functional engineering.

The Request
Our road-racing female athlete needed a machine to train on, to commute on, to light-tour on and to holiday on. Tired of the twitchy feeling of her race bike, she wanted a low-maintenance all weather machine with steep hill-climbing ability and light weight to match. No small request, but that’s just how we like it!

The Task
The key demand of impeccable handling in all conditions for a shorter rider can only be met by running a smaller wheel size. Touring gearing is typically much lower than for normal road riding, so a gear range increase would be needed. The only brakes that perform just as well in the wet as in the dry are disk-brakes, so we would have to marry these to an ergonomic road cockpit. Finally we needed to do all of this in a package which was comfortable and still light…

The Solution
In favour over the more tyre choice-limited 650c road wheels we opted to design this frame around 26inch wheels. This also allowed us to select disk-brake specific rims and run mechanical disc brakes- the Avid BB7 road version for road shifter compatibility. These XC717 rims were laced into a beautiful pair of Chris King pink hubs- strong and pretty. We swapped out the heavy Avid rotors for lightweight floating Hope offerings.
We custom-designed a set of shorter titanium forks for clearance of up to 1.75inch touring tyres and fitted disc brake mounts and cable guides. All-in with “just in case” lo-rider bosses, the forks weigh in at an astounding 540grammes- lighter, more comfortable, and hoo-haa stronger than the majority of road forks out there!
We lowered the normal bottom bracket drop with the plan to run 165mm cranks, and in order to allow for improved cornering and braking performance.
With a bike so elegant and functional we had to internally route the cables to weather proof them, and in place of normal cable adjusters we fitted four inline adjusters along the cables where most accessible in front of the bars. Ergonomic ITM K-sword bars with a 38cm women-friendly width were allied to an ITM 4ever stem for reliability and comfort up front.
A stronger than usual tubeset for so light a rider was used in order to allow for future light touring use, and fitments for four bottles and mudguards were included.
For drivetrain we allied the low-end range of a 9-speed MTB XTR rear derailleur with the top-end range of a Dura-ace triple front chainring. We sourced reach-adjustable Shimano STI levers and shimmed them 10degrees towards the bar to accommodate this rider’s smaller hands.
We delicately garnished the frame with custom Hibiscus flower motifs and engraved the seat-tube extension with an emblem at the personal request of the owner. A women’s specific Selle Italia SLR gel flow topped a light but rock-hard Atum22 custom seatpin and collar.

The Result
A bike the likes of which you have probably never ridden! The compliant front end, powerful brakes and lowered centre of gravity make it nigh on impossible to lose control while braking. The stability and shock absorption belies the direct and accurate handling from the drops. The immense gear range ensures that any task can be tackled with ease, and at the svelte weight of just 8.2kg, this bike can quickly be touring-ready.
On this bike we even surprised ourselves at just how light, fast and comfortable we could make such a capable bike- true Isis Magic!