Despite having a consistent presence on the Italian bike scene – that literally spans decades, Scapin still remains a little known brand in most parts of the world; especially here in the USA. Which is a shame, because all along they’ve continued to make some glorious, handmade bikes in Italy, while others have been forced to scale back their efforts and outsource.
The company’s top tier bikes for 2014 are the Ivor and Etika RC. Both bikes are available in custom geometries, along with an array of really unique color schemes.
The Ivor
The Ivor’s frame is made from T800 carbon involving a tube-to-tube fabrication process. As previously mentioned, this allows for a fully customizable geometry. The premise of the Ivor is aimed more toward comfort or "endurance’ riding, whereby Scapin incorporates it’s CFS (comfort flex system).
Essentially, very thin diameter seatstays that curved inward toward the frame are used in order to gain further compliance. The net effect is better absorption over rough roads without the loss of stability.
In addition, the 2014 Ivor gets an updated tapered head tube, press-fit bottom bracket and carbon dropouts, along with internal routing for either mechanical or electronic groupsets.
Scapin continues to use it’s S-Way mount/integrated seatmast design on the Ivor. The seatpost is secured into the frame with a TwinStop dual clamp system to prevent post slippage. A cool aspect of the split clamp design (half is attached to the post) is that you can remove the post, say for transporting the bike, and then easily reinstall it.
The Etika RC
The Etika RC represents Scapin’s more performance oriented road bike. Made from T700 unidirectional carbon fiber, the 2014 RC incorporates improved aerodynamics, along with integrated seatpost. In addition, it has all the latest design details, such as a tapered head tube with 1.5in lower bearing, and a full carbon fiber. Moreover, it has a press-fit BB86 bottom bracket, full internal routing for mechanical or electronic groupsets, and carbon fiber dropouts as well.
Additionally, there are some cool details – like a metal plate on the down tube and chainstay to protect against the dreaded chain drop. Also, seatclamp has an internal expanding wedge design which keeps the frame looking clean in this area.
Loads of color options !
http://www.scapin.com/ita/
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