Bike Check: Melo’s CX LOW
Cool bike? Check. Cool film camera? Check. Impeccable style, balancing SPD shoes for performance with a relaxed long-sleeve look? Check. You’ve seen Melo on SSS before with his MASH Parallax, and today we’re looking at another standout from his very tasteful bike stable: his 2015 LOW CX. Another good-looking ride… Everything to make me jealous.
Let’s start with what I think is the best part of this story. When a close friend happens to be strapped for cash but also owns very cool bikes, you make your move: “Hey, what about selling me this one? I’ll pay you right now. What do you say?” And that is exactly how Melo got his hands on this frameset, for a price so good it almost sounds too good to be true.
We are once again looking at the foundation of a simple but exceptionally tasteful build, featuring all the right original parts: an Enve CX fork with canti brake mounts, a mechanical SRAM Rival AXS groupset, and, of course, a full set of Zipp peripherals, including the rim-brake version of the ever-popular Zipp 30 wheels seen so often on SSS.
Detailed Parts List
Frameset
2015 Low CX
Groupset
Sram Rival AXS
Crank
Sram Rival
Seatpost and Saddle
Zipp SL, Specialized Power
Stem and Handlebar
Zipp SL for both
Wheels
Zipp 30 with WTB Byway 44mm
Paul brake systems are found throughout the bike, with touring cantilevers at the rear and mini-Motos up front. Orange is clearly Melo’s favorite color, which comes through most obviously in the headset upgrade to a matte mango Chris King, though I particularly like the single green Kent Eriksen seat collar. Other tasteful details include the “Kodak” bidon and keg setup, the cotton bar tape wrapped around the chainstay, and the forever-relevant Time ATAC pedals.
Melo uses this bike as his daily ride, but also as a proper CX racer during the winter season. More than a decade old, it still feels completely relevant today, and I’m glad it’s not just hanging on a wall somewhere. One final detail worth noting is the Nikon S4 around his neck, a camera I’ve always wanted to try for its single-hand manual focus capabilities. What a setup!
When everything matches!
🎞: Kodak Color Plus 200
📷: Nikon F100
📍: Tokyo
