What’s the catch with this one? Well, it’s missing two wheels, and an engine, steering wheel, leather seats, automatic transmission. You get the picture - after seeing the picture. It’s a bicycle.
The upside? All 77 of the Aston Martin One-77 cars have been sold (and since then one crashed, bringing the number to 76). But the bike is available to buy.
Developed as a joint project between the British carmaker and compatriot high-end cycle fettlers, Factor Bikes, the One-77 is essentially the Aston Martin of bicycles and is being billed by both companies as "the world's most technologically advanced road bicycle”.
And it promises to do everything short of administer a drug test. Following the spirit of the two-door coupe, the bicycle relies heavily on carbon fibre for the frame, wheels, forks and handlebars, features hand-stitched leather on bars and seat.
Instead of the car’s six-speed automated manual transmission, the bikemakers looked to Japan for a race-spec 21-speed Shimano Dura-Ace running gear. However there is techno wizardry worthy of any supercar in the integrated high-intensity LED light system front and rear - no pleb dynamo grinding or bolt-on uglies here, thanks.
But the standout technology is the touchscreen computer system, which raises performance analysis to the level of a science lab. Most bike computers will give you speed and distance. Better ones give you cadence (pedal revolutions) and heart rate.
The One-77 gives you more than 100 data measurements, including altitude and rate of ascent - the latter a novel idea according to the cyclists in our office who are happy enough to be able to get up a hill at all.
The computer will also calculate the leg power, wasted leg power, and crank torque and force. For each leg. The One-77 goes on sale in July - as with the car, in a limited edition of just 77 -- and buyers will be invited to view their bike being built at the factory.
