Van Dessel A.D.D. | Red Delete Project

This project began as a plan to get a solid frame that could accommodate two needs: the unique fit of the rider and a critical color scheme (not the factory red and gray). Challenge accepted!

Let’s start off by talking about our rider: she’s an import in the PNW from Louisiana with a collegiate background in road and grass crits, aka, Louisiana ‘cross! She stands at about 5’7″ but has the inseam of someone who is 5’3″. As she puts it, she has “the torso of a viking and legs that are trying their best!” That, to me, translates to a bike that won’t handle awkwardly with a longer stem while also having exceptional stand-over height.

The search began with hunting for an endurance gravel bike, as they typically toe the line of being CX-capable. However, they also provide an excellent ride quality by usually having a more compact frame design that exposes more seatpost. Long and low is a broad generalization, but it was literally what we needed to get this build going. After a significant amount of research, I found the Van Dessel A.D.D. It’s a bike that blends gravel and CX by offering a compact frame for those long miles in the saddle, but with a quicker-steering front end that can still rip around the tight and twisties of a ‘cross course. It also doesn’t hurt that this bike can easily run 700x40c tires and comes with a full carbon fork. One problem solved, one to go.

Here is what the bike fully built from Van Dessel looks like:

Just look at all that gray and red. I do have to say, the photos never do any bike justice. The gray has silver flake in it and pops in the sun! However, the reason we couldn’t have any red on the bike is because the rider doesn’t like Ohio State, and those are their school colors. With anything sportsball-related, I don’t ask questions, I just try to find solutions, and I had a very simple solution for this. I started by cutting some vinyl and wrapping over the red badging where possible. I then deleted un-vinyl-able accents with a paint pen, and spray-painted the head badge. The result was a black and purple race beast.

No, you weren’t asking, but yes, purple is her favorite color. The bike came in at a touch over 19 lbs and cost less than anything else you can get pre-built on the market. I am not saying custom is the only direction you can go with a build, but it’s always a fun process. As an added benefit, you can upgrade components as you pull together the build, instead of facing a mass upgrade down the road because you weren’t in love with the initial factory specs.

We spec’d out the bike with some of the following:
-SRAM Apex 1x group
-38t Chainring with 11-36t Cassette
-Avid BB5 calipers to Origin 8 SL 140mm rotors
-Zipp Service Course Cockpit
-Supacaz tape w/ matching bar ends and top cap
-DT-Swiss Spline R24 wheelset
-Donnelly PDX tubeless tires

Our two critical goals were ultimately met; the bike fits well, and there is an amazing lack of red on the bike. This bike has seen some racing already, and has been nothing short of a trouble-free ride all throughout the ’18-19′ season for our rider.