Save The Rim Brake! A Reactor Dream Build

Every now and again we get a chance to work on a bike that perfectly aligns a rider’s vision and our own, and this very special Reactor for No. 22 dealer Larry Marcus is our latest example of that alignment.

Starting with our aggressive Reactor frame with custom geometry, the goal was a responsive, enduring build highlighting that in many ways rim brakes are still on the very cutting edge of road race performance.

The Reactor platform was the perfect start for this project. It’s not the lightest frame available, but the extra grams budget in the frame allow for outstanding responsiveness, ride quality and durability. The Reactor’s enormous chainstays and large, aggressively butted main tubes give it a rock solid ride under hard efforts, with careful tuning keeping just enough of titanium’s legendary ride quality to make the bike a welcome companion on long rides.

Marcus’ goal was to focus on ride quality for the frame, and aggressively trim grams everywhere else. To that end, the build is dripping with exotic parts aimed at shedding grams and saving watts. Lightweight’s Meilenstein Obermayer wheels feature a deep profile and an otherworldly weight of just 935g for the pair. THM’s Clavicula cranks, Ulna handlebars and Fibula brakes trim substantial weight compared to more “pedestrian” parts, with the complete set of Fibula brakes weighing less than a single Dura-Ace caliper.

Eager to sweat the details, Marcus’ build left no stone unturned in the quest for light weight and sharp performance. Berk’s Lupina saddle features carbon layup work suitable for a museum piece and the full carbon construction comes in at just 79g. In the drivetrain, Shimano’s faultless Dura Ace Di2 components are helped with a complement of CeramicSpeed parts, including bottom bracket, headset and most notably CeramicSpeed’s ultralight and ultra-efficient 3D printed titanium derailleur pulley wheels. PYC’s lightweight SP1101 chain looks great in black and sheds additional grams.

All of the lightweight componentry added up to an as-pictured weight of just 12.78lbs (5.8kg) for this Reactor.

Wrapping the entire package together is a one-of-a-kind finish that mixes our in-house anodizing with Cerakote done by Black Magic of Portland, OR. Cerakote is a finish that we are particularly excited to use. It is a unique ceramic coating that is both extremely durable and impossibly thin, which complements our similarly thin anodized finish beautifully while offering a range of colours and tones not achievable by anodizing. The end result is a finish that shows off the beauty and lustre of titanium while maintaining the material’s legendary durability.

For Marcus, the sum of all of these details is a razor sharp build that shows that rim brakes are still deserving of recognition at the very sharpest end of the road bike spectrum.