Colin Strickland's Allied Albe gravel bike features unique paint as well as a collection of trick components designed to excel in the gravel hinterlands of the USA
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Colin Strickland, shrouded in Rapha, riding his Rapha_RCC Allied Able(Image credit: Andy Chasteen)
Strickland's mud-splattered Allied Able gravel bike(Image credit: Andy Chasteen)
The studio shot of Strickland's frameset, although the components have since been swapped out(Image credit: Rapha)
That raised drive side chainstay enables bigger tyre clearance(Image credit: Rapha)
The groupset comes courtesy of Shimano GRX(Image credit: Andy Chasteen)
The paint scheme was designed by Strickland in collaboration with Allied and Rapha(Image credit: Andy Chasteen)
The blue Chris King hubs are a stunning complement to the colour scheme(Image credit: Andy Chasteen)
A post-race snap of Strickland's bike shows the severity of the conditions he and competitors had to tackle(Image credit: Colin Strickland)
Did someone say mud? (Image credit: Colin Strickland)
The Di2 junction box is well hidden inside the bar end(Image credit: Colin Strickland)
The Wahoo Elemnt Roam provides Strickland with directions and data(Image credit: Colin Strickland)
Strickland's stem notes were all-but ruined by the filth(Image credit: Colin Strickland)
Strickland's name is in there somewhere(Image credit: Colin Strickland)
As a sponsored Red Bull athlete, Strickland wears the venerable Red Bull Specialized Evade helmet(Image credit: Colin Strickland)
The GRX Di2 rear derailleur took a real beating at The Mid South(Image credit: Colin Strickland)
The Dura-Ace crank is converted to 1X setup with help from a Wolftooth narrow-wide chainring(Image credit: Colin Strickland)
The bike is fitted with Enve rims laced to Chris King hubs, and are wrapped in Specialized Pathfinder tyres(Image credit: Colin Strickland)
Beneath the Wahoo mount is an in-built GoPro mount(Image credit: Colin Strickland)
Strickland used 140mm Shimano XTR rotors front and rear(Image credit: Colin Strickland)
DT Swiss bolt thru axles are used for speedy removal should the OrangeSeal sealant fail(Image credit: Colin Strickland)
Strickland races in S-Works Recon shoes and custom Rapha kit(Image credit: Rapha)
Strickland shows off his new Rapha Custom kit while posing with his Enve-equipped Allied Able(Image credit: Rapha)
Colin Strickland isn't your typical bike racer. He was late to the sport, he began cycling in his early 20's as a means of commuting to class, and he's never conformed to cycling stereotype. Instead, he has simply 'followed his nose' in cycling, enjoying the metaphorical ride wherever it's led.
Coming from alleycat racing, a localised fixed-gear racing scene where bike couriers would race point-to-point without a fixed route, Strickland became one of the faces of the Red Hook racing series, which consisted of short, explosive criterium races in city centres. A far cry from the multi-hour grind of a gravel race, where Strickland saw his biggest victory, winning the unofficial gravel world championships.
His 2019 Dirty Kanza win led to cycling fans worldwide taking to Google to work out who he was, and how this rider they'd never heard of had managed to put away WorldTour pros like Peter Stetina, Lachlan Morton and Alex Howes.
This victory led to Johnathan Vaughters, Directeur Sportif of EF Pro Cycling, offering Strickland a pro contract. It was subsequently turned down by Strickland, who was reluctant to risk the sponsorship deals he'd spent years curating for a WorldTour race calendar.
Instead, for 2020, Strickland is committed to a racing calendar of his own, which most recently included taking to the start line at The Mid South gravel race.
With riders facing torrential rain, The Mid South gravel race (formally known as Land Run 100) wasn't just a battle between racers but also a war between bikes and thick red Oklahoma peanut butter. With many riders finding progress on the 160km route slowed by conditions, Colin Strickland broke away with a group of six eventually crossing the line in 2nd behind defending titleholder Payson McElveen.
Colin rode a custom-painted Allied Able, the carbon frame features a limited-edition contour style design created in collaboration between Allied, Rapha RCC and Strickland himself. Colin took inspiration from the dry Texan earth on which he trains, and the strips from the geology of rock formations.
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The Able is a bike that stands out with its unique raised chainstay. This allows a short rear end without overly limiting tyre clearance. The Able has been designed around a 42mm tyre, Colin ran Specialized Pathfinder Pro Tubeless gravel tyres in a 38mm width, which will have given him a little extra clearance to handle the sticky mud.
The Able is a 1x specific frameset and Colin's drivetrain features a mixture of Shimano Dura-Ace and XTR. A Dura-Ace crankset was used for power data and converted to a single chainring setup using a Wolftooth 1x narrow/wide 46T chainring. This was paired with Shimano's mountain bike XTR Di2 derailleur and cassette which has a range between 11/40.
Wheels and the finishing kit is a collection of ENVE road and gravel components. Chris King R45 disc hubs are built to ENVE 3.4 AR gravel rims which have been optimised to be aero with larger tyres. An inner rim diameter of 25mm gives plenty of support for gravel tyres which Strickland set up tubeless using OrangeSeal (3oz front, 3oz rear). Whether the micro gains from ENVE's Aero Road handlebars add up to anything, the flat tops will no doubt provide a welcoming platform for hands weary from vibrations.
Click through the gallery above for a closer look at Colin Strickland's custom Allied Able.
Colin Strickland's Allied Able full bike specifications
Frameset: 2019 Allied Able 58cm, Rapha_RCC custom paint collaboration
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