Santa Cruz’s Caletti Cycles have eight standard models in their lineup, available in a plethora of custom options. Their latest titanium Adventure Road frame was laced together for a customer with a deep appreciation for sneaker culture and was anodized to the (Air) max.
Sneaker freakers can be just as obsessive as bike nerds, and this Caletti is a good example of what happens when those two worlds collide. It also demonstrates what lengths the Caletti workshop will go to in order to satisfy a customer’s grand designs.
Even someone with a limited knowledge of the anodization process can appreciate the effort it took to create this finish. To begin with, each scale in the elephant skin pattern surrounding the head tube, chain stays and seat tube topper had to be masked off.
That was just for the brushed effect. The aqua Caletti logo on the down tube (there’s one of the back of the seat tube, too) needed masking too, as did the proud ‘Handmade in Santa Cruz, CA’ on the chainstay.
If you’re in need of a rabbit hole to crawl down, try the multitude of lacing patterns available to the casual and ceremonial shoe and boot wearer. One of the more elaborate configurations now decorates the top tube and seat tube topper.
SRAM’s eTap groupset, and a set of hydraulic disc brakes, was selected for the build kit, along with Matte Slate Chris King headset and hubs — a perfect complement to that lust-worthy brushed titanium. John Caletti machined a set of headset spacers as a final detail, and a custom titanium seatpost was finished to match — along with the ti bottle cages.
The wheels were ‘laced’ to a pair of Chris King R45 hubs by John at Jones Precision Wheels, a Santa Barbara local — a bit like a custom pair of sneakers for a custom bike. At least the bike won’t be worried about getting dusty, tramping over the local trails.
Caletti Cycles Website | Facebook | Instagram
Big thanks to Peter Thomsen for the photos.
