Velo City: Bicycle Culture and City Life

Ride For The Dark Side: Donhou Bicycles Di2 Road Bike

The Dark Side Ride: Donhou Bicycles Di2 Road Bike

Donhou Bicycles’ all-road production bike, the DSS2, comes with a buoyant pastel or light monotone paint scheme as standard. In contrast, Tom Donhou’s newest customer requested a scheme that has embraced its dark side, and looks as fast as a Special Forces TIE fighter in hyperdrive.

The Dark Side Ride: Donhou Bicycles Di2 Road Bike

It’s not known whether the owner of this custom Donhou, Nolan, is a fan of the Star Wars movie franchise or not, but his new road bike is certainly worthy of a Sith Lord. Tom paints all of the frames he builds himself in a purpose-built booth, which has turned out some spectacular results.

The Dark Side Ride: Donhou Bicycles Di2 Road Bike

The rear two-thirds of the frame is coated by a gunmetal grey, while the front end glistens with a glossy pitch-black — both mixed with a pearl. The two shades are divided by a diaphanous red gradient that glows like a planet-destroying superlaser blast against the dark vacuum of space.

The Dark Side Ride: Donhou Bicycles Di2 Road Bike

The red lines on the stem and the seat mast double as ‘registration marks’ which will help to align the components when Nolan is reassembling the bike after travelling — which happens to be a lot of the time. It’s a handy trick and looks a whole lot better than scraps of tape.

The Dark Side Ride: Donhou Bicycles Di2 Road Bike

Tom brazed the frame with British steel: light and strong Reynolds 853 Pro Team tubing, with smooth fillets hidden under that Death Star paint. It’s disc brake-equipped, the calipers and Ultegra Di2 derailleur attached to interchangeable dropouts.

The Dark Side Ride: Donhou Bicycles Di2 Road Bike

The cockpit is turning on a Chris King headset, attached to a Whiskey No. 9 through axle road fork. Nolan’s new ride is a strong and powerful frame, ready to attack any quality of road or path he aims it towards.

Donhou Bicycles Website | Facebook | Instagram

The Dark Side Ride: Donhou Bicycles Di2 Road Bike