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TECH NEWS

Scappa aims to offer bespoke luxury bicycles

New Italian bicycle manufacturer sets sights on custom carbon frames

At a plush five star hotel in central London, Italian manufacturer Scappa Bicycles unveiled their lofty ambitions to offer luxury bespoke road bikes where the sky's the limit for prices: their top-end Purosangue frame starts at £9,000.

Scappa was first conceived in 2010 by Austrian Gernot Müller, who claims 27 years in the cycling industry. He had a desire to produce dream bikes, fully hand-built in Italy to meet a customers every need and craving. They’re custom measured bespoke frames with very high attention to detail, made using the tube-to-tube construction method that allows complete customisation more easily than producing expensive moulds.

The range includes three road bikes, a women’s road bike, one time trial model and a mountain bike. The company names itself after the Italian for ‘escape’, and the model names are drawn from horse breeds. They make good use of the horse logo across the frames, by way of a reminder. 

The top-end road frame is called the Purosangue (pictured at the top of the article) and offers a claimed weight of just 630g for an unpainted 55cm frame. A coat of paint will add about 60g, and Gernot reckoned that blue is the lightest colour to choose, if you wanted a painted frame.

Of course the frame and its geometry is completely custom, and you can choose details like internal or external cable routing, PressFit or external bottom brakcet, seatpost size and many other details. There’s no off-the-shelf frame. Prices start from £9,000 for the frame, with any build available.

There's some very nice details, like the dropouts and the shape of the tube profiles.

For sportive and endurance riders there’s the Giara, which has a tubeset designed to offer greater comfort, with geometry adjusted to suit such riding. It’s a claimed 1,040g for a 55cm frame. It's a little more affordable as well, with frame prices starting from around £3,700.

The Furioso is their aero road frame (which wasn't available to photograph), with aero shaped tube profiles to reduce drag. It’s a little heavier at 940g for a size 55cm.

For women cyclists they’ve developed the Racy Tracy. Gernot with his partner Diane Heyn have together developed this model to meet the different demands of women, with a shorter top tube, compact rear triangle and adjusted geometry. Frame weight for a 53cm is a claimed 930g.

The Stronzetta is a time trial bike, which they didn’t have built up in time for the launch, but that’s better for showing off its sleek lines.

The head tube is cut low to allow the stem to be recessed, and produce a compact front end. The seat tube curves around the rear wheel, the seat stays are angled low to reduce drag and the rear brake is mounted below the bottom bracket.

Scappa were keen to get across their message that they're clearly aiming these bikes at those people who want a completely unique bike made to measure, and can afford to meet the high price such a bike commands. We’ll hopefully get to swing a leg over a test bike later in the year so we can see how they ride. In the meantime check out www.scappa.it for more info.

David worked on the road.cc tech team from 2012-2020. Previously he was editor of Bikemagic.com and before that staff writer at RCUK. He's a seasoned cyclist of all disciplines, from road to mountain biking, touring to cyclo-cross, he only wishes he had time to ride them all. He's mildly competitive, though he'll never admit it, and is a frequent road racer but is too lazy to do really well. He currently resides in the Cotswolds, and you can now find him over on his own YouTube channel David Arthur - Just Ride Bikes

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10 comments

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Vinerman | 8 years ago
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this is an Antonio Sarto made frameset. any brand can have frames by Sarto, this is a brand not manufacturer, German project with "aim" at wealthy crowd. sometimes people think the price=good, sad but true. 

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netclectic | 10 years ago
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'the Racy Tracy' says it all really. I'm sure Wayne will buy one for Coleen.

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Metjas | 10 years ago
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"In the meantime check out www.scappa.it for more info"

if only there was anything there to learn about the background of their master builder...a new brand launching itself with a £9K frame in this fashion should send a few alarm bells ringing. There's plenty of established race-proven ultra high end bike builders out there, so who in their right mind would want to take a gamble on this?

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Parlee-king | 10 years ago
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£9k for an Italian made frame  13

why not just a get a race proven Colnago C59 and spend the 6k saved on training camps and a coach

top end cycling seems to have gotten in the silly upward spiral that football transfer fee & wages are locked into...sky effect?

oh yer maybe these are made for footballers to spend a small proportion of a days wage on

Your mileage may vary

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Cervelo12 | 10 years ago
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Manufactuer or brand?

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Mikeduff | 10 years ago
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Not sure I would trust a builder who makes three frames, but couldn't get one built up in time for their own launch, and had a second that "wasn't available to photograph"... There is something about attention to detail and being a good "completer / finisher" that I want in my framebuilder!

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Vili Er | 10 years ago
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what i really want is for a bike company to come out with a matte black carbon frame. one can dream.

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notfastenough | 10 years ago
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Oh absolutely, build it up to cost the same as a new BMW, get it covered in salt and grit then for the grand finish, slide it across some black ice, bouce up a kerb and wrap it round a signpost...

Super Record EPS, Mad Fiber wheels, you name it.

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Metjas | 10 years ago
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now I did start thinking about my options for a winter bike  1

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notfastenough | 10 years ago
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A frame that *starts* at £9k? Crikey.

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