German components manufacturer Schmolke has been a brand to seek out at the Eurobike trade show since its inception, if you want to drool over the latest lightweight and ultra-exclusive parts.
While the weight-weenie trend of the noughties has been overtaken by the demand for aerodynamics and ride quality, Schmolke, founded in 1992, has been quietly working away bringing its lightweight knowhow to today's bikes.
First up – and a genre of bike you wouldn’t normally associate with flyweight builds – is Schmolke’s Infinity Gravel bike.
When most brands set out to make a lightweight, racy gravel bike, they often look to remove some of the fixtures and fittings – see Specialized’s Crux, Cervélo’s Aspero and Cannondale’s SuperSix EVO CX. Not so with Schmolke’s design.
In fact, it has fittings for three bottles, rear and front racks, and mudguards, and still the frame comes in at a claimed 1,100g with a 460g fork (both weights include all fittings and 12mm thru-axles).
The build on show at Eurobike combined the €2,290 Infinity frameset with a Campagnolo Ekar 13-speed 1x drivetrain and brakes, plus Schmolke TLO 30mm rims on DT Swiss 240 hubs shod with 40mm Challenge Getaway tyres.
The build is finished with Schmolke’s TLO Gravel handlebar and stem, SL saddle and TLO seatpost.
The weight? 7.1kg. And the price? €8,500.
Schmolke Aerrow combines lightweight and aero
Next up is Schmolke’s all-new Aerrow design, which the brand claims to combine aerodynamic tube shapes with aggressive race geometry and Schmolke’s lightweight flair (although the frame and fork weights are yet to be confirmed).
The design features dropped stays, tube profiles that are reminiscent of the likes of the Cervélo R5 and Cannondale SuperSix Evo, full internal routing and an aero seatpost. As you'd expect, it comes in some rather special builds.
The more ‘standard’ build is the Aerrow AXS that, aside from the €2,780 frameset, comes with SRAM Red eTap AXS and Schmolke’s 45mm-deep TLO (that stands for ‘The Light One’) rims on feathery DT Swiss 180 hubs.
Those wheels are shod with Challenge Strada 25mm open tubular clincher tyres and Revoloop tubes.
The bar, stem, seatpost and saddle all come courtesy of Schmolke’s TLO line. This 56cm bike dips under the UCI limit at 6.7kg and costs €10,800.
If that's not quite exclusive enough for you, then there’s a Dura-Ace Di2 build that comes with a THM Clavicula SE chainset (replete with carbon chainrings) and 45mm-deep TLO rims built onto the minimal Extralite SPD-3 hubs.
The tyres are 25mm Challenge clinchers and it uses the same Revoloop tubes, along with TLO finishing kit.
This one tips the scales at a scant 6.1kg and could be yours for €12,000.
Old-school weight weenies, rejoice
For the ultimate lightweight fans, Schmolke has the Lightning with a frame weight claimed to be under 800g.
It’s built up with a set of TLO 30 Tubular wheels with Extralite SL2 hubs that weigh in at just 980g a pair.
The caveat of this 5kg bike is that it requires the use of rim brakes (God forbid!), which may not be surprising given the ultra-low weight, even in an age when disc brakes dominate across the board.
The complete build uses SRAM Red 22 with a THM Clavicula chainset, Tufo Elite 25mm tubular tyres and Schmolke’s TLO carbon components.
And the price? Yours for €12,000.
