Late last year, BikeRadar reported that Sir Chris Hoy and Evans Cycles had teamed up to produce a range of affordable road and city bikes. We've since taken a closer look at the expected series but now have the Sa Calobra 004 range-topping road bike in our posession.
For the expected retail price of £1,350, this bike features a 6066 aluminium frame paired to an own-brand carbon fork. No attention-seeking tube shapes, internal cable routing or fancy bottom bracket standards here, though. The HOY keeps straight to the point.
A signature from the man himself
Componentry doesn't disappoint, though – there's a full Ultegra group, bar the chainset, which is FSA's Gossamer compact model (50/34T). The HOY rolls on Mavic Aksium wheels shod with 23mm Aksion rubber, also from Mavic. Finishing kit is mostly own-brand alloy equipment but the quality looks decent enough, with an attractive rather than tacky finish.
Some of the welding work on the HOY frame isn't the nicest we've seen but we're confident that the finish will be improved once the bike hits the shelves. We haven't got the bike on the scales yet, but will be doing so soon – expect a full write-up in a forthcoming issue of Cycling Plus magazine.
The stays have some subtle curves
It's nice to see some homegrown competition for Boardman/Halfords, and these are just the sort of bikes that will bring riding to the masses. We think the future is bright for HOY Bikes.
