Hewitt Alpine Audax Frameset

"It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a man in possession of a modest fortune, must be in want of yet another bike." Jane Austen, Bikes & Prejudice.

I'm already happily married, have several nice bikes and don't possess even a modest fortune, but I knew from the moment it emerged from the box that the Hewitt Alpine was a bike I was going to love.

I was having dirty thoughts about a Canyon Endurace CF 9.0 SL, as reviewed recently but despite the Alpine having a lower spec and giving away more than 2.5kg to the Canyon, it's the green steel beauty that has moved into our kitchen.

Light and flash is all very well, but you can't beat a bike that puts a smile on your face and is uniquely yours.

Dear reader, I usually do about 500 miles on test bikes before I'm ready to send them back. So far I've done nearly 2000 on the Alpine and it's not going back because, thanks to an act of wifely benevolence, it now belongs to me.

How much more do you need to know?

In a sea of lookalike carbon sportive bikes, the Alpine stands out a mile.

Ok, so it's technically an audax bike, but what is a sportive but an audax without the cake? If you want a distinctive bike that will be fast and comfortable over long distances then the Alpine is well worth checking out.

If you just want to splat down a wedge of cash and walk away with a flash bike to impress your mates, the Alpine isn't for you.

Hewitt sell the frameset and will build it up with pretty much any bits you want, so you'll have to conduct some research before deciding on the final spec.

A bike like this requires attention and commitment and spending hours pondering options is all part of the fun.

Hewitt sell the Alpine as a frameset which can be built from a number of different grades of tubing and dressed to suit your taste and pocket. Frames start from £1050 for Reynolds 631 through to £1800 for Reynolds 953 stainless steel.

Our test bike was built from Columbus Life tubing which would set you back £1350. Life is a race grade tubeset, so it's light, stiff and a touch more responsive than 631.

All Alpine frames are built by Andy Robinson in the workshop at the back of the shop and you can pick and choose every last detail.

Paul sent me some pics of the frame as it was being built, which you certainly wouldn't get from even the very nicest off the peg bike.

Ours came with braze-ons for mudguards, rack mounts, a pump peg on the top tube and cable guides on the head tube.

The Alpine is built to the precise measurements of each customer, hence ours has a 53.4cm virtual top tube (my off the peg bikes are 54cm) and a half degree extra seat tube angle to free up some space on the saddle rail for a bag support.

The Kawasaki Green paint job (by Autostrada) is excellent and really stands out, especially with the (optional extra) white panels.

I picked up a nasty stone chip on a chainstay and it was easy to see how thick the enamelling is.

Speaking of chainstays, although the words 'bespoke steel' evoke something very traditional, the Alpine has modern touches, like oversized tubes, a semi-compact top tube and flattened chainstays.

It's a pleasing mix of the traditional and up to date.

The fork is a pretty generic carbon item, with an aluminium steerer. It does have a nice curve though, which suits the bike better than a straight bladed item.

It's a frameset which has the stiffness to climb well and go fast, but which doesn't beat you up. In fact the defining quality of the bike is the smoothness of the ride, it glides where other bikes would bounce and judder.

Our test bike came with a Shimano 105 groupset, which is plenty good enough for audaxing. You could easily go higher, the frame is definitely worth it, but 105 is a good balance between value for money and performance.

A 50/34 chainset, matched with an 11-28 cassette, gives nearly as good a range of gears as a triple but looks neater and weighs less.

The 105 shifters work nicely, with a positive click from the inner lever, but the exposed mechanism on the underside of the hood can occasionally be uncomfortable if, like me, you ride with a finger curled under the hoods.

One nice thing about the 105 chainset is that as it comes in black it gives the bike a very tidy look.

The brakes are Shimano R650 with 57mm drop, which gives enough space for full mudguards and 28mm tyres. They work perfectly well, although the standard pads are a touch wooden and I'll be swapping them for something better when they wear out.

It's something that I've noticed about blocks supplied as standard, so it's not a criticism of the brakes per se and they worked just fine when I had to dodge a suicidal squirrel on a fast descent!

The wheels are interesting. The black H-Plus SON rims have been appearing on a few bikes now, the Genesis Equilibrium we tested springs to mind, and laced to DT Swiss 350 hubs it's a wheelset that looks fantastic.

I did wonder whether the semi-deep section rims would give a harsh ride, but with a wide tyre bed the 25mm Continental GP4000s inflated to a width that looked more like 28mm.

Combined with the frame the ride quality is exceptionally smooth. The bike also felt fast and climbed very well - on a hilly 90 mile test ride it was much faster than my usual audax machine.

That said, the wheels are on the hefty side. A quick dangle on the fishing scales showed that the front wheel was a whopping 500g heavier than an 11yr old Ksyrium Elite.

I can't honestly say I felt the wheels were slowing me down, but it would be interesting to try a lighter set. My hunch is that lighter wheels would climb even better, but wouldn't be as smooth or as comfortable over a long distance.

I would consider changing tyres though. The Continental GP4000s are just a touch more fragile than I like, deflating from two thorn intrusions that a Gatorskin would have laughed at, but they roll well and tyres are almost as much a personal choice as saddles.

The rest of the kit is decent quality stuff - Deda bars and stem with a Richey seatpost.

To be honest these aren't bits that excite me that much, but the shallow drop on the compact bars suited me very well and you could easily choose your personal favourites.

The saddle was a Selle Italia Max Flite Gel Flow. Initially it was okay, but once the mileage went over 40 miles it was just way too hard, so I swapped it out for my regular Brooks.

Listing and commenting on the various components is all very well, but a bike at this price has to be more than just a dry spec list, it has to be on something that reaches in grabs your heart and makes you start planning epic rides, right? Although I love my trusty Dawes Century SE, which took me on LEL, the Alpine is faster, smoother and just plain nicer.

It's closer to being a race bike than a light tourer and it's an absolute blast to ride.

Verdict

Fabulous bespoke steel road bike with real character