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Just in - All-City Mr Pink

Just In Video: All-City Mr Pink classic steel road bike with 32mm tyre clearance

A classic steel road bike with a new carbon Whisky fork and 32mm clearance lands in the office for review
by David Arthur @davearthur
Sun, Mar 26, 2017 07:00
9

Hailing from Minneapolis in the US, All-City is a niche brand that has been flying under the radar for a few years, but by golly, there are some good reasons you should take a closer look at the lovely Mr Pink that has just arrived in the office. 

All-City Mr Pink.jpg

Amusing name aside, and a paint job that is clearly evocative of an old Eddy Merckx or Ritchey paint scheme,  the Mr Pink features a lovely Columbus Zona frame bristling with details and new for 2017 is the Whisky carbon fibre fork. That sheds a load of weight over the steel fork the model has been using since it first arrived in 2011, yet still fits into the non-tapered head tube.

All-City Mr Pink - fork 2.jpg

Whilst offering the retro steel bike appearance and classic road bike geometry, there is space for up to 32mm tyres, so you don't have to go to disc brakes if you want a road bike that will take wide tyres. If you make use of the mudguard eyelets the tyre size decreases to 28mm. This is a bike that is designed for fast road racing yet its victory in the 2013 Gravel World Championships is a testament to how versatile it can be.

All-City Mr Pink - head tube badge.jpg

- 17 of the best steel road bikes and frames — great rides from cycling's traditional material

It’s a real beauty of a frame, superb weld quality and some nice little details the closer you look. We look the custom head badge, signature dropouts and the brazed-on seat clamp. There’s even a pump peg, proper old school that is. There's a 27.2mm seat post and 68mm English threaded bottom bracket and external cable routing, save for the rear brake which is routed inside the top tube.

All-City Mr Pink - rear brake.jpg

If you've got £999 and a desire to build your own bike, you can buy the frame and fork with a choice of six sizes. We’ve got a complete bike costing £1,899 with a Shimano 105 groupset and Dia Compe brakes, Halo wheels with Schwalbe Durano tyres and Genetic finishing kit. On the scales it weighs 8.89kg (19.59lb). Check out the bike over at http://www.ison-distribution.com/english/product.php?part=5AY7MP552QUK distributor Ison's website.

We're going to be hitting the road on this bike immediately and look forward to seeing how it fares with our local roads and lanes. We've tested some very nice steel road bikes over the years so the benchmark is rightly high.

If you like this video you can view more over on our Youtube channel. 

all city mr pink
All City
mr pink
Steel road bike
David Arthur @davearthur

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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9 comments

Avatar
drjohn | 7 years ago
0 likes

Yup, as a Mr. Pink rider myself I'd say the last comment is spot on. I got mine second hand nearly new and it looks great, but I doubt I would pay £999 for it. For £250 I couldn't say no.Here's the point of it - distinctive style. Not many will be riding one, unlike the Genesis Equilibrium. As I am a rider, and not a racer I can go with style over technical stuff. If you strip the paint from the Genesis, what do you have? If I get mine repainted it will still have the details in the metal work.

It's a strong bike but not a light bike. The frameset is 3.3Kg with the steel fork, pressfit BB and headset. Total weight of mine including bottle cages, pump and pedals is 10.8Kg I already climb faster than my regular riding buddies so why not? 

I could swap over to a carbon fork to cut weight but I love the lugged crown, the tyre clearance and the fancy dropouts on the steel fork. It will take a 35mm small block CX tyre, maybe bigger depending on your front derailleur position. I love having a full size frame pump on the pump peg.

It doesn't have the "legendary silky ride quality" of a classic steel bike, in fact it feels pretty hefty, but you can get a plush ride quality with big tyres fitted.

 

 

 

Avatar
IanEdward | 7 years ago
0 likes

Quote:

That said, I hope the full review details how it warrants a frameset price which is double, currency devaluation aside, that of something like a Genesis Equilibrium.

 

Very interested in that as well. I've planned an Equilibrium build for approx £2000 with Campag Potenza and handbuilt Mavic Open Pros. The 'spreadsheet' weight is 8.8kg, so assuming that's accurate, the Mr Pink is barely any heavier but with lower spec kit. Suggests the frame is lighter than the Equilibrium.

 

Alternatively it suggests that all of the 'manufacturer's stated weights' I used in my spreadsheet are way off, and my Equilibrium will actually weight much much more. But the manufacturers wouldn't lie would they? 

 

Avatar
handlebarcam | 7 years ago
0 likes

This looks lovely. Beautiful paint job. Weighing under 9kg it's certainly no dog, reservoir or otherwise, and being steel it should be very solid and stable. In fact, I hear it doesn't tip at all.

That said, I hope the full review details how it warrants a frameset price which is double, currency devaluation aside, that of something like a Genesis Equilibrium.

Avatar
ktache | 7 years ago
1 like

I do like being able to see a headset.

Avatar
StraelGuy | 7 years ago
1 like

There's a steel forked bike on their website called the Macho Man.

Avatar
spen | 7 years ago
1 like

So why, on a classic steel frame, are there carbon forks?

Avatar
cyclisto replied to spen | 7 years ago
1 like
spen wrote:

So why, on a classic steel frame, are there carbon forks?

Propably because it is easier to buy a design from Far East, paint it in matching colors, attach it to your frame and sell it as a "unique low volume bike".
When you ask the company why a CF fork on a steel frame bike, they will answer because it rides better and when you ask them why they didn't made a CF frame too, they will tell you steel rides better. I give up!

Avatar
bobbylama replied to cyclisto | 7 years ago
0 likes

cyclisto wrote:
spen wrote:

So why, on a classic steel frame, are there carbon forks?

Propably because it is easier to buy a design from Far East, paint it in matching colors, attach it to your frame and sell it as a "unique low volume bike". When you ask the company why a CF fork on a steel frame bike, they will answer because it rides better and when you ask them why they didn't made a CF frame too, they will tell you steel rides better. I give up!

 

I am from Minneapolis, and All City caters mostly to the local urban bike (counter) culture here which upholds the "Steel is Real" and "Ride Metal" mantras (just look at their website to get a feel for their market). This is a niche of people who claim to prefer the feel of steel and who would never buy a full carbon bike. The Whiskey fork is tried and very popular -- they nailed the branding -- amongst those that race in the local alley cat, track, gravel, and CX scenes where you see a lot of folks on metal racing bikes. I think All City produces beautiful bikes and I would love to own one, but as someone else here has noted, I feel I have got more bike for my money (at least spec-wise) with another brand.

Avatar
StraelGuy | 7 years ago
0 likes

Very nice! My current 'posh' bike is carbon but I'm pretty sure my final n+1 is going to be steel.

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