Azmi has always been a fan of Japan and had always wanted a Japanese custom bike.

 

He had his sights on Cherubim but the attention had later went on to Samson after he found out about the skilled craftsman, Tetsuro Harada, who was the man behind the brand.

 

 

Harada-san has been known for his works in the Japanese Keirin world and has its own admirers for his works amongst popular builders such as Nagasawa, Kalavinka, Makino and was also the more innovative builder who started using oversized downtube tunings for the Keirin NJS frames. 

 

That later convinced him that his intended new bike tol be an all road discipline and to be built by the Japanese craftsman who has also often traded lugs with builders such Richard Sach.

 

 

With the bike fitting done by Fitskuul, Harada-san was able to relate the kind of ride that Azmi and Fitskuul have hoped to achieve.

The frame was built with the Columbus tubing and paired with an Enve AR fork. Finished off in a two tone paintwork and with Chris King releasing their limited two tone colourway products along the same timeframe, it was a perfect match!

 

The decision of running a 1x11 was quickly decided given the terrains here for Singapore as well as being an all road bike.  Having chanced upon Ingrid Bike Components, Azmi wanted the crankset to compliment with the silver chainstay on the frame.

 

 

 

The wheels were built up by BUILT and to match the frame colourway as well as the chris king headset, the limited black gold hubs were decided on to pair with the Enve rims.

 


 

Being a purist, Azmi ensured that he got his hands on the limited Brooks Cambium C13 that has the gold rivets to match the frameset as well and Chris King Components as well.

 

The paintwork was suggested by Azmi where he chanced upon a Belle frame and he adores the fade colourway. Harada-san was able to acheive similar finishes and added extra touches such as the Samson logo in the matching gold colour to the Chris King black gold series. Harada-san added his own design to have the samson logo on the seattube which complimented the chainstay and crankset!

 

 

Arigato to both Azmi and Harada-san!

 

BUILD SPEC

Frameset  Samson Advance
Headset Chris King
Wheelset Enve SES to Chris King
Tyres Panaracer Gravelking SS
Groupset Shimano GRX
Crankset Ingrid CRS-Pop
Stem Deda Superleggero RS Limited
Seatpost Deda Superleggero RS
Handlebar Deda Superleggera RS Limited
Saddle Brooks Cambium 
Grips Brooks Cambium Rubber
Cages Silca Sicuro Black Cerakote
Pedals Shimano Ultegra
 
August 21, 2022 — Sherwin Ng

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