Saffron Naked Columbus XCr review

Over the past 10 years, Matthew Sowter has built a glowing reputation for his Saffron custom framebuilding business. His beautiful handmade steel bikes have won dozens of awards and a number of his creations have graced the pages of Cyclist.

A glance at the Naked Columbus XCr, with its poetically neat welds and impeccable finish, would suggest another Saffron Frameworks classic, yet this frameset represents a significant departure for Sowter.

Before now, every Saffron bike was a one-off, built bespoke to the customer’s requirements. ‘It’s a very difficult way of working and at times not very efficient or economical,’ says Sowter. ‘Plus it takes a certain breed of rider to come to us and order.

‘People think you need to have an understanding of how steel performs and the different construction methods or tube types. You don’t get an idea of what it will turn out like until the frame is finished, either. There’s a perception that buying custom steel requires a level of confidence and trust that a lot of riders don’t have.’

With that in mind, the Naked Columbus XCr forms part of a new four-bike range (two designs offered with rim or disc brakes) in which Sowter has fixed a number of details: the construction method, the tubeset, dropouts and braze-ons.

It gives Saffron enough parameters to show prospective customers what the bike will look like, and give them a good idea of how much it will cost, although Sowter is yet to settle upon a final frameset price at the time of writing.

‘It is still custom. We still make the frame to the customer’s specific geometry, but having some of the details decided beforehand makes the process less intimidating and time-consuming,’ says Sowter. ‘We’ll turn these projects around in two to three months, whereas our usual waiting list is seven to ten months.’

The Naked Columbus XCr has unsurprisingly been made with Columbus XCr stainless steel. Sowter says its high tensile strength means tube walls can be thinner to reduce weight without sacrificing the stiffness of its non-stainless equivalent.

The frame is TIG welded because Sowter says it is the lightest way to join tubes, and can be left bare – fillet brazing would be need to be painted to protect it, which would add weight.

‘Really what we’re trying to do is strip everything away with the bike, so it’s left with nothing overcomplicated or decorative,’ he says. ‘I’ve ridden many different types of tubesets, used different construction methods and geometries. In a way, this is us saying what we think works for a high-performing, lightweight steel frame.’

The scales back up Sowter’s claim – 6.58kg would be impressive for a built-up carbon frame, so to achieve that weight in steel is an incredible feat.

Sowter wanted the components to accentuate the bike’s light weight, and as a result the wheels, bars, stem and seatpost all come from German carbon wizards AX Lightness. The wheels (tubulars) have a claimed weight of just 790g, and the other AX components come in at less than 400g combined.

It makes for an insanely light but heart-stoppingly expensive bike – as a reference, our build price came to £6,614.68 without the frameset. But weight isn’t everything.

Light and shade

After only my first few kilometres on the bike it became apparent to me that extreme light weight manifested in steel is a totally different proposition to a carbon equivalent. Very lightweight carbon constructions, as a consequence of their stiffness, can tend to be skittish.

By contrast, the Saffron felt buttery, as if the lightness of the steel helped dampen the road surface instead of being more easily disturbed by it. It was floaty, not flighty.

The comparatively skinny stainless steel tubes and low-profile wheels only enhanced the frame’s feel, as they proved almost impervious to gusty conditions.

On one ride it was as if I was riding in my own personal eye of a storm – I could see and feel high winds swirling all around me, heaving at trees and wobbling lampposts, but the bike was never buffeted or tugged from the line I had it on.

That’s not to say it was a docile ride. Being more naturally springy than carbon meant it didn’t leap off the line as quickly, but instead it felt like the steel harnessed its flex and returned that energy in the form of forward momentum.

It felt lively to ride, and on long, steady climbs its light weight was like having an extra gear or really good legs. It was the feeling of simply being faster than usual. However, there was a penalty to be paid for that lightness, which revealed itself in the lack of stiffness.

Whenever I had to stand up to punch over sharp rises in the road, I could hear the fizz-fizz-fizz of brake pads touching the wheel rim during each pedal stroke. Likewise, putting my weight forward in signpost sprints induced flex that made the front-end handling a little vague.

Steel will never be able to compete with carbon in pound-for-pound stiffness, but my criticism here isn’t levelled at the frame itself, but rather at the components. The AX Lightness kit simply couldn’t cope with the forces being applied through it.

It has to be said that I’m possibly a touch heavier than your average cyclist. And while I’m within the suggested weight limit for the Ultra 25T wheels, they flexed and twisted worryingly whenever I put them to work on the short, punchy hills that pepper my test routes around Dorset (and they gave me a real moment of terror when the brakes failed to do their job on a fast descent in the wet).

Perhaps I’m asking too much from a rear wheel that weighs less than 500g, but the experience left me torn about my feelings towards this bike.

Sowter wanted to highlight just how light steel can be (he claims this frame is 1.58kg, which is very light for steel), so it made sense to go for the lightest finishing kit available, but I would happily cede a kilo or so to build the frame with some slightly more conventional components, stiffen things up and, in turn, improve the bike’s everyday rideability.

If weight is all you care about, carbon is probably still the way to go. But if ride quality, fit and pure good looks are equally important, then anyone opting for Saffron’s latest design will undoubtedly be left supremely impressed.

Spec

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