Steve rides for Etna Brewing/Desalvo, based out of Southern Oregon/Northern California, and like the riders and members of many cycling teams, it is much more about the friendship and camaraderie among the team and it’s sponsors, than the races and the results. Etna Brewing crafts excellent brews in Northern California and Mike DeSalvo handcrafts bicycles, elegant in their clean lines and simplicity, in the small town of Ashland, Oregon (his wife is a wonderful science teacher at Ashland High School), so it is the local bond that connects the team. Friends ride together, sporting the colors and names of local businesses and individuals, helping to build community and bring people together. What follows is a portrait of Steve’s custom DeSalvo, resplendent in the mud and dirt of a recent ride, evidence of a bicycle that is not only well-loved, but also well-ridden.
- The Bike Works’ classroom is the backdrop for this photo shoot.
- The downtown tube bears Mike’s DeSalvo’s name.
- Columbus is the tubing of choice for this frame.
- Steve favors the Time RSX Series pedal, perhaps for it’s strong spring and respectable platform size.
- Steve goes with a Bontrager bar/stem combo, of the carbon fiber variety. 110mm stem and 44cm bars.
- Bontrager also supplies the brakes. Steve keeps it all matching with blue colored cable end caps. Attention to detail is the mark of a well seasoned mechanic, as well as bicycle rider.
- A classic Turbo saddle sits atop another classic, the Thomson Masterpiece seat post.
- Another example of attention to detail, the seatpost clamp matches the post. It’s the little things that count. . .
- Up front we find a Campagnolo Record hub laced radially to Velocity rims, with the decals removed for a clean look. Those are Sapim spokes.
- The Bontrager bars provide a nice flat perch on the hoods, perfectly accentuated by the Fizik tape and blue Hudz hood covers. Steve has always been a fan of the Campagnolo shape and mechanical performance.
- An Easton EC90 Carbon fork holds the front end in place.
- Steve runs the formidable Continental GP 4 Seasons to withstand the brutal Seattle roads.
- Doing the gear changing duty in back is the timeless Campagnolo Record rear “mech”.
I have always been enamored with Steve’s bikes, for they embody the classic elements of road bikes that make them so sleek and attractive. The lines are clean, thanks to steel tubes and classic box section rims, the components elegant. The crowning attribute of Steve’s bikes is the fact that they always show signs of a recent ride, proof that the real joy of owning such a nice bike is the joy of riding it.
