Scarab Brought a Steel Bike with Carbon Details to MADE

“], “filter”: { “nextExceptions”: “img, blockquote, div”, “nextContainsExceptions”: “img, blockquote, a.btn, a.o-button”} }”>

Scarab Cycles has really made a mark on the industry over the short five years, actually six since I was there for the anniversary, the brand has existed. There are a few reasons for that but among them is an understanding that it’s important to view the company as a brand that’s bigger than any particular person but also to tell a unique brand story.

Functionally that means that neither creative director and co-founder Alejandro Bustamante nor co-founder Santiago Toro, who handles the engineering and much of the promotion, put their name forward ahead of the company. It also means that every single bike tells a unique story of the Colombian countryside that Scarab calls home.

That last bit is perhaps the most important thing to understand about the brand. I had the opportunity to fly to company headquarters a short distance south of Medellín, Colombia and if it reminded me of anywhere it was another cycling Mecca, northern Italy. Both places nestle into the mountains with only up and down as ride choices, but Colombia has another unique flavor.

Colombia is rough and the altitude is higher than the Dolomites. Colombia is also brighter and closer to the equator. All the little differences aren’t actually that important though. Like Italy, Colombia has a rich cycling heritage but it’s a little less well known. Scarab builds steel bikes that tell a story of the place the brand comes from. It’s special and it’s unique.

Some of that story comes from the paint that Scarab curates. Entry level offerings are choices between colors and designs that breathe the brand’s heritage into the bikes they grace. Then things get a little more complicated. For those bikes, Bustamante puts his artist’s journey onto steel like a painter against canvas.

Sometimes that even means an actual paint brush but it doesn’t always mean Bustamante’s hand is on that brush. Scarab engages Colombian artists with different styles to help take the brand through a range of different looks, all serving to help Bustamante explore various incarnations of what the Colombian story really is.

For this particular bike, the exploration is called Fractal Fruits and it’s a story of the color that comes from the fruits of the country. As described on the Scarab website, “In the heart of Colombia, where the land is as rich and diverse as the culture, a symphony of colors bursts forth in every direction. ‘Fractal Fruit’ captures this vibrant abundance, drawing inspiration from the endless variety of fruits.” It goes on to further describe, “This paint is a piece of tropical life — a geometrical pattern of asymmetrical pentagons, each one a slice of nature’s palette. From the deep purples of the passion fruit to the brilliant yellows of the mango, ‘Fractal Fruit’ is a visual feast, a tribute to the flavors and colors that define Colombian natural richness.”

It’s not just the paint that’s unique about this bike though. So far I’ve said twice that Scarab tells a story of Colombia with a canvas of steel. What if that wasn’t totally true? Scarab isn’t your typical steel brand that cares more about the form than the function.

Toro uses steel because it’s a tool that gets him to the place he wants to take Scarab bikes. This time he found a different solution. The new Composite Damping System replaces the seat-tube and seatpost with carbon tubes. Of course Scarab isn’t the first to do that, but Scarab is the first to try and retain the feel of a lively performance steel bike that tells a Colombian story while doing it. I haven’t had a chance to ride this bike but I can tell you from experience riding other Scarabs, expect it to be responsive.

This bike uses that technology on a Santa Rosa Integrated frame with a build that’s a wide mix of functional and fancy. There’s internal routing with the use of the new to market Wolf Tooth EC44 headset but the groupset is a workaday SRAM Force AXS system. Things get a little fancier at the front where there’s a 1-piece Vision Metron 5D ACR EVO carbon cockpit and that’s followed by a Kogel oversized derailleur cage system. An Ergon SR Tri Series saddle tops off that carbon seat tube the wheels are care of Hunt in the form of the new-to-market SUB50 Limitless.

If you are looking for a steel bike of your own, Scarab is a very approachable option. Lead times are low, finishing is exceptional, and the design is a guided experience that gives plenty of choice without letting the consumer get too lost in options. There’s also always a new option in the Type 3 Paint Collections and the upcharges are quite affordable. You might even consider flying to Colombia to collect your bike; it’s a trip of a lifetime.

More details are available at the Scarab website.