
"Actually we have about as much chance as you, i.e. somewhere between no-hope and Bob Hope, of securing a frame"
OPEN x HURRY U.P.
Jeez Louise, Open can be an infuriating company. They get periodically get our sympathetic nervous system cranked to 11, every time they 'secretly' release a special edition. The phones and email light up - but in truth we have about as much chance as you, i.e. somewhere between no-hope and Bob Hope, of securing a frame. But we must be getting better at playing Open's 'closed' system, as this is our 3rd special edition in as many months!

The walls have eyes. Where rarity and pragmatism meet. What a bike. Bravo Open and bravo Campagnolo

Campag's Ekar is deliberately paired back..

Except when it comes to gears - 1 x 13 of them. Useful.

Nobody does high-function minimalism like Campagnolo. And never have.
Campagnolo Ekar 1 x 13
Whisper it quietly, but Campag Ekar may well be the pragmatic connoisseurs choice of component in this moment. We live with so much cognitive bias around digital shifting, that we have lost the use of our own digits. Campag Ekar is superbly innovated - it is light, brilliantly engineered and particularly flawlessly functional in terms of gear choice. For example - all cassettes options start the block with six 1-tooth steps. In the example of the 9-36T cassette, that correlates to 9-10-11-12-13-14 gears. This is huge in the real world and saves you from the distracting 2-tooth shift when you least expect it. Ekar is so good that we are building up our test Open MIND with a set.

Open special editions are famous for their colour pops

View from the bridge is very important.

Campagnolo Shamal Carbon wheels and 32mm Conti GP5000 tubeless tyres finish an exquisite sub-7kg adventure bike