Guess What!? $8K Will Fetch You a 775-Gram MIN.D California Road Bike, but Just a Frameset

Folks, something that not everyone realizes is that a bicycle is designed for riding through a particular type of terrain. Just as a Ferrari isn’t built to go rock crawling, neither are all bikes meant to cover any surface out there. But, if you like to ride fast and hard, then the perfection of a tarmac surface is unbeatable. Yet, you’ll need a machine to help you feed your need for speed.

Luckily, Open Cycles, a crew out of Basel, Switzerland, seems to have just the suitable machine for you to attain the level of performance you seek. Before we talk about the new MIN.D road bike, let me point out that Open has been around since 2012. This crew started from a passion for cycling and is backed by countless years of experience at international cycling manufacturers, including Cervelo, where the two co-founders, Andy Kessler and Gerard Vroomen, met.

As for the MIN.D, what you’re faced with today is nothing more than peak carbon fiber manipulation tuned for performance, comfort, and above all, speed. This time around, price isn’t something you should have any business considering. But, to give you an idea, two framesets are available, the classic MIN.D, rolling in with an 850 g (1.87 lbs) frame for €3,900 ($4,205 at current exchange rates), or the limited-edition version, the MIN.D California with its 775 g (1.71 lbs) frame for a whopping €7,500 ($8,086). This is also the version we’ll be focusing on today. And in case you need more clarification, those are the prices that accompany nothing more than just the frameset; very few secondary components are included in that price.

The idea behind the new frame was very simple, to create “a high-performance road bike with ultra-efficient tube shaping for power transfer, low weight, and high strength.” This was achieved by five years of R&D that we initially tasted back in 2020 with the first MIN.D, and now, all that’s been taken to the next level.

While the two frames share a geometry, a few things are going on with California that yield the above price. One of those is an entirely new carbon layup, one carried out in Cervelo’s Project California lab that delivered the BMC Masterpiece, a $15,000 road bike, according to Cycling News. Tube shapes also differ, but both bikes include an integrated seat post, a feature bound to bring some benefits in terms of a softer ride with excellent power transfer.

As I searched through the manufacturer’s website for details regarding this new machine, I noticed that Open mentions the words “fun” and “comfort” repeatedly. Well, until you actually dish out the cash needed for a California, you may never really know how it feels. But cycle manufacturers do have geometry charts to give you some idea. Overall, the medium-size frame features a 72.5-degree head tube and seat tube angle, 37.3 cm (14.68 in) reach, and a stack of 56 cm (22 in). A wheelbase of 97.8 cm (38.5 in) is also part of the specs.

Earlier, I mentioned that money is something that shouldn’t be taken into consideration when looking at this bike, and since you’ll be dishing out $8,086, you might as well go all the way and complete your own with components that Open Cycles recommends. After all, they’ve done the research and know what their bike works best with.

For example, to meet the need of as many riders as possible, thus increasing the chance of finding buyers for the MIN.Ds, this frameset can be equipped with any Shimano, Sram, or Campagnolo 1X drivetrains or a Shimano 2X setup. Yes, eTap and Di2 are also suitable for use. If you’re a rider planning on dropping the best of the best of gear on your own California frame, bring a few thousand dollars more.

Furthermore, what I found rather admirable about the project is that the founders of Open wanted to see this venture through to the end no matter what. For them, it didn’t matter how much cash was invested in research, shipping costs, materials, none of it. They just wanted their dream bike and stopped at nothing to achieve it; the true beauty of owning your own cycling company.

There’s just one catch, I was unable to find just how many California frames are being built; if you want one, you had better start making those phone calls. By the looks of things, it may be a first-come, first-serve basis, so whip out those checkbooks.