Cielo + Tenspeed Hero

I was working on a top 10 list, as I do from time to time, when this Tenspeed Hero/Cielo Base Racer gravel bike showed up in the mail. I decided to change the list to a top 1 list.

Top 1 list:

1. Bike – Cielo/Tenspeed Hero Gravel Bike

Made by Chris King in Portland, Oregon, this Cielo/Tenspeed Hero custom Base Racer Gravel Bike is a dream ride – a dream bike with a long name when you add Tenspeed Hero. The first ride was on the infamous Pearl Loop. From my house the pearl loop starts with about 10 miles of climbing. After that, the dirt/gravel begins and lasts about 15 miles. Up until now I had been doing this ride on a skinny-tire, carbon fiber, racing geometry (two things I suck at, racing and geometry) bike. The 30 mm tires (it will fit up to 38 mm!) and the more upright build make this a comfy ride on gravel. No bike feels good on the washboard, and there is quite a bit of it on Pearl Road, but the Cielo takes it better than most. The ride takes us through the non-existent ghost town of Pearl. It used to exist as a booming mining town but now it’s a ghost.

Frame specs:

Columbus Zona Tubing
Custom bi-oval down tube
Columbus life, tapered oval top tube
True Temper head tube
Columbus stays
Paragon/Cielo colab dropouts.

I was about to say that I was not sure what all the specs mean but it turns out I do. Like the “tapered oval top tube” indicates that the top tube is oval and tapered which makes for strong tubing.
Please enjoy some photos of this beautiful bike at school and then on summer vacation.

A Photo Gallery