DANGERHOLM’S SCOTT CONTESSA ADDICT GRAVEL
Sweden, 2022. For once a guest was invited to build her custom dream bike. We are proud to present this Contessa Addict gravel with design, spec ideas, original paint removal work and bike assembly by Pernilla Eriksson aka Miss Dangerholm.
The idea behind this project was to encourage and inspire women to go for their true dream bike, and not just a ”good enough” bike. To support women to dive deep into tech and custom, learning everything about your bike and what can make you faster and having more fun.
The result is a 7,49kg / 16,51lbs bike including pedals. The original paint is a ”Liquid Purple” on Rosé Metallic, making the rosé pink paint shimmer and shift in green, purple, gold against gloss carbon fiber. This bike’s highlight is a Unique Pi Rope wheels based on Syncros Capital 1.0 X40 rims and Vectran fiber rope spokes in custom dyed pink color. One-off CeramicSpeed OSPW pulley wheels in Cerakote white finish. Finally, it features a r2-bike.com edition XTR pedals with ceramic bearings and METI titanium axles, limited to just 13 pieces.
The project background:
Ever since being a little kid, I’ve always been passionate about not only riding bikes, but bikes themselves as well. I was always tinkering and tuning, or dreaming about upgrades and new bikes. This led me to a life full of interesting bikes, from spray painting my 16” BMX to building the lightest mountain bikes in the world, and having a lot of fun while doing so. It can be quite the feeling, entering your garage and grabbing a true dream bike to go for a ride. It simply adds another element on top of the joy of riding.
Of course, not everyone is interested in bikes as such, and even less so in tuning and tech. To many people a bike is simply a tool, a workhorse, and I have the utmost respect for that point of view. As long as we ride bikes, it’s all good in the end.
However, if you’re passionate about cycling, it’s not a big step to be passionate about bikes. When working in bike shops, I always used to tell customers who couldn’t decide between two bikes to go with their heart - take the one you like the most. If you think one bike looks cooler or prettier, that’s usually worth more in the end than having for example a slightly fancier rear derailleur.
But better still is if you can combine amazing tech with looks you love. Be it finding the perfect stock bike, upgrading one or even going all in on your very own custom dream build. One thing I’ve noticed over the years though is that this seems to be a bit more common among men. There are many passionate as well as fast female riders out there but compared to men, surprisingly many seem to settle for a bike that’s ”good enough”- not the bike they dream of.
I’m not the one to try and go into why that is, but when it was time for my amazing girlfriend Pernilla to get herself a new gravel bike, I encouraged her to go for her true dream build. Something that is as good looking as it’s fast and fun. Being both a hairdresser and an engineer, it was no big surprise that she dived head first into both the creative and technical sides of the project.
After many hours of sanding paint, reading up on components and learning quite a few new things including how to assemble a bike from the ground up - she proudly presents her custom SCOTT Contessa Addict Gravel.
A bike that hopefully can inspire more riders, especially female ones, to go for it and get the bike they truly want.
Frameset:
The bike is based on the SCOTT Contessa Addict Gravel frame set and matching Syncros components which integrates perfectly. Being both very lightweight and responsive in combination to a progressive geometry, it offers a very quick and sporty riding experience while being capable of tackling rougher terrain. Both the frame and the full carbon fork are made with HMX carbon fiber quality, which in the SCOTT hierarchy is only topped by the slightly lighter HMX SL. The frame and fork have clearance for 45mm tires.
To go with the frame is the Syncros Creston iC SL X, a one-piece carbon gravel handlebar unit that hides the brake hoses making for a perfectly clean cockpit. It’s wrapped in Syncros Gravel bar tape which offers plenty of cushioning and tons of grip.
The build:
At the very front is a Syncros Garmin mount with a built in GoPro mount that’ll come in handy for a light in autumn. These are machined in the USA by K-Edge.
There’s also a Syncros Duncan SL Aero seat post to go with the rest of the frame sets aerodynamic shapes, and on top you find a Syncros Celista R 1.0 saddle. Of course it features a women’s specific shape as well as carbon rails.
Drivetrain:
Up front you’ll find an Easton EC90 SL crankset, which has been custom painted in gloss finish to go with the frame. It spins on a CeramicSpeed bottom bracket, for low friction as well as longevity. It’s paired to a Garbaruk 42T chain ring, a personal favorite.
The pedals are a lot more special than one might think upon a first glance. Based on traditional Shimano XTR pedals, these are a limited edition version created by German tuning web shop r2- bike.com. Featuring CeramicSpeed bearings and titanium axles machined by METI in Italy, only 13 sets have been made.
The rear derailleur is just as full of special features and hidden upgrades. It’s a Sram X01 that has been tuned using Hopp Carbon Parts, more specifically a carbon fiber parallelogram, b-knuckle cover and even titanium pins holding it all together. While saving a bit of weight it sure also helps with the appearance. Another very special detail of it is the derailleur cage. It’s a CeramicSpeed OSPW with one-off Cerakote white pulley wheels and it has also been custom painted to match the rest of the bike. Cerakote is as the name suggests a ceramic based paint offering great wear and chemical resistance, and the paint texture being very different from regular anodizing makes it quite eyecatching. The chain is a Sram X01 and for cassette she’s testing out a wide-range Leonardi General Lee 9- 50T.
Brakes:
Sram Force AXS levers are a quite common sight but here they’re paired with the beautifully machined Trickstuff C22 brake calipers. Available as an aftermarket upgrade for both Shimano and Sram levers, they are both lightweight and offer great performance. Partly because of the Trickstuff Power brake pads that really does live up to the name.
The brake discs also come from Trickstuff and are called Dächle UL, with UL standing for Ultra Light. They have a good weight to performance ratio and the chamfered edges help with wheel installation. Being 6-bolt they’re fastened to the centerlock hubs with Bike Ahead Composites The Fixer adapters, which are the lightest (and nicest) ones out there.
Wheels:
Pi Rope is a German company who developed a system using Vectran fiber textile spokes for their wheels. And yes, if you hold one in your hand you can tie a bow with it except that compared to regular string it has higher tensile strength than regular steel spokes.
Except for the very low weight of these spokes, they also offer a slightly different ride quality. Having ridden Pi Rope mountain bike wheels, my takeaway was that they handled vibrations a little bit better than traditional wheels. The bike actually sounded different with the wheels. So gravel seemed to be a perfect application for them, which is why you find them on this bike.
The rims are a prototype version of the Syncros Capital 1.0 X40, having been drilled to suit the Pi Rope spokes which use larger than standard diameter nipples.
Another cool thing about the spokes are that being textile they can actually be dyed in any color. So Pi Rope sent various sample pink colored spokes for this project with Pernilla deciding on the perfect match.
The wheels are fastened with METI titanium thru axles. These are machined in Italy by Dante Codeluppi to superb finish and quality.
Tires:
The main tires for this Contessa Addict Gravel are Ultradynamico Rosé Race in grey color and 42mm width. Not just matching the bike with their name, they also offer a ton of grip while still rolling quite fast thanks to the super supple casing.
Depending on the riding and tires she’s running, Pernilla sets the bike up with either Pirelli Smarttubes or tubeless using Syncros Eco Sealant.
"I really couldn't be happier with my SCOTT Contessa Addict Gravel and how it turned out. It sure was a lot of work but also a lot of fun, and it was a very rewarding feeling to see your very own dream bike finished. And I guess that feeling is what I want to encourage others to go for. It doesn't matter if it's getting your new stock dream bike from your local bike shop, going full custom like this or just getting some small but nice little upgrade for your old trusty training bike. Having a bike that evokes some feelings, that makes you happy when you look at it, is something that simply can bring even more joy into your cycling life.
It's great to know more about your bike and what maybe can make it even better. In the long run it can help you become a faster rider. It was a pleasure to get some great gravel rides on it this summer in Sweden and Norway, but my goal is to do some cool riding in the Alps next year. Maybe even do the Octopus Gravel race in Andermatt!"
