OVERNIGHT, British performance car manufacturer and of course, James Bond’s go-to, Aston Martin, revealed what might just be one of the most beautiful, innovative and luxurious pieces of two-wheel kit to hit the road yet, the Aston Martin J.Laverack .1R.  

The collaboration between leading British titanium bicycle maker J.Laverack is not only a stunning example of design, but legendary car designer and Aston Martin’s Executive Vice President and Chief Creative Officer, Marek Reichman has called it a “hypercar on two wheels”. Drawing reference to Aston Martin’s Valkyrie hypercar, the .1R uses the same engineering process as the Valkyrie’s iconic ‘lace wing’ badge, for its own badge engineering which is set under its lacquer, measuring just 40 microns thin and features the hypercar’s wheel design in miniature form on the brakes’ piston caps. 

The process of purchasing the road bike itself shadows what an Aston Martin owner would go through —each build is completely bespoke, via the world’s first online bicycle configurator, and on offer, are the exact colours, trims and some of the materials you’d get on Aston Martin’s top shelf sportscarsincluding 3D printed titanium, Alcantara, leather and intricate herringbone-weaved carbon fibre galore. Each component is numbered, just like a supercar and owners will be invited to Aston Martin HQ in Gaydon, UK, where they will be fully fitted and given more opportunities to personalise their ride with the J.Laverack founders.

Aston Martin J.Laverack .1R

Some of the innovations found in the purity of the .1R. include a ‘visually boltless’ and very clean design, 3D printed titanium lugs and sculpted carbon fibre tubes. The team claims that the integrated four-piston brake callipers were a complete ground-up design that required the development of bespoke testing equipment. The result? Not a single exposed cable or hose is visible on the whole thing. Satisfying.  

“Working with the team at Aston Martin has unlocked new ideas and innovations,” says Oliver Laverack, Co-founder of J.Laverack Bicycles. “The application of which has created a bicycle more advanced than anything currently available on the market. Working in collaboration with Aston Martin we have not only taken our titanium bicycles to new heights but have also unlocked true innovation within the cycling industry, creating a bicycle with unparalleled levels of craftsmanship and performance engineering.” Pricing hasn’t been announced, but you can have a play with the bicycle configurator of dreams over on the official site

While we all know former Aston Martin F1 driver/legend Sebastian Vettel’s love for cycling, it turns out that Lionel Martin and Robert Bamford, Aston Martin’s founders from over a century ago, were also big bike guys, and this collaboration too throws to that. If only they could see where the technology has landed the OEM now. 

But did you also know that Aston Martin isn’t the only high-performance automotive playing in the cycling game? 

Porsche 

Earlier this year, Porsche’s mobility arm announced it would be expanding its eBike range with two new models created in collaboration with eBike specialist Rotwild for both on-road and off. The Porsche eBike Cross Performance and the Porsche eBike Cross Performance EXC. The updated Porsche eBike Cross Performance now has a powerful Shimano EP-801 motor and 630 WH battery, with two riding profiles, one of which has three modes —Eco, Trail, and Boost, while the other focuses on individual parameters, depending on how you like your ride. One could even match their eBike Cross Performance EXC to your dream Porsche, which is available in the marque’s most iconic paint colours, including Star Ruby Neo, Ice Gray Metallic, Mamba Green Metallic, Carmine Red, Shade Green Metallic, and Shark Blue.  

Lamborghini 

After Lamborghini and 3T bicycles debuted the Huracán Sterrato- inspired Exploro Racemax luxury gravel bike in 2022, the pair came out with two more models this year and the name of the game is SPEED. Enter: The Racemax x Automobili Lamborghini gravel bike and the Strada x Automobili Lamborghini aerodynamically-focused variant. Made in Italy, in collaboration with Lamborghini’s Centro Stile design centre, these super-fast and lightweight bikes are available in the Italian performance house’s iconic colours, like Oro Elios and Verde Selvans and Viola Pasifae and Arancio Apodis, respectively.

One to watch: VanMoof 

Fashion (and Frank Ocean’s) favourite eBike company, VanMoof might have hit the skids earlier this year when it declared bankruptcy, but did you know that its to-be saviour, the company that acquired it, Lavoie, is actually owned by McLaren Applied, a division of that McLaren? Lavoie is mostly known for making luxury and high-performance electric scooters, which draw from its parent company’s learnings in Formula 1, so this has been a very buzzy takeover. Despite reports that the Dutch brand is not totally out of the woods yet, we do know that McLaren Applied doesn’t do things in halves, especially when it comes to material engineering and aerodynamic advancements, which could make for a very interesting redemption arc for the stylish brand.  


Related:

Aston Martin celebrates 110th birthday with a special V12 release

These are Formula One’s richest drivers