Alessia's Scarab Apuna

This week’s Bike of the Week comes all the way from Colombia and follows not only in a family’s tradition but also has a world champion’s influence.

It is the third week of April 2024 and we find ourselves walking into the Scarab factory outside Medellin in the mountainous Antioquia department. Alessia, her father John and mother Anna are among the clients that joined our journey to Colombia to train for a week at altitude, and the Scarab visit was one of the highlights.

The factory visit means a lot to Alessia’s family because her father John is already the proud owner of a Scarab Apuna that has the limited edition ‘Jungla’ paint job.

Meeting the people behind the brand was going to be a memorable evening. As soon as we walked in we were met by a beautiful bike on display. Especially built for the Colombian time trial world champion Santiago Botero, the bike had a clean and elegant metallic green with some paint splatters on the fork blades representing the rainbow jersey. That paint job was embedded in Alessia’s mind and reemerged when the time came for her to select her own colors.

The afternoon got even more special when Santiago Botero came to pick up his bike in person and, to our surprise, stayed for a great cup of coffee at the Scarab factory. At the end of the evening, Alessia and her dad had a clear idea about their new dream bike project.

A few days after we got back, we started the conversation about Alessia’s new bike. It had to be something that was going to be able to handle a wider tire for an occasional gravel ride or perhaps a race like the Traka or D2R2, but also that was fun and quick during the winter training rides. After reviewing Scarab’s options, she concluded that the Apuna model had the perfect qualities that she was looking for. As ever, steel is real!

The ride quality of the Colombian-built custom frame combined with the ENVE carbon fork is extremely smooth, along with a custom geometry that will provide lively and responsive handling.

We built the bike with the Shimano GRX group including a double chainring to optimize the gear ratio and keep the gear shifting right. Alessia's Apuna is also very special because it features a fully integrated in-route ENVE cockpit, complementing the frame’s slick look. The idea for the paint job was born after that visit to the Scarab factory and grew into the reality of a one-of-a-kind artistic piece dreamed by Alessia and created by the Scarab team.

We are so thankful to Alessia’s family for allowing us to work on yet another dream bike for them. But most importantly, for allowing us to deliver a dream that started at one of the best cycling trips we have hosted. Thank you very much, Satterfield family!