FiftyOne’s OG Limited Edition series

This week, our bike of the week is FiftyOne’s new OG Limited Edition series of its Assassin gravel bike, inspired by iconic race liveries from the 1990s. And it’ll certainly be a bike that’ll start conversations…

The Irish-based manufacturer, founded by former pro cyclist Aidan Duff, who was racing himself during this time, wanted to celebrate the decadent decade of the nineties and pay tribute to the bikes, brands and colours of the era that shaped cycling into the sport we know and love today.

FiftyOne has taken specific inspiration from the U.S. Postal Service Pro Cycling team, established in the late nineties. This team, boasting iconic figures like Lance Armstrong, Alberto Contador, Tom Boonen, Jonathan Vaughters, and George Hincapie, achieved unprecedented success with seven consecutive Tour de France victories from 1999 to 2005, propelling cycling into the spotlight and capturing the imagination of fans worldwide. Despite subsequent doping controversies, which tarnished its legacy, the US-based team remains a significant chapter in cycling’s history today, emblematic of triumph and tribulation.

Given the plethora of cycling legends from this era, FiftyOne thought there was no better bike to pay tribute to them than its Assassin. The Assassin frame has already secured itself an honourable standing here at Signature Cycles, with several of our bikes of the week featuring the Irish brand’s Assassins frame – even Abraham used one to complete Unbound in 2022. It’s a tough frame while also being exceptionally light, responsive and comfortable, and designed for those who want to shred it up on the trail, spend days on backpacking adventures, or just love being on the gravel path.

The name of the bike itself is nostalgic, having been inspired by the 1910 Tour de France, when the peloton climbed, for the first time, the mighty Col du Tourmalet on a stage that was over 320km in length and had over 6,000 metres of elevation. There were no smooth tarmacked roads back then, only gravel, and the eventual stage winner, Octave Lapize, shouted at the race’s deputy director, “Vous êtes des assassins! Oui, des assassins!” (“You are assassins! Yes, assassins!")

Each OG Limited Edition series bike will be meticulously painted at FiftyOne’s atelier nestled in the heart of Dublin, and anyone who purchases one of the 25 available will have the chance to choose their own number from one to 25, which will be painted onto the bikes blue, red and white retro frame (subject to availability). This presents not just a chance to own a high-performing gravel bike from FiftyOne but also a piece of race history designed to evoke the thrill and nostalgia of the past.

We’ll have a limited stock of the OG Limited Edition series in-store at Signature. Click here to reach out to us, and inquire about an allocation for this exclusive bike.