RCUK first reported on the Fixie Inc Pure Blood way back in 2007, when the first examples arrived at Mosquito Bikes in London. The beautifully slender and curvaceous frame is rendered in custom drawn 4130 steel and is the German company’s spin on a cyclo-cross bike.
Its breaks convention for a ‘cross racing bicycle by only accepting disc brakes. There are no cantilever mounts, but don’t confuse it with the many cyclo-cross bikes billed as multi-purpose do-everything machines. The Pure Blood isn’t one of these. There are no rack or mudguard mounts, but more importantly there is a ton of mud clearance and it has some sharp details to help it excel in the demanding world of cyclo-cross. Bear in mind that UCI regulations don’t allow disc brakes for cyclo-cross.
Thus, Fixie Inc. described the Pure Blood as a “classic race tool with some fresh add-ons that make your life easier out there in the mud. The reliability of disc brakes and the functionality of interchangeable dropouts that give you the choice between geared or singlespeeded [sic] use at any time.”
There’s a ton of mud clearance, and there’s room enough for up to 38mm tyres. The rear brake cable is routed inside the curved top tube and the single bottle cage mount is placed high up the downtube so you can shoulder it without any hindrance.
For a company better known perhaps for its ‘singlespeed’ bikes, it’s really no surprise that Fixie have designed some smart CNC machined dropouts, which allow the bike to be run as a fixed wheel/fixed gear or derailleur geared, as our example is setup.
How does it ride? Given the blanket of snow covering the entire UK, and with riding road bikes on anything but well salted main roads out of the question, the Pure Blood came along at the perfect time. Blasting along Tarmac it is surprisingly swift, the chunky Schwable Racing Ralph tyres rolling fast. When it was time to turn off the slush covered roads and plough through snow, the real character of the Pure Blood was revealed.
It’s sublime. The frame has a real spring to it and the geometry produces finely balanced handling. It skips and skims over rough stuff, turns in fast when requested and remains stable even at high speed. It’s composed through all manner of trails, is a blast through fast downhill singletrack, cutting back and weaving across the trail at a flick of the body.
The conditions should be classed as rare, that is true, but it chomped its way through the fresh snow and compact ice. And that on and off-road had it revelling in both with very little compromise was the biggest surprise. Riding fast off-road appears to be its single raison d’être, and there’s little compromise in this pursuit.
The ultimate cyclo-cross bike? I need some more riding time on it first…
Frame and fork costs £749, while a complete bike with SRAM Force will set you back £2149.
