Around this time last year, a thing called Red Bull Road Rage happened. It was a unique downhill road race, pitting road riders against MTB downhillers. Naturally enough, an eclectic mix of bikes was brought into play, from pure road bikes to slick-shod MTBs.

Alas, the 2006 event was cancelled due to fire safety issues around the proposed course in Malibu, California. And while SRAM hasn’t said so explicitly, we’re kind of assuming that it’s telling us about “Steve Peat’s new road bike” right now in an attempt to salvage a bit of publicity from it all.

So, here’s Steve Peat’s Santa Cruz Roadster (an actually rather lovely frame, alas no longer made), kitted out with lots of spangly gear from sponsors SRAM and DT, including SRAM’s new Force road group. It’s all decked out in Steve’s Syndicate team colours, and would look really rather fine were it not for that specially-shortened SID suspension fork (and accompanying disc brake) stuck on the front.

Yes, it was probably built for a downhill road race. And yes, SRAM can’t be blamed for trying to show off as many of its brands as possible. But really, look at it. It mings. The Poploc lever sticking up from the middle of the bars doesn’t help, either. It just goes to show that you can take a selection of the very best bits you can find, but the result of combining them won’t necessarily be easy on the eye.

The way forward is clear. Lose the bouncy fork, lose the disc brake, put a red carbon road fork on it and it’ll be a looker. As it is, it makes us want to hide it in a sack…