We sent Manual for Speed to London to cover Specialized x Rocket Espresso at the Red Hook Crit. Here's what they saw.Racing fixed gear bicycles through city streets in the midst of a pack of white-knuckled racers is difficult, it's harrowing, it's madness, and to do it right, to come across the line first, you have to ride the razor's edge. And the razor's edge is, well, a razor's edge. It is sharp and thin, and any slip, any miscalculation will likely result in some serious consequences.

Unfortunately, London summers are beset by drizzles and downpours. In Albion, the gods of storm pay no heed to the race dates of the Red Hook Crit. This year’s race was soaked from start to finish, and this made the well-worn streets of London slick as ice and the razor’s edge that much harder to ride.

In the women’s final, Specialized x Rocket Espresso’s new recruit, Carla Nafría de Miguel, showed that she had the pace and was on track for a top 10 finish before her hopes and her body were dashed against the wet concrete in the final laps of the race. Confident and unfazed, Carla now has her sights squarely set on Barcelona where she’s making plans to take the top step of the podium in front of a crowd of her countrywomen.

The weather did not improve for the men’s race. Brooklyn winner and Red Hot Crit series leader Stefan Schafer suffered a flat early on that would end his bid for another win. Sticking with the plan, Eamon Lucas was intent on controlling the race from the front, setting a high tempo that would grind down the rest of the pack. And while Eamon rode off the front, local hero Alec Briggs—the London Lion—was strategically positioning himself for a spot on the box. It was obvious to all that he was on a flyer and feeling the energy from his hometown when he too was struck down by a flat. Fortunately, Alec was able to make a quick change and get himself back into the race without much damage being done.

The rain was relentless, and with 15 laps to go, misfortune struck again. Lucas was involved in a crash that sent him to the ground hard. Bleeding from the corner of his eye, Eamon looked every part the pugilist who'd been blasted by a hard left hook. But no sooner had he hit the ground than he was back on the saddle and into the race. Unfortunately, though, Eamon was not able to hold off the charging peloton in the final laps. And while he wouldn’t place in the top three, his efforts wouldn't go unnoticed, and he walked away from the race with the Top Antagonist jersey.

Meanwhile, Alec had worked his way back through the pack to put himself within striking distance as the white flag came down. With the savvy of a seasoned Red Hook racer and the energy of the crowd driving him towards the line, Alec took third place in a sprint finish against last year's series winner to secure a spot on the podium and his best finish in a finals to date. MENTAL! This race was so difficult, and yet, despite the many mechanicals, crashes, flats, and mishaps that faced the team, Alec’s third place finish and Eamon’s Top Antagonist jersey are a testament to the depth and tenacity of Specialized x Rocket Espresso. The crew is already looking forward to the sunny and dry climate of Spain and has every expectation that they’ll be crowded on the podium in Barcelona.

It's time for round two of the Red Hook Criterium, and this time, Team Specialized x Rocket Espresso is heading to London. Of course, Manual for Speed is a step behind and gonzo reporting as they go. Read on to see what the Doctors of Journalism have to say about the coming event. After nearly a two-month break, the Red Hook Crit (RHC) series is at it once again. This time, the Mad Max meets F1 meets Roller Derby meets Glastonbury Race/Party/Experience will be careening through London’s Greenwich Peninsula. In times past, pirates were hung in cages on the shores of this peninsula to serve as a warning to all those who might wish to pursue the pirate life. With the cutthroat, no-holds barred street fight of the RHC coming to town, it’s obvious that the warning has long been forgotten. So expect plunder, expect thrills, and yes of course, booty…the prize money—come on!

It's into this fray that the good ship, Specialized x Rocket Espresso, sails. The crew is well prepared, packing enough combined watts to power the London Eye. They arrive with every expectation that they can repeat and improve on the success they had in Brooklyn as they aim their cannons at the most important fixed gear race in Ye Olde Albion.

And while the entire team has been putting in hours of preparation, there is no doubt that this race is going to be a special one for Alec Briggs. Born and raised in London, Alec cut his teeth, or should we say chiseled his legs, on the banked curves of the Herne Hill Velodrome that's just a stone's throw away from the RHC racecourse. Will it be Alec’s day? Only time will tell, but team Specialized x Rocket Espresso is stacked with talent and Alec isn’t alone in his quest for the top step of the podium.

Team leader Aldo Ilešič set the lap record on the London course in 2016, and after so many visits to the podium, he is still searching for that elusive top step. Will London be his race? Aldo returns to the UK alongside the team’s young muscle, Eamon Lucas, and both are in beast mode after a long block of racing in America's most prestigious criteriums. As for the winner of Red Hook Brooklyn, Stefan Schafer, he's known to keep a low profile. But with one win already under his belt, there's no doubt that the quiet German will be hungry for more.

No matter the final outcome, the team is sure to make an impact aboard their brightly colored Allez. Forget the skull and crossbones, it’s the bright and audacious colors of these bicycles that strike fear into the heart of the peloton. Combined with the fact that these bikes look fast while they’re standing still, there's no doubt the team has a psychological advantage over the rest of the field. And while we can’t predict the future, we feel confident that there's a good chance you’ll see our racers storming the podium in London.

This year was the 10th anniversary of Red Hook Crit Brooklyn and the stakes had never been higher. Over the last decade, the prestige of this race has skyrocketed and the competition has responded in kind, with the racing becoming increasingly professional, the racers more dedicated, and the pace of competition increasingly faster. In 2017, the Red Hook Crit (RHC) series will stop in Brooklyn, London, Barcelona, and Milan, and the combination of densely-populated metropolitan locations, coupled with a full day of qualifying and racing, has become a wildly popular format. The enormous crowds that line the race course, from the first qualifier to the final, are testament to the success of these races. And with the hype of the 10th anniversary and beautiful weather in the forecast, this year’s edition was going to be nothing less than fire.The addition of the Specialized x Rocket Espresso Gang of Four—Aldo, Eamon, Stefan, and Alec—was like adding jet fuel to the brightly-burning conflagration, and they took the event to an entirely new level. This team is a super group to such an extent that their palmarès have palmarès. In 2016 alone, Aldo was second in the series, Stefan took the victory in Milan, and Alec was well inside the top 10 overall. And while Brooklyn would be Eamon’s first Red Hook Crit, our dude wasn’t stressed—he’s spent the last couple years ripping legs off in crits and road races around the world. There were high hopes for the team to have a successful weekend, and they delivered in spades. Racing aboard their gorgeous Allez Sprint bikes, bedecked in an insane graphic treatment (designed by Dylan Buffington), the team was dressed to kill and the hunt was on.

Alec and Aldo each won their qualifying heats in decisive fashion, while Eamon and Stefan ran into trouble during their respective qualifiers with crashes and mechanicals. They bounced back to take first and second in the Last Chance qualifier, though. And with the entire team in the field for the final, the atmosphere in the team tent was electric. The first half of the final was a knife fight filled with feints and jabs from teams throughout the field. But when Colin Strickland launched an attack with Stefan glued to his back wheel, mid-race, the breakaway stuck. Aldo, Alec, and Eamon, showed their confidence in Stefan by shutting down any attempts to bridge the gap. Meanwhile at the front, Strickland and Schäfer pushed the pace and put a substantial gap into the rest of the field, setting up a gunslinger dual for the finish. Unfortunately, a crash with five laps to go forced the race to come to a halt in order to clear the course. As it happens, though, Aldo was mixed up in the crash, so with the clock ticking, he rushed to the pits for a new wheel, banged his handlebars back into place, and slammed a beer all to the wild cheers of the crowd.

With the race restarted, Stefan and Colin were given a head start to reestablish their lead, and once again, we were watching a two-up race for the top of the podium. With one lap to go, Colin attacked; unperturbed, Schafer countered with a half-lap remaining, distancing Strickland to take the checkered flag in Brooklyn. Aldo rolled in third, blood-splattered, soaked in beer, and with a wide smile on his face. Alec had taken an early prime and Eamon had dug deep throughout the race chasing down breaks. The team had worked together flawlessly—what a race!

The Red Hook Criterium series (RHC) represents a look into the “current” future of professional road cycling. Why? Because the RHC is an international series of highly specialized races, which showcase and demonstrate the purest, rawest, and most exciting exhibition of speed that cycling has to offer. It’s part NASCAR, part Professional Rodeo, part Fight Club, part Friday Night Lights, part modern-day gladiators, and ALL SPEED! And while enthusiasm for traditional road cycling continues to flounder in the eyes of mainstream America, excitement about the Red Hook Criterium is growing at an exponential pace—from existing fans of cycling and sport enthusiasts to friends and family, randos, and common citizens.Criterium racing has always been popular in America (it’s how we race), but until recently, it hasn’t managed to gain much traction as an international export. The Red Hook Criterium’s modern, progressive approach to race promotion, and its modified, highly specialized racing format is changing that. In turn, fans all over the world are changing how they look at criterium racing. The RHC has ushered in a wave of enthusiasm for this style of racing from fans around the world.

Creating good design is difficult. If it’s been manufactured, it’s been designed. All day, every day, the deluge of design means that we're in a constant state of critical review. And while the majority of us passively ingest this information, when presented with a need for judgement, our experience informs an ability to critique—and designers have no choice but to take notice. As Mark Twain once said, “The public is the only critic whose opinion is worth anything at all.” But the public can’t design, creation by committee is doomed, and so to be a designer is to stake a claim in the face of overwhelming criticism. To be successful requires skin thick enough to withstand this onslaught, yet thin enough to recognize its value. Dylan Buffington likes to think that he’s spent his formative years searching for this balance. In 2016, Specialized created four custom paint schemes for their two riders competing in the Red Hook Crit series. Heading into 2017, the Red Hook team has been expanded to include five riders, but their bicycles will be brought under one unified design. After making this decision, the design group within Specialized sought to develop a set of guidelines for 2017 based on their efforts the previous year. Though they had the best intentions, the world is a busy place: things crop up, demand attention, and get in the way. Suddenly, the team found themselves up against a fast-approaching design deadline.

New to the Specialized team, Dylan Buffington volunteered. He would need to design a comprehensive graphic package for the five riders on the the Specialized/Rocket Espresso Red Hook Criterium race team: an integrated look that accounted for the bike, shoes, helmet, kit, and other accessories. The designs needed to capture the speed and excitement of the Red Hook Crit series, they needed to evoke the idea that this style of racing is breaking old paradigms, and that its unique makeup is helping to push the future of bicycle racing forward. In addition, he needed to communicate these ideas in a way that was palatable to the consumer market. They couldn’t simply be one-off specials, the design had to be scalable and appeal to a public appetite. Oh—and it all needed to get done in two weeks.

Taking inspiration from the iconic BMW Art Cars and their melding of art and speed, specifically those by Andy Warhol and Jeff Koons, Buffington jumped in, “Warhol spent like 36 minutes painting his car. He was minding, but not minding too much.” It was the way in which Warhol walked the line between thoughtlessness and over-thinking that inspired Dylan, and with a time crunch of his own, he adopted this idea as a guiding principle. As he was going through his mood boards, he discovered that the same seven colors kept appearing: “I just wanted to use them all,” said Buffington, ”but I kept getting feedback that it was way too many, especially for production. But I knew it would be right, and sometimes you just have to do it without asking first, and tell everyone they need it after it’s done.” Buffington, guided by intuition, devised a method by which the graphics would work for production. Once done, he began applying the graphics to a huge assortment of accessories and equipment, each presenting their own set of design challenges. He piled on the hours, slept in the design studio, and tacked on more than a few overnighters. Was it worth it? The various production timelines meant that Buffington needed to survive a few anxiety-riddled months before seeing the final results. Seemingly unfazed, Dylan espouses the philosophy that, “If you feel good about, run it.” Upon seeing the final results, he was not disappointed. Now it’s up to the Specialized / Rocket Espresso team to put all that effort on the top of podium.

The fast-action, high-powered, explosive-sprinting Specialized/Rocket Espresso team race the Allez Sprint for a pretty good reason—it's the ultimate bare knuckles race bike. So if you're looking for apologetic tones for issuing bold proclamations, like "Alloy bikes are back en vogue," you won't find them coming from our camp. No way.

D'Aluisio Smartweld Bottom Bracket

Built by brazing together two formed sheet metal halves into a single hollow section, it saves weight by reducing material. It increases pedaling efficiency, meanwhile, by maximizing the structures shape, and it improves durability by joining the halves with low temperature brazing. This is the backbone of the Allez Sprint’s performance pedigree, and you'll only find it here.

D'Aluisio Smartweld Head Tube

Hydroformed top tubes, head tubes, and down tubes create a perfect match that lets us leverage the tube shape and create incredibly strong welds that increase front end precision to levels never before seen on an alloy bike.

Rider-First Engineered™ Forks

With siblings like the pro-tour-favorite, Rider-First Engineered™ Tarmac, it was easy to borrow from the best. All Allez Sprints feature S-Works-level full carbon forks, with stiffness matched to the rider. Hands down, this provides the absolute best handling available from any bike.

Aero Package

It’s all about the complete package. Dropped seatstays (like what's found on the Venge ViAS), aero seat tubes, and sized head tubes come together to create a bike that's as aerodynamic as any competitor's flagship aero platforms.

Taking inspiration from the iconic BMW Art Cars and their melding of art and speed, specifically those by Andy Warhol and Jeff Koons, Buffington jumped in, “Warhol spent like 36 minutes painting his car. He was minding, but not minding too much.” It was the way in which Warhol walked the line between thoughtlessness and over-thinking that inspired Dylan, and with a time crunch of his own, he adopted this idea as a guiding principle. As he was going through his mood boards, he discovered that the same seven colours kept appearing: “I just wanted to use them all,” said Buffington, ”but I kept getting feedback that it was way too many, especially for production. But I knew it would be right, and sometimes you just have to do it without asking first, and tell everyone they need it after it’s done.” Buffington, guided by intuition, devised a method by which the graphics would work for production. Once done, he began applying the graphics to a huge assortment of accessories and equipment, each presenting their own set of design challenges. He piled on the hours, slept in the design studio, and tacked on more than a few overnighters. Was it worth it? The various production timelines meant that Buffington needed to survive a few anxiety-riddled months before seeing the final results. Seemingly unfazed, Dylan espouses the philosophy that, “If you feel good about, run it.” Upon seeing the final results, he was not disappointed. Now it’s up to the Specialized / Rocket Espresso team to put all that effort on the top of podium.