Julie Racing Design is a small French frame building operation comprising of two people – Kris (Welding) and Julie (a big part of everything else).
Roughly translated from French, the Julie Racing Design name came about as a joke, which to this day has stuck.
JRD functions without a marketing department.
Rather, Kris and Julie focus their energy on designing and building beautiful bicycles with superb attention to detail – even the paint on their bicycles is done in-house.
Conviviality (friendly, agreeable, merry and jovial) and creativity are the pillars of Julie Racing Design.
What sets JRD frames apart from others is their signature carbon seat tube, also made in France.
The fine JRD bicycle in this article is owned by Olivier Lambert. Olivier commissioned JRD to build and paint a special gravel bike – Dia de Muertos – Day of the Dead. Note the artwork on the top tube – that was painstakingly applied by hand, sans stencils or other shortcuts.
Not counting the seat tube, the frame is constructed from Reynolds 853 steel tubes. Note the KS LEV dropper seatpost. Its action is controlled by the left side brake lever – ordinarily reserved for shifting a front derailleur.
Dia de Muertos features a classic look and “new school” geometry. A low bottom bracket at 68mm, short chainstays at 420mm, long top tube, short stem, 76° seat tube angle and 71° head tube angle.
Pictured above, a single 36 tooth narrow-wide chainring is fitted to a White Industries G30 polished crankset. This crankset simply adds to the class factor of this beautiful bike.
Check out our review of the White Industries R30 crankset HERE.
Olivier the bike’s owner, is a Swiss-based wheelbuilder with refined taste in components and style. The wheels feature White Industries CLD hubs, carbon tubeless rims and Sapim CX-Ray spokes, tied and soldered. This is a touch you seldom see nowadays. Some people refute that tying and soldering strengthens a wheel, but whatever your thoughts on the subject, this little detail really makes the wheels “pop”.
Completing the front end is a painted-to-match Whisky Parts No. 9 carbon thru-axle fork. Switzerland is renown for its mountains, thus, Olivier has selected a 180mm SRAM CenterLine X front brake rotor for a little more surface / cooling area.
On the rear, the SRAM hydraulic brake caliper is post-mounted and paired to a 160mm CenterLine X brake rotor.
Rear brake and derailleur cables / housings are routed cleanly along the top of the downtube and across the top of the chainstays. Combined with the bike’s stunning paint, the carbon seattube really makes this bike stand out from the crowd.
A Day at the Julie Racing Design “Factory”
Olivier Lambert’s Julie Racing Design Gravel Bike:
- Frame: Julie Racing Design, Reynolds 853 tubing with French-made carbon seattube.
- Fork: Whisky Parts No. 9.
- Headset: Chris King I7.
- Stem: Thomson, 70mm.
- Handlebar: Salsa Cowbell 2.
- Bar Tape: Salsa.
- Brakes: SRAM hydraulic.
- Brake Rotors: SRAM CenterLine X, 180mm front and 160mm rear.
- Brake / Shift Levers: SRAM 22 11-speed.
- Front Derailleur: N/A.
- Rear Derailleur: SRAM X1 11-speed.
- Cassette: SRAM XG-1180 11-speed 10-42.
- Chain: SRAM PC-1170.
- Crankset: White Industries G30 with 36 tooth narrow-wide chainring.
- Bottom Bracket: SRAM.
- Pedals: Unknown.
- Wheelset: White Industries CLD hubs, carbon tubeless rims and Sapim CX-Ray spokes, tubeless ready.
- Tires: Maxxis Rambler 700c x 40mm EXO TR.
- Saddle: Selle Italia Flite titanium from late 1980’s, artisan refurbished.
- Seatpost: KS Lev Integra 27.2mm (actuated by the front brake shifter lever).
- Bottle Cages: King Cage stainless steel.
Julie Racing Design (Web) – Julie Racing Design (Facebook)
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