Sarto Cima
Where Experience Becomes a Bicycle
There is a reason the finest bicycle workshops release so few new frames. Their purpose is not to persuade riders to replace what they already own, but to build a bicycle worthy of being kept, ridden and admired for years.
A true custom frame begins with the rider: their body, their goals, their roads, their taste, and the quiet pride that comes from riding something made with intention. In that world, progress is not measured by seasons or model years. It is measured by understanding. When a workshop finally decides it has learned enough to create something new, it is worth paying attention.
We first encountered the Cima in the hands of the Sarto team in Italy, as it was being prepared for its journey to Australia and its debut at SPOKEN Handmade Bicycle Show. At SPOKEN, Chainsmith displayed one of the very first completed Cima frames, giving Australian riders an early view of a bicycle that draws from the Raso and Seta platforms without simply replacing either.
“The relationship between rider and bicycle is a dialogue.”
— Enrico Sarto
That dialogue is shaped by the way a Sarto is made. Every frame is designed, laminated, bonded and finished beneath one roof in Veneto, with the control and responsibility that only comes when the workshop owns every stage of the process.
“This is how a Sarto gets made—not from a PowerPoint deck, not from a marketing brief. From a long conversation between someone who has been working with carbon fibre for twenty-five years and the people who produce it.”
— Enrico Sarto
The Summit Ruby finish appears restrained from a distance. Step closer and the carbon begins to reveal itself.
The Summit Ruby finish was chosen deliberately for SPOKEN. From a distance, it is restrained: deep, confident, almost quiet. Move closer and the surface begins to change. The translucent red reveals the architecture beneath, exposing the unidirectional carbon strands like timber grain beneath polished lacquer. It is not decoration placed over the bicycle. It is the material becoming part of the bicycle’s identity.
Completed at Chainsmith
Although the Cima arrived from Veneto as a frameset, the bicycle seen here was completed entirely at Chainsmith. Every component was selected to complement the character of the frame rather than compete with it.
Photo Credit: @mason_hender & @spoken.bike
Campagnolo Super Record 13 became the mechanical centrepiece, while Alpitude’s exposed carbon Navene saddle and Superleggera bottle cages quietly echoed the visible carbon beneath the Summit Ruby finish. Nothing competed for attention. Everything worked together.
Build Details
Gallery
The Summit Is a Standard
Cima translates as summit, peak, top. For Sarto, it does not describe the end of a journey. It describes a standard. One reached only after years of refinement, conversation and a belief that a bicycle should remain relevant long after trends have disappeared.
If you are considering a bicycle shaped around your riding, rather than around a production schedule, we would be delighted to introduce you to the Cima.
Like every Sarto, the conversation begins with the rider.
Sarto Australia
Sarto Insider View of the Builders
Sarto, Italy
