AURUM BIKES

Aurum Bikes is a brand with barely a year and a half of history. However, to know the origin of the brand we would have to go back years ago. During the start of almost every season, it was common to find Alberto Contador and Iván Basso on Teide. It is common for many professional teams to be found training on Teide, due to the ideal conditions during the winter for tour preparation. The temperature at this time of year is very pleasant and the long, steady climb up Teide is perfect for fine-tuning the engine. 

During this period of the season, it is normal for brands to test their innovations, new frames, wheels, and equipment. In theory the changes they would make which were for the better, however this was not always the case. 

After long and demanding training days, Alberto Contador and Ivan Basso had talked about what they would like to do in the future, once their professional careers were over. In one of those conversations, they came up with the idea of making a shared dream come true: to create the best bicycle they had ever ridden. That was the beginning of AURUM BIKES.

AURUM BIKES - THE HISTORY

Aurum Bikes was created by Alberto Contador and Ivan Basso in 2020, trying to transmit all the aspects a bike they valued as multiple Grand Tour winners.

To be able to win a Grand Tour requires a lot of talent, maximum concentration and a level of dedication that can only be achieved when your passion for success is able to lead you to have infinite discipline. The few cyclists who manage to win a Grand Tour are on another level. That's why Contador and Basso have passed on all their knowledge to create the bike of your dreams: AURUM.

In December 2019, we had the opportunity to see Alberto Contador's AURUM for the first time. It was bike with quite classic lines and a very special paint job. The Aurum Zebra immediately caused a stir on social media. 

At that time, the name of the new brand founded by Alberto and Ivan had not yet been made official.

After several months of "hype", Aurum saw the light of day. The first Aurum model was the Magma. Introduced in September, the Aurum Magma was released in a couple of colours- matte black and glacier blue. The Aurum Magma marks a before and after in its stiffness-to-weight ratio. Read on to discover the virtues of this bike.

AURUM BIKE - MAGMA

The Aurum Magma has been conceived to mark a before and after in the stiffness-to-weight ratio.  It is designed to be one of the fastest bikes on all terrains. 

The Aurum Magma has been designed with the intention of being one of the most efficient and competitive bikes on the market. The design team led by Iñigo Gisbert, whom has had in the past experience with SRAM, Specialized or Factor, together with the knowledge of Alberto and Ivan, set a goal to create a bike with the best performance on any type of terrain or road, regardless of the profile or the conditions. 

The Aurum Magma bike is the result of many months of teamwork, becoming the bike that Contador and Basso would have loved to enjoy during their long career. It is a bike born from all of their experience, and it is their main project since they stopped racing as professional cyclists. The Aurum Magma is a super agile, ultra light and mega fast bike. However, from its origins, both Alberto and Ivan agreed that it had to be a very balanced bike: very comfortable and docile to be able to ride on long routes, whilst at the same time rigid and energetic with its power transfer. The Aurum Magma's front triangle is hyper reactive, handling tight corners with precision, whilst allowing for confidence on the fastest descents.

The picture of the Aurum Bike - Magma

The Aurum Magma is a super agile, ultra light and mega fast bike. However, from its origins, both Alberto and Ivan agreed that it had to be a very balanced bike: very comfortable and docile to be able to ride on long routes, whilst at the same time rigid and energetic with its power transfer. The Aurum Magma's front triangle is hyper reactive, handling tight corners with precision, whilst allowing for confidence on the fastest descents.

Alberto Contador wanted to achieve a record bike in weight, but after early testing he realised that such fine tuning of the weight could compromise the stiffness of the frame. The balance between weight and stiffness is fundamental to an efficient bike. 

It was in the third test that the final geometry was defined, with higher rear stays, despite the current trend has been to lower them. A lot of work was done on this aspect, as a lot of watts are lost through the seat tube. 

• Some weight was sacrificed by reinforcing the points of maximum stress on the frame, such as the bottom bracket and dropouts, to make the bike as reactive as possible and make each pedal stroke as efficient as possible.

• The bottom bracket is a BB386, with CeramicSpeed bearings, always looking for maximum performance. 

• The tapered 1-1/8" to 1-3/8" headset offers great stiffness at the front. This is probably one of the strengths of the AURUM MAGMA, a great climber but also an excellent descender. 

• The seatpost diameter is a standard 27.2, allowing the bike to be customised with a multitude of manufacturer options.

• The Aurum Magma is made in Taiwan and painted in Italy. All bikes are assembled at the AURUM facility in Pinto, Spain.
  
• The Aurum Magma frame is only available in a disc brake version.

Aurum Bikes - Cable integration

During the design process of the Aurum Magma, work was carried out on the complete integration of the cabling, both on the handlebars and the frame. After not achieving the expected results, and conditioned in part by the fact that their partners in terms of components did not have integrated handlebars at that time, it was decided to postpone it, by working on a cable entry system at the top of the headset, to attempt to conceal the brake and gear cables as much as possible. At AURUM they are still working on the development of the integration, and sooner rather than later they are going to launch a handlebar that meets the requirements of Alberto Contador and Ivan Basso. Of course this integrated handlebar will be 100% compatible with the current Aurum Magma handlebars.  AURUM is committed to another level with its customers.

Aurum Bikes - "Sponsored" by the best brands of components.

AURUM is a young brand, but from the very beginning, it has counted on the trust of very important partners in the bicycle sector.

As strategic partners, who have also been involved in the project of creating the MAGMA frame,  AURUM has the support of ENVE, LIGHTWEIGHT and ZIPP. 

A sign of confidence in the Aurum Magma, one of the most important brands in the bicycle sector LIGHTWEIGHT, presented its new ultra-light wheels, the LIGHTWEIGHT OBERMAYER, mounted on an AURUM MAGMA.

Aurum Magma in the World Tour

The AURUM MAGMA equipped with full ENVE components and SRAM groupset, is the bike used by the EOLO Kometa team (UCI Pro Continental team). 2020 was a year of learning for EOLO Kometa and Aurum. Together they achieved victory on the queen stage of the Giro d'Italia, in which Lorenzo Fortunato raised his arms at the top of the mythical Zoncolan pass. A day that will go down in the history of AURUM.

In 2021, the team will continue to work hard to achieve the greatest successes on the Aurum Magma, pushing the bike to the limit, and helping to bring the AURUM project to maturity.

Available Builds

The Aurum Magma is available in a variety of different set-ups, both in groupsets and components.

• In terms of groupsets, we can choose between SHIMANO (Dura Ace DI2 or Ultegra DI2), or SRAM (FORCE AXS or RED AXS). The bike is available solely in builds with electronic groupsets.
• These groupsets can be combined with ENVE components, with the ENVE FOUNDATION or ENVE SES models.  ZIPP with 303 NSW wheels, or LIGHTWEIGHT for the more "sybarites".

Prices range from 7499€ to 12999€ depending on the assembly.

Aurum bikes in Barcelona and Girona

AURUM's distribution model is based on direct online sales and collaboration with a few points of sale, who prescribe the brand in order to achieve success together.

Contact us to receive precise information on the bikes. You can also configure your own bike in our bike builder by clicking here, or visit the Aurum website for more information.