When Rafa first approached Juan and the crew at Ciclos La Ferro in Bilbao, Spain and said he wanted a bike for short 3-4 day escapes from Madrid into the nearby mountains, they knew they could help. Then he said he also wanted the same bike to pull triple duty and take him on pure road adventures as well as be ready and willing to take him off the gravel and paved roads of Spain and on to some classic Spanish single track. At first, it seemed like a challenge, building a bike from the ground up that would tick all these boxes. But using the now legendary Sutra Ltd frame as a base, Juan found the perfect canvas to build Rafa what is clearly a work of art.

It’s built around a set of DT Swiss 27.5′ hoops, a 25mm wide M1900 wheel out back and a M462 laced to SP PL-8 Dynamo Hub up front. Both front and rear wheels are sporting Schwalbe G-One’s

Bike packing/touring is not new to Rafa, here he is circa 1978, traveling from Santander to Paris.

A Sram GX Drive crankset with a North Shore Billet narrow wide chainring mates up with a matching Rival rear mech out the back. TRP cable actuated Spire brakes take care of stopping duties.

The SP PL-8 Dynamo Hub powers both front and rear Busch and Müller lights on Rafa’s Sutra Ltd.

Juan has also added some beautiful Ritchey components to the mix including this WCS Zero seatpost and that sexy Super Logic headset.

Brooks all weather C17 saddle is just a thing of beauty.

Damn!