Richard Mille RM 70-01, $815,500
Part Fitbit, part Coco Chanel, Richard Mille’s latest watch is Alain Prost’s love letter to cycling. The Formula One legend collaborated with Mille to create a true thing of beauty, and billionaires everywhere cheered at the prospect of a watch where everything is manufactured to the highest imaginable cycling standards.
The ergonomically cast tonneau case has a custom-designed tourbillon-equipped movement to ensure the asymmetry doesn’t produce inaccuracies, and micro-machined Garde-5 titanium is sealed in a Carbon TPT case. If you’re wavering over whether to take the plunge and buy this, Mille will throw in a free Colnago C60. You can’t say fairer than that.
Factor One-77, £25,000
Designed by motor sport stalwarts Beru F1 systems, the One-77 carbon fibre frame is forged as 1 piece, making it far stronger than bonded carbon frames. The Factor One-77 was offered as a £25,000 optional extra if you happened to be purchasing an Aston Martin One-77.
The One-77 was also the first bike to offer power meters where the left & right legs are measured independently – to an accuracy of 0.1%. High-resolution speed data comes courtesy of 8 magnets per wheel, and the custom head unit can detect cornering forces and lean angle. Useful.
Savile Row Worsted Wool Suit, starting at £3,000
Wool is the ultimate cycling material when the temperature drops below 10 Celsius. It keeps you warm, but is still breathable enough to avoid that swampy polyester feeling. Absorbing less than 10% its weight in moisture in comparison to 30% of cotton, quality wool is perfect cycling attire.
Quality cloth is a given with Row companies like Hunstman, but it’s the fit that really stands them apart. Custom suits cut in accordance with your body’s range of movement are far more comfortable. If wool’s good enough for Hepburn, it’s good enough for Warhol.
PG Bugatti Custom, £69,000
The PG doesn’t reinvent the wheel, but it certainly reinvents the stripped-back chic fixie lovers adore. Bugatti halved the number of chain and seat stays and kept the carbon fibre so light the entire bike weighs in around 5kg.
If you’re willing to lug just over 8kg of weight along the road, Bugatti have an electric option, making your roll around town even more casual and chic. Be prepared to fork out for that additional power, though.
Electric Choppers, starting at £2,000 each
In comparison to the rest of the items on this list, £2,000 might seem cheap for a bike – but because electric motors will fit on any frame, custom bikes become infinitely collectable. Each of these custom builds is completely unique, so you’ll never catch them all.
An increasing number of celebrities are jumping on the e-bike bandwagon. E-bikes give you the freedom to go further, faster, and as they get lighter, you can still pedal when you need to. A lot of billionaires like the idea that the past is intrinsically linked to the future…
