Written by:
Perhaps better known for his alternative cycling club ARAF, ‘advocating steady as fuck adventures‘, we chatted to Chris Hunter about his go-to rig. As a designer, Chris has an eye for detail and is also known to enjoy some pretty bright colours too, which you’ll notice here. This year hasn’t been great for getting out there, but we’re hoping he can make the most of this gorgeous – and very patiently built – steed.
Introduce your rig
Chris’ Planet X Tempest Ti gravel bike: the Project Forever Slow bike
This is my Project Forever Slow bike. It’s my do it all bike for life. I can swap the wheels out for my 700c set for road riding and touring, or go pretty much anywhere with the 650b set. I’ve done long distance road riding, bikepacking adventures, to hitting up (tame) MTB trails on it. It really does do everything I ride.
Box-fresh or deep custom? Run us through your mods
With parts collected up over a year, a build well worth the wait
This was a slow burner build. I’ve always wanted a titanium bike, so when the frame came up cheap (£480) I started collecting bits to build it up over about a year! I transferred a fair few bits over from my existing gravel bike.
The only really custom bit is the fork. Again a cheap second hand purchase, which meant I wasn’t so precious about it. This resulted in me stripping it down and doing my own custom paint job on it. Nice from afar, but far from nice!
Bikepacking, riding or racing: do you have any different set ups?
With a wheel switch and mudguard addition, the Planet X Tempest becomes a super rando machine
Definitely adventures, I’m not here to race. As mentioned above, I have two different wheelsets, and swapping them out totally changes the bikes riding style.
Do you have one component or aspect of your setup that you really love?
The FARR AEROGRVL bars are a real hit
The biggest game changer for me has been the FARR AEROGRVL handlebars. The numerous riding positions really improve comfort and control, resulting in less fatigue when riding too. I’m also now a convert to flared bars, so much more control when descending!
What’s your one most outstanding memory with your rig? Good or otherwise…
More adventures in 2021, please
Unfortunately I’ve not gotten to ride this as much as I would have liked over the last year, but one of my highlight memories was chasing the sun down for a coastal sunset ride. The bike was flawless and fun.
The full lowdown
| Frame | Planet X Tempest V3 |
| Fork | Kinesis ATR — Carbon, Custom Painted |
| BB | SRAM |
| Chainset | SRAM Force 1 w/ SRAM Apex 1 Long Cage |
| Brakes | SRAM Force |
| Bars | FARR AEROGRVL |
| Stem | Cinelli Ant |
| Tape/grips | Lizard Skins DSP V2 3.2 |
| Headset | Selcof |
| Saddle | Brooks Cambium C17 Carved All Weather |
| Seatpost | Selcof |
| Tyres | Panaracer Comet HardPack 27.5 x 2.00 |
| Wheels | Hope Fortus 23 |
| Accessories | Frame Pump: Zefal HPX Bottle Cages: Arundel Stainless Steel Pedals: Crank Brothers Candy 1 |
Do you have any questions for Chris about his set up? Drop ’em in the comments and be sure to check out more at ARAF on Instagram and komoot.
Last modified: 11th March 2021
How did you manage £480 for this particular frame? Seems insanely cheap for this. Wow. Cool build!