The Audax Series is based on a design created for long distance (100kms+) non-stop rides that can last for several days and nights. These bikes need to be light, fast and responsive, but their most important quality is comfort for the long hours riders spend in the saddle. Mudguards and lights are a requirement for taking part in official Audax events, and since it's helpful to have the ability to carry some extra gear on such long rides, such bikes are often fitted with a rear rack. All the models in this range include mudguard and carrier eyelets and two sets of bottle cage bosses. The basic design is flexible - stripped of its mudguards, it can be used on club runs, for racing, or with the addition of a suitable carrier, for lightweight touring. We usually provide enough clearance for fairly comfortable tyres, though you can always use the faster ones if you want. We recommend a road triple chainset so that the rider always has a few more gear options when fatigued and dual-pivot brakes for their precise control and good stopping power, even when carrying light panniers. The Audax Standard combines low weight and high performance in a classic lugged frame. It's based around the Reynolds 725 tubeset using classic spearpoint lugs. The Audax Special is lighter, by virtue of its Columbus Nivacrom tubes, and has a nippier ride. The Audax Compact is the no-expense-spared version. We use a fully-customised mix of tubes from Columbus and Reynolds to build a fillet-brazed (ie lugless) frame that offers unrivalled performance. We build the Compact with a sloping top tube to create a lighter, more comfortable and, for some, a more aesthetically pleasing frame. The smaller rear triangle is more rigid laterally, yet flexes up and down more readily, absorbing irregularities in the road. The longer seatpost is also more forgiving.. If necessary, a raised head tube allows us to bring the handlebars up to exactly the height you need. The Women's Audax is a high-performance bicycle specifically designed for women, with geometry to suit a woman's proportions. Some of the tubes are specially made for us by Reynolds, allowing us to build smaller frames withoutcompromising on performance or quality. By using fillet brazing, we aren't restricted to the angles of cast lugs that are invariably tailored for standard-sized men's bikes. As with the Audax Compact, we specify a sloping top tube which, along with the low-slung seatstays, offers a more comfortable ride without compromising the bike's responsiveness to pressure on the pedals. To match a frame designed for women, we can provide suitable components from a wide range of sources (and we have our own stash of hard-to-find parts). Unlike the major manufacturers, we are happy to mix and match any brands to find the most suitable combination of components. Though we like to stay with 700c wheels if possible, we can produce bikes with 650c or 26" wheels with no loss in performance.