We're used to big brands collaborating, but often the end result comes out one-sided, with a big brand doing little more than lending its name to the smaller brand's product. However, the recent collaboration between Aston Martin and J.Laverack on the Aston Martin .1R road bike shows what happens when expert design, engineering and innovation team up with, well, expert design, engineering and innovation.

Both brands are driven by strict standards of elegance and this has resulted in some serious innovation to keep the boring bits hidden and the fancy bits on show. Who knew that brake calipers could be so elegant? Why wouldn't you move heaven and earth to hide one unsightly bolt? And what happened to all the brake cables?

This sort of thing doesn't arrive by accident, and can only be possible when the parties are equally matched in their pursuance of a common goal. How wonderful it is to have this collaboration between Aston and Laverack show British engineering and innovation at its absolute finest.

Aston Martin and titanium specialist J. Laverack have collaborated for the all new .1R road bike, said to be "the world's most bespoke, advanced and meticulously engineered road bicycle". The collaboration brings claimed world-first design elements, including integrated brake calipers and a visually boltless design, all in a made-to-measure package weighing from 7.5kg for a full bike.

road.cc/...

The content of this article is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances.