Florida’s own Alcavi Bikes follows a dream and builds a dream bike

By Justinian Hatfield

Alcavi Bikes started as a project to train world-class motorcycle athletes and turned into a dream bike. That dream bike soon turned into a business for the Clermont, Fl based company.

Aldon Baker and Alfredo Campo, the founders of Alcavi Bikes, are no strangers to bicycling. Baker is a former championship XC mountain biker and world-renowned Motocross trainer. Campo is a professional BMX racer, PanAm Games Gold Medalist, and a World Champion athlete who is training for his third Olympic Games.

In Motocross circles, Baker is a legend. He revolutionized the sport with his training methods. In fact, from 2000 to 2020 Baker’s riders won 15 out of 21 Supercross championship titles and 14 of 21 outdoor Motocross titles. They would have won more, but some riders were out due to injuries.

So, how do two off-road experts come to build a road bike? It turns out that road biking is an integral part of Baker’s Motocross training program at his Clermont facility, The Baker’s Factory. In 2015 Campo was training for the Rio Olympics at The Baker’s Factory, when he met Baker and discovered road biking.

“That is how I got involved in road bikes and found passion in it,” Campo said from a hotel lobby in Sakarya, Turkey where we was racing in the UCI BMX World Cup.

The two men quickly bonded over their shared passion in bikes and would spend long days in the saddle discussing a dream bike that could be used to help train the top athletes at the Baker’s Factory. At that point it was just a dream.

After the 2018 World Championship BMX race in Baku, Azerbaijan, Campo was reading Phil Knight’s “Shoe Dog: A Memoir by the Creator of Nike” and was inspired by the Nike Founder’s trip to Asia, so Campo hoped on a plane and spent a month learning about how goods are manufactured in Taiwan.

He came back and told Baker that he thought there might be something to their idea, but there were still lots of questions.

“How can we create a bicycle that is perfect for his needs, and perfect for my needs?” Campo asked. How can we create this dream bike that we talked about?”

As a Specialized athlete and ambassador for more than 20 years, Baker learned the tools of the trade from testing and providing feedback on many bikes. The pair started designing a bike, never intending for it to be a business, but rather just a training tool, but after the fifth prototype realized that they might be on to something.

“The athletes loved the bike,” Campo said. “That’s when the team got together and said, ‘Why don’t we share this with the world?'”

The resulting bike is the Alcavi V1.

“The whole point was to develop a road bike that would cover all riding levels for his athletes to be great on the flats, great climbing, great descending, overall comfort, pretty much the perfect all-rounded bike and that’s why the V1 was built,” Campo said.

With the bike’s aero frame and specially specced components, Baker’s athletes started getting faster, which improved their cardio and helped them get better results in their professional sports.

The V1 features a high tensile strength and high modulus T1000 carbon fiber frameset combined with NACA (National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics) airfoils for best-in-class aerodynamic performance and responsiveness. It is equipped with an internal cable routing system on every model that reduces wind resistance and drag. The v1 is equipped with a 28mm wide and 45mm deep rim Rolla wheelset with DT Swiss hubs and 28c Pirelli P-Zero Tires.

The Alcavi V1 is available in three build options utilizing Shimano Dura Ace Di2, Ultegra Di2 or 105 Di2. Prices start at $6,990 for the 105 build up to $11,999 for the top-of-the-line Dura Ace build.

“When Aldon and I started envisioning how our dream bike would look, we never thought it would lead us to this day,” according to Campo. “Alcavi V1 is a dream turned into a reality and we want to share it with as many people as we can.”

Alcavi Bikes’ motto, #GetsYouThere, implies more than just getting from point a to point b, Campo said.

“We’re a boutique brand that will always be related to The Baker’s Factory and related to a brand that motivates you,” Campo said “If you are part of it you feel you are working towards your goals.”

Alcavi is trying to build more than a bike brand. Campo said they are building a community of hard-working people who are trying to get where they want to be

“We all know the positive effects of riding a bicycle,” Campo said “It can improve your overall health, your mental health, so that’s why it’s our motto. Success is a hard word to define, but whatever that means to you Alcavi gets you there.”

The next project for Campo and Baker is designing a gravel bike, which will be more accessible than the V1.

To test ride an Alcavi V1, visit Clermont Bicycles or Winter Garden Wheel Works or visit www.alcavibikes.com for more information.