One thing's for sure: there’s no mistaking the WyndyMilla ‘look’ for anything else in the bike world. We’re split on whether the inspiration was Danger Mouse or The Flintstones… Jokes aside, this is an intentionally attention-seeking example of the new, Italian-built Wyndymilla bike range, and the paint job is as customisable as the geometry.
Thankfully, our Lightning Seed’s ride isn't quite as extrovert as its looks – and for this mid-range model that’s got to be a good thing. We’d have no qualms jumping on this bike and riding an Etape du Tour or long-distance sportive straight out of the box.
It’s fast, comfortable and reassuringly stable, with pin-sharp handling. What it might lack in super-light sophistication – the kind of pedalling sprightliness that, to be fair, only a few full-carbon superbikes can manage – it makes up for with surefooted pace and great descending.
The sharp handling, smooth shifting and excellent braking of our test bike can’t have been hurt by its high-end build: full-carbon fork, full SRAM Force groupset, excellent SRAM S27 wheels, a skinny but comfortable Selle Italia SLR saddle and the same top-level Dedacciai Zero 100 bars and stem as Bradley Wiggins’ bike.
There are four models in the Wyndymilla range: two road bikes, a mountain bike and a time trial machine. Company co-owner and elite racer Henry Wyndham Furniss and his team-mates race the top-of-the-range all-carbon Big Geranium, while there are three different frame options for this next model down, the Lightning Seed.
You can choose from full-carbon, aluminium with a carbon fork, or aluminium with carbon rear stays and full-carbon fork, as tested here. All three come with full-custom geometry, a full bike fitting session, a choice of either integrated or standard seatposts, and can be painted in any single base colour with any colour (or amount) of WyndyMilla’s distinctive graphics – all at no extra cost.
As with looks, pricing always has a degree of subjectivity. Certainly there are lighter, cheaper – and no doubt higher specced – bikes available. But you’re not just buying the bike with Wyndymilla, you’re buying a custom-built and fitted bike from a small company that has added bikes to its offerings of personal training, biomechanical assessments and testing.