Our bikes have history: stories to tell and probably a few secrets to share! They’ve been crashed, thrashed, bashed and endured endless hours of being sat on. So what could be better than rebuilding your beloved bike, reinventing an old favourite and seeing a Phoenix rise from the ashes of a humble, old steed?

Alice Thompson from Bristol in South West England was lucky enough to be our first Rebuild My Bike candidate. Check out her story in the video below: 

Alice has been riding for a short time – just eighteen months - but already has a long list of accomplishments. From hill climb races to endurance events, the length of her rides are vastly varied but the quest of a challenge is constant. Alice’s Canyon Ultimate SL has seen her through some serious miles of training, racing and adventuring. She has even piloted it up the height of Everest (8848m) – that’s 89 times up her local Naish Hill – in a record-breaking 12 hours 32 minutes. Connie the Canyon, as she is lovingly named, was a solid work horse, but we wanted to give Alice something magnificent, something magical: a unicorn, if you will!In Connie we had a pretty smart starting point, but the components had endured a tough life and we thought that Alice deserved something a little more befitting of the amazing challenges that she has conquered and the adventures that lie ahead of her. The process began with getting Connie ready for her flash new dress: a paintjob of dreams thanks to the talented Rob Nicholas at Colourburn Studio. In charge of stripping down, cleaning up and rebuilding the frame were our friends at Bike UK, a Shimano Service Centre in Bristol.

Fast-forward two weeks and Alice’s frame was nearly unrecognisable. A beautiful red-to-silver fade with a geometric pattern layered in made for a really stunning look: sleek and smart but with some added sparkle. A neat little mountain graphic on the top tube is a nod to Alice’s Everesting record and will hopefully provide some motivation as she pedals onwards and upwards to even greater accomplishments.

With the frame complete, it was back to Bike UK to build up the bike with a brand new selection of components.

Alice needed a bike capable of handing everything from club time trials to multi-day missions into the wild. Reliability and durability were key, but they needed to be balanced with performance credentials. Cue the DURA-ACE R9100 mechanical group set. Unrivalled shifting, unparalleled braking, unprecedented performance: perfect! Next up we needed accessories. Finishing kit from PRO in the form of the Vibe Aero handlebar and seatpost, and Turnix saddle, set the sparkly dress off a treat. Of course, rounding out any perfect bike build are some hot wheels. Step in the DURA-ACE C60 wheelset; lightweight and responsive but also comfortable and unquestionably cool. We also threw in a Shimano Sumire short and jersey, and the sublimely shiny blue S-PHYRE shoes, to quite literally complete the outfit.

The makeover was complete, and the big reveal was set. Alice had no idea what to expect, but it’s safe to say that Connie’s transformation did not disappoint. Alice’s reaction was priceless; we avoided tears and speechlessness, but only just!

Now, with that outfit, a day at the races is certainly in order!

Good luck Alice, we hope you and Connie have a long and successful partnership.