I love bikes with special edition paint. Special paint always makes you feel like a special person (which you are, but sometimes we all need to be reminded). So whenever I see a bike at TPC with a unique paint job, I have to pull it aside for some beauty shots.
Of course, this bright, multi-colored 2020 Scott Addict RC instantly caught my eye. What I really like is that it's an Esteban Chaves Special Edition frame, which makes it much cooler than most special edition frames.
It was released in 2019 as part of a charity initiative. For every frame that was sold, €200 was donated to the Esteban Chaves FUN Foundation, which provides medical resources for children with orthopedic problems. In total, 262 framesets were sold in 13 countries, raising €52,400 for the foundation, and helping many children receive life-changing treatment and surgeries.
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Who is Esteban Chaves? What is his FUN Foundation?
Photo: EF Education-EasyPost
If you watched the Tour de France this year, then you likely caught a glimpse of Esteban riding in his eye-catching Colombian national champion jersey. The Colombian cyclist currently rides for the EF Education-EasyPost team, but he originally burst onto the World Tour scene back in 2014 with Orica GreenEDGE (which later became Michelton-Scott, then Team BikeExchange).
He has impressive palmares with stage wins in the Giro and Vuelta. 2016 was his breakout year with a 2nd place finish in the Giro, 3rd in the Vuelta, and a win at Il Lombardia. When he won Lombardia, he became the first Colombian to win a Monument, and the Lombardia's first non-European winner.
Photo: A.S.O./Pauline Ballet
However, what many cycling fans likely love more than anything is Chaves’ infectious smile. Seriously, this dude is always smiling. Now that he and his fellow joyous countryman, Rigoberto Uran, are on the same team, the EF Education bus must be the happiest place in the whole peloton.
But Chaves’ career hasn’t been all smiles. It’s been punctuated by some serious lows. After his breakout season in 2016, he struggled for years with career-threatening injuries, illness, and burnout. Fortunately, he’s been able to rediscover his love of the sport (check out this great short documentary on Esteban) and bounce back to win Grand Tour stages and his country’s national championship.
Photo: FUN Foundation
Back home in Colombia, he helped establish the Esteban Chaves FUN Foundation. Esteban's foundation has two main pillars: Sport (cycling) and medicine (specifically orthopedics).
The FUN Esteban Chaves cycling team gives young Colombians the opportunity to enter the sport and develop their talent. The Gran Fondo Esteban Chaves medical program helps change the lives of children who may not have the resources to treat orthopedic problems that make it difficult for them to play, write, or even walk. Funds go to therapy, surgery, and support equipment.
Photo: FUN Foundation
About his foundation Chaves has said: “I have always been grateful to life and the opportunities it has given me. I suffered multiple accidents during my career, and I sometimes got [to] recover against the odds. Now I want to give some of the joy I have received back with my foundation.”
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The 2020 Scott Addict RC Esteban Chaves Special Edition
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When the Scott Addict first came out back in 2008, it was one of the lightest road bikes on the market. It’s been updated through the years, but lightness has always been at its core. With the major update for the 2020 model year, there were a few major changes.
First, the new version was released as the Addict RC, which became Scott’s flagship road racing model, while the previous generation Addict (not RC) became an endurance model. Second, the frame became disc-brake only. Finally, the frame received a significant aero update to keep it competitive with other aero all-rounders like the Specialized Tarmac SL7 and Cannondale SuperSix Evo.
The frame was reshaped using aero tube profiles, but the light weight remained. The frame is only 850 grams and the size Large bike featured here is an impressive 15 lbs 12 oz!
The biggest change however was in the cockpit. Around 2020 was when we really started to see more brands go all in on fully integrated cockpits, and Scott was at the forefront with the Syncros Creston iC SL cockpit (this cockpit was only use on high-end Addict RCs).
An integrated cockpit like this isn’t novel now, but back in 2019 when it debuted, there was plenty of buzz, and a lot of critics (there are still a lot of critics now too). Ultimately, integrated cockpits like this are the key method modern bikes use to make marginal aerodynamic gains over their predecessors. This cockpit was at the core of the 2020 Addict update and Scott claimed the aero improvements resulted in a 6 watt saving over the previous Addict at 45 km/h.
The Creston iC SL cockpit was also designed to improve rider comfort too. The stem was fairly flat and thin to add a degree of vertical compliance.
Along with the compliant cockpit, the Addict RC was also designed around wider tires (going disc brake-only helped this). It came from the factory with 28mm tires, and the previous owner of this bike kicked it up a notch with some 30mm Continental GP 5000 S TRs.
Photo: Scott Sports
The Esteban Chaves Special Edition frameset was released in late 2019, shortly after the Addict RC update, so Chaves could ride it at the 2019 UCI World Championships in Yorkshire and Il Lombardia, the Monument he won three years prior.
The frame was painted in the colors of the Esteban Chaves FUN Foundation, with awesome multi-color Scott logos. It’s hard to capture on camera, but the blue and silver paint really sparkle in the sun, and look absolutely stunning. With only 262 Esteban Chaves Special Edition framesets out in the wild, it's exceptionally rare.
Because it was sold as a frameset, buyers were free to build it as they wished. The previous owner of this bike spared no expense and chose many of the best components available. It has a full SRAM Red eTap AXS groupset with a Quarq power meter. The wheels are Zipp 353 NSW carbon wheels. These are Zipp’s top-of-the-line offering, and they’re instantly recognizable thanks to their proprietary Sawtooth profile.
Unfortunately, for anyone interested in this bike, it sold as I was writing up this feature. With so few in the world, it’s very unlikely that we’ll ever see another here at TPC, but you never know!
If you’re interested, I suggest checking out the Esteban Chaves FUN Foundation. As a father whose son has motor issues that required expensive therapy and specialized equipment to treat, the mission of his foundation really hit home, and it’s a big reason why I wanted to feature his special edition bike. Chaves will be riding for EF Education-EasyPost again next season, and I’ll definitely be cheering him on!
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