Factor drops spectacular Monza Vexx edition at Paris-Roubaix – and it's 'Magnus Bäckstedt approved'

Special edition paint jobs usually appear at the end of the season when brands have a load of soon-to-be-obsolete frames to move on. But we also see them on the eve of a big race, and it doesn't get much bigger than Paris-Roubaix.

First blood in the art-inspired-bikes stakes goes to Factor and Modern Adventure, with a spectacular artist collaboration, painstakingly applied to the already-very-cool Factor Monza, which I rode last year and absolutely loved.

The artwork on the bike is by Belgian artist, Vexx. Born in 1998, Vexx has become globally recognised for what Factor describes as his "intricate, highly expressive doodle-driven visual language," which is characterised as having "energy, density and controlled chaos." Which isn't a bad metaphor for a race that takes place over rough cobbles the size of house bricks.

A new and still developing team, Modern Adventure probably won't spend much time at the front of Roubaix this weekend, so Magnus Bäckstedt is part of the deal as a DS for Human Powered Health who will be riding Paris Roubaix Femmes on the same day. Bäckstedt didn't just ride Roubaix, he won it back in 2004.

He knows better than most that this race has little interest in superficial paint jobs, once the drama gets underway. Not least a paint scheme as detailed as this, which is going to be too out of focus, vibrating over the surface like a road drill, over the worst of the cobbled sections of the race.

Which puts the choice of bike into a little better context. Yes, it looks the part—arguably one of the stand-out bikes from the weekend already. But the Monza is also a decent choice for a race that's this ultra-hard on both rider and kit.

The Monza is a relatively comfy and very fast bike for its genre. It's not a 'steel-is-real' ride feel, of course; it still chatters in the way carbon can, but the burly layup and work done to ensure a little compliance where it's needed is pretty successful in this case, definitely better than many lining up at the start in Compiegne and Denain.

Of course, it's still a race bike, so they'll try and cram in as much tyre as possible. There's barely a hair's width between the top of the tyre and the aero-cut seat post hugging the wheel. The tyre in question – shown in our lead image fitted to Lily Williams' bike of Human Powered Health – is a Vittoria Corsa Pro Control in size 34mm.