AD Ultima SL

The Austro Daimler Ultima SL with chromovelato finish is "grail" bike among AD collectors. The model represents the pinnacle of 80s Austrian racing bicycles. Chromovelato (Italian for "veiled chrome") is a process where the entire frame is fully chrome-plated and polished to a mirror shine, then coated with a thin, translucent tinted lacquer. This creates an almost smokey bronze finish that isn't particularly robust. The Ultima SL was built with Reynolds 531 Professional tubing. Austro Daimler was an Austrian brand under the Steyr-Daimler-Puch corporation. The Ultima SL was quite an expensive bike when new and thus few were built. This one returned to Austria, and an owner with a personal connection to the factory where it was produced.