Okay, so it’s a strange title for a German bike, but the Erdgeschoss by Berlin’s Standert Bicycles shop is actually italiana fatta. And at a stretch, the conspicuous colours of their new cyclocross bike could be a twisted tricolore of green, white and red. Mixed international messages aside, it’s a well-designed and well-made workhorse of a frame.
Located in the heart of Berlin, Standert Bicycles is a local shop with great style that’s staffed by passionate people. They’ve been selling a few frames under their house brand and the Erdgeschoss is the latest to join the stable. This is not just some marketing exercise, but a considered vehicle for the Standert guys to contest the local ‘cross circuit.
The name of the new frame, Erdgeschoss, is an odd one. A straight translation is ‘ground-floor’ but the definition of Erde is ‘soil’ and ‘Geschoss’ is ‘missile’, so by that we can assume that Standert’s new ‘crosser goes like shit off a shovel. Perhaps something got lost in translation but Team Standert don’t look like they’re standing still.
We recently featured the Standert Bicycles Triebwerk, their steel road-going model, which was designed at home but manufactured in Asia. The Erdgeschoss, however, is constructed in Italy. Both frames are built from the light, stiff and durable Columbus Life tubing — an ideal choice for a ‘cross bike.
With an oversized head tube and tapered full carbon fork, there’ll be plenty to lean on in muddy conditions, and a full SRAM CX1 groupset, including disc brakes, will keep it manageable. The Erdgeschoss is easily convertible to a single speed ‘crosser, too, if you’re that way inclined.
Head to the Standert Bicycles blog for more information.
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Special thanks to Constantin Gerlach for the photography.
