The countdown has begun to Bespoked 2017. There’s only hours before the doors open on the UK’s Handmade Bicycle Show, and already the scene is buzzing with anticipation of what the builders are bringing. Rowan Frameworks has some exciting news…
From the press release: A bicycle built for misadventure…
It’s an idea that’s been brewing for a few years now, a bicycle that doesn’t really know what it is… it’s not one of those do-it-all bicycles that will do everything perfectly because, honestly, that bike doesn’t exist. but that’s why we like it. It’s a bike we want to see used inappropriately, a bicycle used for misadventure.
Take it to the local time trial (and try really hard), take it to the skatepark, go for a long ride and load the bag with all the tasty snacks, strap your life to it and take it around the world, or just use it to head into town and pick up the shopping. Whatever you want, it just needs using.
So this is our first go at a production bicycle. A weird sort of useful utility bicycle made with a lot of fun in mind. This is us scratching our own itch, the bike we would like to put our leg over most often. It’s loosely based on the geometry of early 90s mountain bikes, fast and fun, but you really had to ride it. Perhaps if you get it, then you get it.
A custom bicycle is wonderful, but we’re splitting r.f. in two. the customs will be crazier, but being production doesn’t mean any less details, it kind of means more. It’s just we can design it for a long time, go through the iterations and then build it in a batch. Repeat the process and save time and money. This means the bike has lots of details, everything is built in-house… And it’s quite a bit cheaper for you.
It has the best parts we can imagine, with no compromise. A solid, fast and light frame built from Reynolds 853 DZB steel, segmented forks that fit the custom rack, all covered in two textures of this amazing ultra tough paint that we’re very excited to be using — it’s super durable all over, and ultra durable in the places that take the most shit. We’re so proud of the sweet, sweet chestnut crate on little brass posts, with a clever little attachment for the waxed canvas bag that fits inside.
Steel, brass, stainless, copper, wood, leather, canvas and some string. We make it all in-house. Mass produced. By hand. In Woodchurch, England. Although we’re happy to, we don’t only want to sell the best bicycles we can imagine to only those that can afford them, a huge part of this was that the bike would be reasonably priced.
Well, for what you get, we actually wanted it to be cheap, so we are 99% sure we can keep the price down to £4350, complete, for everything. We will be opening an order window really soon, and for a short amount of time, and then getting on and building them. It’s going to be fun.
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