Our Town Builds Bikes
Dear friends,
I’ve spent the last 15 years of my life chasing the professional cyclist dream in Europe but as my first career has come to an end I’ve been asking myself, what was the point of becoming a pro in the first place? Did it matter? What can I do now? What must I do now?
It would be easy for me not to use my privilege, influence, and visibility for good. But if I don’t, why did I gain these things in the first place?
Back in 2010 I had an idea. It took 12 years to realize, but it is finally happening.
With the help of Robin Mather, Matthew Sowter, David Mercer, Andres Arregui Velazquez, Tom Sturdy, Columbus, The Bicycles Academy and countless others, we’ve created a frame-building workshop in my hometown, Omaruru, where Namibians are building world-class, steel-framed bikes.
I was meant to ride one of our bikes at the Tokyo Olympics. We’d launch with a bang to a global audience. But COVID didn’t let that happen, so we went back to the drawing board. Does the world really need another bicycle brand? No. But my hometown, Omaruru, does.
Namibia is a country of talented makers stuck in low-value jobs. Many struggle to find work aside from farm labor. Building world-class steel bicycles is a high-value trade that matches the quality of their workmanship. From the start, I knew we could build bikes as good as the best steel frame builders in the world. But it became clear this wasn’t enough.
What do you picture when you hear “African bikes”? There’s a good chance you’re not thinking of a luxury, world-class bike. And you’re not alone. We need to change the way people think about goods made in Namibia - and from Africa as a whole. Name a luxury brand from the African continent…? We have our work cut out for us.
Our team of builders are hand crafting world-class steel framed bikes in a dusty town in Namibia. It’s maybe the last place you’d expect something extraordinary to come from. But we’re doing it. And I need your help, so please come along on this journey with us.
Love,
Dan
Our Factory
Everything we do is to create opportunities that match the talent and skill of our people.
Our factory team is made of 2 senior builders, Sakaria Nkolo and Petrus Mufenge - who are also owners in our company, 2 junior builders, Sakeus Mufenge and Tilomwene Mundjele. They have been building bikes since 2017 under the direction of some of the world's finest frame building instructors: Robin Mather, Andreas Arregui Velasquez, Tomi Salmon, and Andrew Denham.
We've recently built our own paint booth at the factory which is run by a local painter, Elvis Presley Sageus. Elvis has been working closely under the mentorship of bike painters in South Africa, The USA and The UK to hone his bicycle painting skills over the last year. His work is now beautiful and matches our framebuilding standards.
Every bike is built to measure for each customer, designed and engineered by Dan and Tomi to guarantee not only a perfect fit, but also to make sure the bike you order is exactly the bike you need.
We actively promote the skills development and further education of our builder team by bringing in expert mentor builders from abroad, including the UK and Spain. These mentors oversee new technique training and new junior builders.
We exclusively use Columbus tubing, specialist bicycle tubing manufactured in Milan, Italy. Every tube is hand mitred, filed, and brazed to each bicycle's unique geometry.
Heated to over 800C (1500F) when brazed, our work is exact to within a .09 of a millimeter, guaranteeing absolute precision on the finished frame.
Visit us
Our factory can be found 42 Wilhelm Zeraua Street, Omaruru, about 200km north of Windhoek, the capital of Namibia. We are open to visitors Monday-Friday 8am-4pm, please get in touch with us if you'd like to stop by so we can make a coffee for you.