Hiker News #1
Welcome to the first edition of Hiker News. Here we present the current situation of launching our bicycle brand, our product development, insights to the process and ideas concerning bicycle design along with lifestyle content.
A more detailed history of the bike and company is maybe to come at some point, but to sum up our path to this point:
We have been slowly developing our first frameset over the last four years. We are currently testing third-generation prototypes. The first production run will be for sale in May/June of 2025 if all goes according to plan.
In case you have missed our marketing pitch on Instagram here it is, the basic idea for our first model: a comfortable lightweight steel frameset for real-world conditions. Classic cyclotouring geometry is thoughtfully scaled across a wide size range along with proportionally stiffer construction. Made in Czechia by Fort Frames with high-quality Columbus tubing.
We plan to sell Hiker framesets, special racks, custom stems, decaleurs and components to be used with the Hiker frame and similar bikes. We are aiming to produce racks and other accessories locally here in Finland, but the schedule is yet to be determined.
If our so-called ship stays afloat financially and we stay in our respective pieces mentally and physically we are planning to design more frames and accessories in the coming years.
Some very basic information about the first frame model:
Tire clearance on all sizes is 48mm max with a 60mm fender. Without fenders about 54mm.
Wheel size is 559/26” for size “53”. 584/650B for “55” “57” and “59” and 622/28” for “61” “63” and “65”. The size number equals roughly stack height in centimeters (or seat-tube center-top which is pretty much the same).
7 different sizes, fitting riders from about 160cm to 200cm in height.
sizes 53-59 use a 1” threadless headset. sizes 61-65 take 1&1/8” headsets
Brake posts for cantilever or v-brakes
Down tube shifter bosses, which can be converted to housing stops for brifters/barend shifters of course.
Front-load optimized low-trail steering geometry
Vertical dropouts
Tubing is light-ish steel, so no heavy camping-load capacity. You can still fit a front and rear rack.
Frames will be made in Czechia from a mix of Columbus and Reynolds tubes. Tubing chart for all sizes TBA
Frames will most probably be powder-coated and ED coated for durability.
Price for the frameset (frame+fork) will be around 1400 € including VAT
More detailed specifications can be found at bikeinsights.com
Countless discussions, chats, emails,
prototypes and some broken forks
It's been a long way to where we are now even though we are just getting started. I don’t even want to think too much about the process right now as it makes me dizzy to consider all the work, time and money spent on the project. Let's just believe we're gonna be alright.
Most stuff for production is now clear. The prototypes work well and need only minor adjustments in the geometry and tubing choices. Last week we got word from Columbus that they are willing to make extra strong custom 0,9mm wall chainstays for us, which is the final piece of the puzzle for our proportionally stiffer tubing across the size range. Otherwise we would have needed to use the same 0,7mm tubes for the largest sizes’ longer chainstays, making them less stiff than the shorter ones in smaller sizes.
One of our remaining major problems is getting a fork design we are happy with and that will survive the EN ISO safety test, and possibly even a more advanced fatigue test where the previous prototypes failed. Testing has cost us thousands of euros so far, and is going to cost thousands more. Had we known this beforehand I'm not sure we would have not abandoned the project already a year back...
Fork gave in from the shoreline of the crown during Zedler-Institut’s testing.
Mauled frame from the test lab.
The frames survived the tests well enough even though they are quite lightweight, but as the front fork is more critical to safety the requirements are higher. The frames cracked in testing but still passed. The fork cannot crack in the test, which it did. All three of the test forks did actually. As we see it, it is due to the crown design that we used, the Pacenti Paris-Brest. The crown is beautiful, but unfortunately, probably suboptimal engineering-wise, as it seems to create a stress riser in the front of the fork blade where most stress is concentrated. This is in the laboratory setting where the machine is bending it thousands of times with a force of 1100N that is. At least our Columbus Cromor fork blade with a wall thickness of 0,9mm gave in.
We have now changed the fork crown for the next sample batch, which will be made ASAP and sent for re-testing. We are trying to keep the fork blade design the same, but have requested a bit stronger fork blade version to be built just in case.
The crown to be used is the Tange TC007, which looks like this:
Not the most visually striking crown, but it complements the frame’s simple shapes quite nicely. And most importantly it should distribute stresses better
Even though we decided early on that the frame would be in the light touring/randonneuring tradition, with rim brakes, steel frame and so on, it has still taken all these years to arrive to the design we have now. And that it is quite basic is quite telling: the idea is hard to improve upon. In retrospect it's easy to say that our attempts to "modernize" it were mostly futile. But all the ideas and prototypes and mistakes made along the way have grown our understanding of bicycles and especially how manufacturing works. It's different to make one frame than it is to sensibly produce a hundred frames in a certain price point and time line. We have some ideas how to improve the frame but they are mostly purely aesthetic and not functional, so we felt like we can live with the current design and do not have to make everything happen in the first production version. We have enough on our shared plate as it is.
Until next time,
Hiker Crew
