Speedvagen RUGGED ROAD
For a long time, the pinnacle of cycling was racing at the top level. If you were serious about riding, you eventually ended up in the peloton. With that came the “need” for bikes aimed at the cycling public to have descriptions that mostly focused on weight, stiffness and what material.
What if you love riding, but racing is not your pinnacle? Where do you go? Is it important to have a 12lb, super stiff carbon bike and 23mm tires? What about how the bike rides? What about how you feel? Are you a part of the bike?
Over the last several years, more and more riders are bucking the notion that skinny tires, pace-lining and buying a new wonder bike each year, realizing that that doesn’t align with them as a cyclist.
Reality is taking over.
Finding new roads (sometimes made of dirt), taking a right down an unknown path, even though your map tells you to go straight. This is the domain where you want a machine that you love. Weight doesn’t matter, ride quality does. Feeling like this bike fits you like a glove and puts up with a rugged day of… whatever.
details make the difference
Details make the difference. The time and care we put into each bike goes toward the craft of hundreds of details big and small. Each refinement alone is not revolutionary, but when put together make for a rarified gestalt experience, on and off the bike. This sum, greater than each part, is a feeling — an emotion for how the bike rides that only a Speedvagen can give you.
From customer service, to metal work, to paint, build out, packing the bike on our Sled system, we put an average of 150 hours into each Speedvagen.
Ask around and you’ll find that in the world of custom bikes, this is an extraordinary amount of time. A mass produced steel frame can take just an hour to build while a basic custom frame can take as little as ten hours. There are a lot of bikes in the world – we are not here to crank bikes out and fill the world with more stuff, stuff that is just OK, or even stuff that is good. We are here to make you the best bike we possibly can and help you have incredible experiences on the bike.
speedvagen standard features
Choices Choices Choices
Our Rugged Road has up grades galore. Fenders yep, frame pumps, yep. Painted EE wings cranks yeah totally. Lighting totally let us know what you are looking for and we will see how we can make it work!
Speedvagen steel is realer than real
Made from the latest technology, our new steel is to traditional steel what a Tesla is to a 60’s Ford. Speedvagen tubes are 4-6 times stronger than the tubing people typically associate with a steel bike. Because it’s stronger, it can be made lighter, resulting in a Speedvagen as light as 13lbs (6kgs) complete. Learn more about our tubing in our deep dive.
INTEGRATED SEATMAST
The integrated seatmast makes for beautiful lines. There are a couple of things that are unique to our bikes. Each length of every Speedvagen seatmast is finished specifically for its owner. We also use stainless steel around the top of the seat tube where our post head mounts, rather than the post head wearing on a painted surface. The result is lighter and cleaner than a traditional seatpost, and the collar looks great topped with our ENVE-made Speedvagen post head.
popular upgrades
Frame Pump painted to match
The frame pump represents a recent shift in cyclists’ priorities. Instead of the lightest of everything, people are focusing more on how well something works and how much they enjoy using it. Unlike CO2 or a mini pump, with a full sized frame pump, not only will you always be able to get your tires up to full pressure, but you’ll be a best friend to everyone you ride with, cause you’ll always have enough air for them too.
Fenders painted to match
Riding in Portland 365 days per year, we know (and love) fenders. Honjo fenders (made in Japan) are the lightest and most beautiful available. For the Rugged Road we customize the fenders to size, they then paint to match so that they’re more of an extension of the frame, rather than more stuff that’s just bolted on.
Custom painted hubs
Hubs are a prime location to incorporate your Speedvagen frame color. Instead of the wheels looking like extra parts bolted into the bike, we like to carry the frame color down the fork and frame, through the hub and back up the frame/fork on the other side.
