It was new bike day for our friend Bart this weekend. Having ridden The Metal Bike for some time, Bart decided to go for a custom build of his own.
Besides being one of the friendliest guys around, Bart is a serial entrepreneur investing in projects all over the world, including renewable energy in Durban, South Africa, among others. Closer to home (The Netherlands), Bart is also the owner of Dutch Outdoors , encouraging businesses to take their brainstorms outside, and his latest rather big project: De Zeeuwse Oase, a multifunctional outdoor space in one of The Netherlands’ remarkable rose gardens.
Using David Mercer’s signature Grubby Grivet all-terrain frame with the Columbus Tubi and the Futura gravel fork as the strong base, we projected the swirly brand design of the Zeeuwse Oase onto the bike. Ashley over at Shamrock Paintworks did a more than perfect job; it’s in the details.
The team at South Industries hooked us up with two wheelsets: one GX-700 gravel for all terrains and the RX R4 rims on his road wheelset, allowing him to take this build pretty much anywhere. In line with his gravel needs, we equipped him with the brand-new Shimano GRX-800 13-speed. The Comp Skyline Saddle, VentureMax 31.8 Handlebars, and Cinturato Gravel Hard Terrain 42mm tires make it a comfy yet aggressive all-terrain machine under 10 kilograms. Valdis over at Bikes & Records in Rotterdam helped us out with the build. Keep an eye out on the tracks around Zeeland for this one!
The annual Bridges for Music x Amsterdam Dance Event charity ride aims to raise money for the Bridges Music Academy in Langa, South Africa, where over 200 young students in under-resourced communities receive free education that combines entrepreneurship, mindfulness, and music. This year’s trip took the riders from London to Amsterdam via France and Belgium in five windy stages, ending with a nice celebration dinner to kick-off the world’s leading electronic music event in style.
For this year’s cycle, we produced a limited edition version of the Kota Moon, using a thicker and even more durable cotton to create an all-black handlebar- and hip bagcut out for all weather and clubbing conditions. The bags are customized with an embroided ADE logo and Bridges for Music and ADE steel pins, all created in Cape Town.
Consider donating if you support the cause and movement, visit cycleformusic.com for more info about the project and the charity ride. Hat tips to Amsterdam Dance Event and Bridges for Music for making this collab happen. If you’re looking to get in touch with us about a custom bag, bike, shirt or other wild idea you can contact us via connect(at)killat.cc
Referring to early discussions with Paul Senyol on a collaboration identified a common opinion. Bicycles should move away from a consumer product, rather an object that spans multiple generations. Something to be loved and cherished by the owner but also has potential to have a second life with family, friends or even a collector. To achieve this potential endless life, the object itself should firstly be of high physical quality.
Capable of being repaired or updated over time, David Mercer made this possible by building the skeleton on which we can start this collab, sturdy, endless and importantly fun. Paul steps in to add another layer of value, emotional value. The outward appearance that inspires feelings towards the otherwise practical vehicle. The layer that causes the second look, inspires conversion and perhaps even inspire people to think differently about the two wheels we all love.
A great adventure took place between Jonathan Pinkhard and Wandile Msomi on the roads of Johannesburg to Durban through Lesotho. They cycled 936km and climbed an elevatian of 15km over an 11 day journey.
“It was an amazing experience, an experience of overcoming so many obstacles, from getting caught in a blizzard, to sleeping in an open corn field watching the most beautiful sun set. I would love to thank all the great advice and hospitality we found along the road, South Africans are a diverse group and Lesotho’s people are a sum of the bravest.”
Jonathan rode a custom Killat x Mercer frame, while Wandile used a Rook for this journey.
Cape2Kili incoming: Cally Silberbauer is about to embark on a trip of a lifetime. She will be cycling from Cape Town to Kilimanjaro, passing through Namibia, Botswana, Zimbabwe, Zambia, Malawi, and Tanzania. When she reaches Kilimanjaro, she will ascend on my bicycle and acclimatise before attempting to set the female fastest known time (FKT) on my bike.
Cally is riding for all women in South Africa, to raise awareness about gender-based violence and funding for the Saartjie Baartman Centre for Women and Children while inspiring fellow female adventurers to live out their dreams.
The Saartjie Baartman Centre provides a safe haven for women and children that have been abused. There is 24/7 security at the gate for peace of mind. It is a place for survivors to finally have a chance at finding independence and ultimately, freedom. Survivors are welcome to stay anything between 4 – 10 months. During this time, the women are offered a bunch of accredited courses and the opportunity to upskill and find a job.
SBC is supported financially by the Government but only about 35-39% of the running fees are covered by the amount given. The director of SBC has to look for R6-8 million every year to keep the centre alive. The money goes to feeding around 100 people a day, electricity, maintenance, and other basic essentials. While the women are at SBC they are offered therapy, legal help, and rehab for substance abuse.
SBC never turns anyone away without assistance of some form. They have helped over 240 000 women and children since opening. They’ve changed over a quarter million lives.
You can help by donating to Cally’s fundraising page. Killat will throw in SAR 100,- from every buy via our SA webshop for the next two months, while Cally is on the road.
Our latest build is a colorful ode to the material we love the most.
Author: Dane Zijlstra
I was surprised to see this frame after painting. Luminous pink and teal are not colours one often sees on bikes. It took me a moment to appreciate the design. Once I allowed myself to imagine building it I felt the connection. The paintwork is not super technical, a simple crossfade of Pink over the teal powdercoat base. The pink is spectacularly bright which is balanced by the teal and exposed carbon. Splash of pink and teal on the tips of the fork. The design throws me back to a few SA built vintage bicycles I had come across over time. Bold but simple. The paint almost follows the classic lines provided by the equally classic steel tubing.
The tubing is mostly Columbus Zona along with the Futura gravel fork. The fork matched the concept behind the geometry and style of the bike perfectly. As Columbus says:
“Hybridization of road race and outdoor worlds”
This bicycle we imagine can be used anywhere. The freedom to choose any road at any one moment. Roadie cityscapes to ravel passes, the Forever Bike.
And about the coloring: “let’s be honest… there’s nothing more metal than a fluorescent pink bike!” says Ronald, whom helped brainstorm the design concept.
Specs
For the build I chose to mirror the bold hand built frame byMercerandShamrockpaintworkshandled the colouring in of the frame. A Campagnolo Ekar felt like a good fit, so we went with a 1×13 purpose built drive train on Fulcrum’s Rapid Red 3 wheels and Specialized Sawtooth 42c tyres. The overall build came to around 9.8kg! I think we made a very pretty bike.
