After three years of growth and streamlining production and suppliers, we are introducing a new way for riders to design and order handmade steel bicycles. Because the Onguza factory workshop is in-house, we are uniquely able to offer truly customisable, handmade framesets at a price much closer to mass-produced brands. Essentially, the frames all have standardized geometry but beyond that, riders get to customize almost everything about their bikes. The first customizable model is a race-worthy Fast Gravel frameset: the Bliksem. This is the business model we’ve always aimed for, and finally we’re in a place to bring it to life.
The customer can select which of three different cable routing options they want installed on their frame, extra bottle and luggage bosses add-ons, all before your choice of paints and special graphics go on. They offer a plethora of Namibian-landscape and culture-inspired colours to choose from: 18 frame colours and 10 graphics colours.
The Bliksem is Onguza’s most responsive fast gravel bike, with a 50mm tyre clearance, designed for high-paced training and racing, while keeping the adventure fun on brutal terrain. It has a subtly aggressive geometry, without going too low on the stack figures for all-round great riding capabilities. The frames are completely hand-mitred and then fillet brazed with a mixture of Columbus Life and Zona tubing throughout. The T47 bottom bracket shell means we can offer three different cable routing options while using one consistent chassis.
Each frame is made with stainless steel flat mount bosses and touch points to protect from wear and tear. Fully “custom” bikes are still available for riders who want the above and beyond, but we believe more people should have access to the truly special experience of riding a customized, hand-made bike, so for us, we see this new model as our future. Adventure Gravel, Fast Road, Adventure Road and Trail are waiting in the wings.
We showcased a customer’s Bliksem at this year’s Made Bike show in Portland. This particular frame is in a “Flamingo” colourway, inspired by one of Namibia’s most iconic coastal birds, and has semi internal cable routing. The customer also chose to have the seatpost painted and added special graphics – all options available now directly through our frameset builder platform on Onguza.om
Bliksem frameset pricing starts at $US 3,032 / Euro 2,890 / GBP 2,490 – the price includes shipping, duties and taxes (US prices exclude State Sales Taxes). With current international duties and shipping challenges, we believe this is a necessary step to ensure bikes arrive with no hassle.
To bring customers this new way of ordering, we’ve rebuilt our website with a frameset-builder feature so you don’t have to wait for a conversation to design your dream bike and get a price estimate, it’s all at your fingertips. You can see it live now at Onguza.com
Once customers place an order, they receive an as-close-to-accurate-as-possible estimate along with a photograph of their selected paint choices on tubing and confirmation of their chosen specification.
And if you’re wondering, “Bliksem!” is the Afrikaans word you’d say as you smash yourself up a hard climb or send an attack up the road. It’s akin to shouting “dammit!” but with a lot more character and panache. It was, incidentally, the name of Dan’s Grandfather’s famous dog (so famous you can visit his statue in Stellenbosch). And it also, literally, means “lightning.”
Love, Dan, Collyn and the rest of the Onguza Team.
Learn more at the Onguza Bicycles Website