Made Here: Our First Production Frame and a Tee to Match
Why Building Bikes in NZ Isn’t Easy (But Worth It)
A Milestone Moment: Our First Production Bike Is Coming Together
Fresh Tee Drop: Get Yours Before They’re Gone
Made in New Zealand
We’re a small island nation, isolated and far from the rest of the world. It has its perks, but when you’re trying to build something niche, that isolation brings endless challenges.
We simply don’t have the population to support an industry as niche as bicycle frame building, which means materials and often tools need to come from overseas. Given that steel is both bulky and heavy, it doesn’t lend itself to economic shipping, the freight often costs more than the material itself.
These are challenges I’m working hard to overcome. The key, I’ve found, is to create my own ecosystem, leaning on local resources and adapting them to suit what I’m trying to achieve. “Made in New Zealand” really is an option. I’m sourcing 4130 chromoly tubing from Auckland, typically used for sports car roll cages, and having it machined in Rolleston to produce my own head tubes, bottom bracket shells, and seat tube collars. In Tauranga, I’m working with a company renowned for their aerospace expertise to 3D print the complex stainless steel junctions I’ve designed, using 15-5PH stainless.
Then there’s the tubing, the hero of any frame. There was simply no way to produce this in New Zealand with the complex butting and forming I needed. After approaching all the major bicycle tubing manufacturers, I landed on Velospec, a relatively new player in the bicycle tubing world, filling the void left by True Temper. Unbound by tradition, Velospec are redefining what modern steel bikes can be, a perfect fit for Sufur.
Better still, I’ve been able to develop a custom range of tubes with them, as off-the-shelf options were creating “roadblocks” in my design. The cherry on top? Even though Velospec is an American company, I negotiated shipping directly from their factory in Taiwan rather than from the U.S. or Europe, a small but significant win against those brutal shipping costs.
Addressing the elephant in the room..
When can I get a Süfur?!?:
All of the prototyping and testing over the last few years is finally culminating in a tangible bike, our first model at Sufur! It’s with great excitement that I can say the design is finalized, the materials are chosen, and all that remains is to produce the first test sample.
From early on, I knew I didn’t want to offer full custom frames like many other builders do. So much time ends up spent on communication, and ultimately it becomes difficult to stay true to your own ethos when you’re building someone else’s idea of a dream bike. I’ve always preferred the path of refining a design through countless prototypes and testing, answering only to myself until it’s truly perfected. Only then do I offer it as a model: something authentic, aligned with my philosophy, and unmistakably a Sufur original.
While every detail of the design is now locked in, I’ll still offer riders the option of custom sizing through their own choice of stack and reach, a perfect balance between tailored fit and a proven, perfected design.
I know all of this might sound a little vague… What I can say is that this first model is, of course, based on the bikepacking hardtail I’ve been developing over the past few years. It will be available in small, medium, large, and extra-large, along with the custom sizing option.
As for the finer details, you’ll have to wait for the next update! Once the materials arrive and the first sample comes together, I’ll be able to share real photos and more insight into what makes this bike truly special.
Testing till perfect.
Vehicles for Natural Immersion:
Did you know Sufur has merch?!! Chances are most of you do know as our first batch of Sufur Tees sold out in 2 days! Fully restocked now and ready to take your order.
The Sufur Tee is for those who know the best way to move through the world is on two wheels. It captures the quiet magic of bike travel, a lone rider drifting through forest, fully immersed in the moment. Designed by local artist Sam Baker, it’s a tribute to the freedom found deep in the trees, far from the noise.
Süfur in the spot light:
Bikepacking.com Article: Project Double Shake, a tale of two Süfur’s