Two France-born brothers now based in Portland Oregon felt there were no bikes on the market that answer the rigorous needs of the city with an iconic design for today. This prompted them to create the CYLO Bike, the ultimate urban bicycle.
Of the two Duvachelle brothers, Eric, a former designer for Nike, already has one foot in the bike business. This is his second bicycle brand. He has been operating Portland’s titanium frame Cycles Papillon since 2009.
Performance
The CYLO’s unique design is built for speed and all day comfort. It is the result of hundreds of design explorations based on Eric and Antoine’s own experiences and feedback from friends who bike daily. “Everyone likes to go fast, it’s part of our nature. But not at the detriment of comfort.”, says Antoine.
Functionality
They embedded within the frame the most useful features for the ultimate urban riding experience, such as front and rear lights. They believe lights should be integral to urban bicycles, not add-ons you forget to charge, get stolen or leave behind.
For safety they embedded an accelerometer so the rear light, a super bright brake light, will brighten as you slow down. The dynamo powered LED lights are 205 lumens and the lens is perfectly angled to ensure full awareness of your surroundings and to be highly visible.
Finally the carbon belt drive will silently get you where you need to go while keeping your pant cuffs clean.
“We will also be releasing new features in future products around embedded technologies that will make your life simpler”, says Eric.
Style
“We wanted to make a bike that would make heads turn, a no-compromise machine for the discerning modern rider”, says Eric.
“Today people want to live closer to their work, friends and shops. For example, 24% of 16-34 year olds bike more now than they did just a few years ago.”, says Antoine. He adds: “We believe that cycling can help solve some bigger issues in urban mobility, health improvements, and better community living. CYLO will be a part of the solution.”
CYLO designed the frame in partnership with ARRO.studio of Paris, France but the manufacturing of the frames, assembly and shipping is done from Portland, OR — USA.
The CYLO will come in three models: The single-speed PRIME priced at $1850, the 3-speed MAX 3 priced at $2150 and the 11-speed ULTIMATE 11 for $3150. You can view the individual specs for each model here
Eric and Antoine are in the process of finalizing the prototype and will be launching a crowd sourcing campaign soon. They intend to create the first batch of 50 soon, but these will only ship within the US to begin with. Sign up on their website to be kept abreast of the latest news on the CYLO.
