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Found: KindHuman Kampionne Carbon Road Bike, Made in US Steel Bikes with Custom Options

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kampione_05

KindHuman is a big believer in the bicycle. From their humble roots in clothing to an impressive line of bikes currently, Adam Abramowicz and Gavin Brauer are as much about giving back as they are about their product. The pair state, “We’re going to make bike products that people want to ride, that they can afford to ride and we are going to use our proceeds to get more people riding them.” Add that to initiatives like their Take the Lead cycling scholarships and you have a brand with a pretty interesting story. Their bikes look good too.

Check out the carbon and US made steel options after the jump.

kampione_10_1

KindHuman’s first bicycle was the all carbon Kampionne. Designed as more of an all around road frame, the unidirectional, high modulus carbon frame has a subtle aero design with a tapered head tube and BB86 bottn bracket. At $1495 for the frame and fork, the bike can also be purchased as a complete starting at $2300 for a Tiagra/Ritchey Comp build. Frames are offered in 49, 52, 54, 56, and 58cm sizes and in White or Black.

kampione_02 kampione_01

FEATURES
• Unidirectional, high modulus carbon fiber assembled using nanoepoxy and monocoque construction
• Modified aero tube shapes and asymetrical rear design mate for efficient power transfer and ride quality
• Integrated top and head tube design yields a clean, aerodynamic look but also a wide fitting range
• Tapered head tube features 1.5” bottom bearing for handling precision
• Internally routed for EPS, Di2 or mechanical shift cables and brakes
• Race-oriented and time-proven geometry
• BB86 bottom bracket
• 950-grams

 

After the carbon Kamionne came on line, KindHuman looked towards steel for its unbeatable ride quality. Namely, hand made steel with all of the bikes built in the US. Now with stock builds for cyclocross, road, and 29er mountain, each steel bike has the option of custom geo, custom paint, and custom features for an added price (custom geo – $250, custom paint color – $100). To get yours started call or email KindHuman at 1.855.922.5463 (KIND) or info@kindhuman.cc.

Kind Human Steel

Springbok Handmade Cyclocross Frameset

FEATURES
• Reynolds 853 air-hardened steel tubing
• CNC precision machined head tube
• Interchange rear dropout for simple geared/singlespeed conversions, Disc or rim brake
• Semi-compact, cyclocross geometry
• Frame and steel fork : $1950
• Frame and Easton EC90X carbon fork : $2000
• Shipping included

Klassic Steel Roa

Klassic Handmade Road Frameset

FEATURES
• Reynolds 853 air-hardened steel tubing
• CNC precision machined head tube
• Interchange rear dropout for simple geared/singlespeed conversions
• Time-proven stage race geometry
• Frame and steel fork : $1950
• Frame and Enve carbon fork : $2000
• Shipping included

Rhebok hand made steel

Rhebok Handmade 29er Frame

FEATURES
• Reynolds 853 air-hardened steel tubing
• CNC precision machined head tube
• Interchange rear dropout for simple geared/singlespeed conversions
• Frame : $1800
• Shipping included

 

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23 Comments
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Dr. Badtouch
Dr. Badtouch
10 years ago

You know these bikes look pretty cool, but the bend downtube on the MTB just looks pre-broken to me. It’s not just their bikes, but almost all the bikes with that style. My head just can’t accept that it’s a better design.

fred
10 years ago

Love the bikes. 853 is a great choice of material and is the reason why these will be out of my price range…..

Feldybikes
Feldybikes
10 years ago

At $1800 for the frame only, 853 isn’t the main cost driver. I.e. Cheaper steel wouldn’t save that much.

greg
greg
10 years ago

the bend in the down tube is to clear fork crowns.
are the seatstays 853 as well?

Maxx
Maxx
10 years ago

The carbon Kampionne wasn’t designed by them. Its an open mold frameset available from one of the factories and its been around for the best part of 18 months. I have the original UD gloss finish version for like 15months already. The factory came up with a mildly updated version some 5-6 months back which might be what the above picts show.

So no .. that’s not an ‘original design’ by the company. Its just ‘rebranded’.

mudrock
mudrock
10 years ago

Must admit they are asking a lot for an open mold design. For comparison, companies like On One/Planet X, PedalForce, and November Bikes are selling open mold framesets for $800-900 (altho not w Easton or Enve fork).

Tom
Tom
10 years ago

@mudrock: I agree, and dislike the open mold marketing stuff from some of these companies. Still, better than paying $2,100 for a bloody Ritte Bosberg (just another fancy paint job on an open mold frame and a Flemish sounding name).

Tom
Tom
10 years ago

I’ll also add, as a Canada, and Torontonian, I hope they can find a way to have it made in Canada, especially with the whole Inukshuk/Canadian thing going on.

Maxx
Maxx
10 years ago

@mudrock:

That pictured above isn’t a ‘branded fork’. Its the fork that comes with the frame, as a set.

I have the BB30 version of the frameset, I know the frameset details very well as I assembled my bike myself.

Though its ‘open mold’ it must be highlighted that its a nice riding frameset to be fair.

Neal
Neal
10 years ago

The carbon bikes pictured are entirely open mold; frame, forks, even cheap Deng Fu paint, at an $895 mark up, shipping included.

Does anyone else see the irony in having a frame made using the lowest standards of human labor and naming it KindHuman?

Kyle
Kyle
10 years ago

@Chasejj

+1 good show lol

Adam
10 years ago

: you are in fact correct we designed the bend in the downtube for greater fork clearance. With the angles that we were looking to create for steerer and handling purposes, we needed to bend the downtube in order for clearance. Aesthetically, I would have loved to have a straight tube there but when it comes to safety and handling, aesthetics take a back seat.

@Maxx : you’re right, it is an open mold that is used by maybe 3-4 different companies globally. Though we didn’t just order a bike off the shelf and add our decals to it. The carbon layup is completely revised to suit the ride characteristics we wanted the Kampionne to have. We spent several months testing models before we settled on the right layup to bring to market.

I’ve been in this business for a long time and I know the wrap that open molds get. You’d be surprised what other “big” companies use open molds, namely Willier and many of the “big” Italian brands. The difference between us and an OnOne or November is that we aren’t simply sourcing a frame off the shelf. We have constructive input into the production methods, materials and as a result finished product. Molds are extremely expensive and can range anywhere from $5000-$25000. For a company as small as ours it wasn’t realistic for our debut bike to be an original mold. I can say that for 2015, we are already working on original molds for our carbon offerings.

@Tom : I’ve said this openly to people, if our company can be successful, in the next five years I would like to bring our carbon production to North America. I think we can do it and we can do it on a scale that isn’t R5CA/7-Series expensive.

Just to clear something up, the Easton and ENVE forks come equipped on our handmade in the US steel frames, not the Kampionne.

@Chasejj/Totaldick : We’re two guys trying to do something cool in the bike business. If we can give back to the sport that that we love through the company – I’m not sure why that’s a bad thing. If that’s not you, that’s cool. We’d still love to ride with you and have a beer or four afterwards. So long as people are riding bikes we’re happy. But I think this Totaldick idea has some merit. I think a Totaldick custom paint job is warranted on one of our handmade bikes. I will personally design and pay for the custom paint upgrade if in your Totaldickness make a Totaldickmove and maybe help with our scholarship? Let’s get creative? This could be fun.

I’d love to hear from any of you, feel free to email me anytime : markadam @ kindhuman (dot) cc

Thanks for reading guys!

Adam, Founder/Creative Leader, KindHuman

Adam
10 years ago

@Neal : Lowest standards of human labor? Really? Have you been to the factories? We have. We’ve met the people that have made these bikes and they are great people. We’ve shaken their hands and broken bread with them. I find it very rude for you to belittle our professional colleagues in such a manor. They work extremely hard to produce quality products that are not only up to our standards but up to our customers.

Ray
Ray
10 years ago

Where are the steel bikes being made in the States?

Alex
Alex
10 years ago

“We’re going to make bike products that people want to ride, that they can afford to ride and we are going to use our proceeds to get more people riding them.”

• Frame : $1800

Are you out of your gourd? Who can afford a steel hardtail at that price? The Niner ROS is exactly half that price for the frame. It’s made from decent steel, has an excellent geo and comes from a company with a good reputation. Where is the $800 premium?

Adam
10 years ago

@Ray : Our steel bikes are handmade in Eugene, OR.

Alex : If we were to source these products in Asia we could absolutely meet Niner’s price point but we weren’t trying to match a price point with the handmade line as they are all artisanal, made-to-order builds that are not coming off of an assembly line. Ours, comes equipped with top-grade material, excellent geo and we need to prove ourselves to have the reputation that Niner has but we are big fans of their products and what they have done for the 29er movement.

kurti_sc
kurti_sc
10 years ago

@ some of y’all
I’m assuming Adam is part of the Kindhuman business. Kudos to him for explaining the pricing on their US made frames.
If the Niner frame is half of this and theirs is made in Asia, well that’s thier business model. If you like the price and don’t really care about anything else, fine. Buy it and move on. Don’t criticize someone else’s business model that trys to use a different approach to manufacturing; support local infrastructure and US based employment. They are looking for someone who doesn’t make the price the only consideration. And, by the way, if you think initial price is the only factor in costs, you are sadly mistaken.
I refer to it as the ‘Walmart mentality.’ There are some interesting trends in US spending that is driven by this low cost behavior. First of all, it’s not really all that low cost; it leads to more waste; results in less quality and satisfaction…etc.
I’m not looking for a rebuttal or whatever. Just be aware of cost v. price.

Adam
10 years ago

@kurti_sc : Thanks for the support. I am one of the founders at KindHuman. I know that our ethos and model isn’t for everyone but in the same vein neither is Ritte’s, or Specialized’s, or Pedal Force, or Vanilla, or Richard Sachs, etc. That’s what makes this industry incredible, all of the flavors and styles. The commonality is that we’re all riding bikes. That’s pretty awesome, right?

hello?
hello?
10 years ago

Nice bikes. Don’t mind the downtube bend. Actually prefer it to the ‘hockystick’ curvatures of some DT’s. I’m not above criticizing “Chinese manufacture” but when I see a post like “lowest standard” I realize it’s prob. more of a grey area than black and white..Interesting discussion regarding open mold vs. custom layup…

Maxx
Maxx
10 years ago

@Adam :

Nothing personal but not a single open mold ‘re-brander’ to date has demonstrated their so called ‘custom layup’ differences from the generic off the factory floor open-mold copies. None that I can ever recall, nor have there ever been a clear demonstration.

Convince me otherwise for once.

Psi Squared
Psi Squared
10 years ago

@Maxx: I’ll bet if you asked any company for their layup schedule for a particular CF frame they’d say, uhm, “That’s proprietary.”

Adam
10 years ago

@Maxx and @Psi Squared : I hear where you’re coming from. I wouldn’t call it so much a “proprietary blend” as it was a selection of materials and the addition and removal of materials within the lay up process. I wish I had some super scientific documentation to show you other than a few conversations between us and our engineer who works with the factory, it really is as simple as us saying, “We want to see A happen, we think that by doing B might help.” Then the engineer approving or disapproving or offering C, D, E until we reach an agreement, build the proto, test it and move on to the next step.

Our Kampionne is made using Toray unidirectional, high modulus, 40 ton carbon fiber. There is only one model, there is no Sport or Elite or Pro version of the Kampionne. We don’t dumb down the raw ingredients to meet a lower price point. We only use top-quality raw-materials. We didn’t have to, but that’s what we did. There’s nothing proprietary about what we’re doing. We look at our carbon bikes like our handmade steel line in much the same way, start with the best raw materials (Toray/Reynolds) and use proven manufacturers and methods to deliver an awesome product.

Maxx, it’s not so cut and dry as you maybe think it is. One thing I would ask the other “re-branders” if they’ve traveled to the factories. If they personally know who they source their products from. With KindHuman, it’s not just a chain of emails.

I love the feedback. Believe me when I say, I hear what you’re putting out there. We are a small company with a big mission we’re trying to do things a bit differently from a business approach and I know that might be difficult for some to appreciate at first. The odds are stacked against us when we have to “compete” with established companies like Specialized, Trek, Cannondale, etc. But the fact is, we’re not trying to compete. We’re simply trying to make good looking, quality products that do a little more than perform and look good. Products that give back through our Scholarship and create opportunity through this sport that we love. Hopefully over time you’ll come to understand and respect what we’re trying to accomplish.

We are always open to feedback. We aim to make products that cyclists want to ride, not follow trends and try to convince you to obey. That being said, we want to hear from you. What do you want to see. What do you want to ride? With KindHuman, with Gavin and myself and the rest of our small company – we are one step away. One phone call or email and we’re always open to hear your opinions, ideas or stories. We like good stories.

Cheers fellas’…

-Adam

Adam
10 years ago

I should add, if you’re in Toronto you can stop in and at the very least Gavin will make you an espresso.

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