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

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

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

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).

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.

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?

@Greg Kopecky : 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

Where are the steel bikes being made in the States?

@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 : 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?

@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.

@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