Growing out of the exclusive European distributor of Japanese Tange tubing, new bike maker Goblin Bikes does what came natural to them: weld up some simple do-it-all steel bikes. The new company is actually an evolution of a brand started almost 20 years ago by frame builder Jean Christophe Charrier just to build bikes for himself. But now a couple of decades on and working together with tubing distributor Jaycees, Goblin is being reborn as something of a version 2.0 for the public. Handmade French steel road bikes, for those who appreciate the breadth of road riding…
The new bikes are very much in the spirit of the times, with the recent return of gravel, all-road, and adventure riding inspiring a good excuse to get back to classic steel bikes. The Goblins are less about trying to be the highest tech, and more about delivering a playful ride able to be ridden anywhere. Back country road riding, exploring in the mountains, even lightweight touring and Goblin has got it covered.
All of the new bikes are being made-to-order, so with your new Goblin does come a lot of flexibility, including custom geometry if needed. And if you are a smaller rider, this might be a good place to start, too. The company name comes from the friendly nickname given to Charrier himself, due to his small stature. Out of necessity, he’s built a solid experience designing and building bikes for smaller riders. Of course it doesn’t hurt that goblins were always known to be excellent craftsmen!
The basic idea of these GB02 series bikes is to build light, comfortable, sportive bikes by hand in France; the kind of bikes for most of the riders out there who just want to get on their bikes and enjoy the ride. That’s why Goblin works exclusively with steel, and builds bikes that can really take advantage of the classic ride and durability the material is known for.
Goblin works specifically with high-end double-butted Tange Prestige steel, and TIG welds them for quality and affordable builds. Goblin’s sloping geo frames typically run in the neighborhood of 1450g, so there’s not much to be lost vs. light carbon options.
They specialize in disc brake bikes for all-around versatility, but aren’t really averse to the idea of rim brakes if you are set on a more classic road build. If it sounds good to you, reach out and get in touch.
Update: Goblin gave us some more info on pricing and their timeline. They’re working now on refining some special parts of their own – new dropouts, headtube with a semi-integrated headset, and a few others. That means delivery dates and final pricing are still a bit up in the air. But look for the beginning of 2017 & affordable costs around 1300€ for the frame and fork kit.
