Velotastic launch Rikulau Bicycles

Simon Whiten

Velotastic launch Rikulau Bicycles from Taiwan in the UK

Rikulau have a good reputation in South East Asia for building a quality product at a sensible price and they were also the first company to manufacture a frame from Reynolds 931…

Taiwanese brand Rikulau was started in 2006 by a team of bicycle lovers who shared a common dream of creating an ‘unusual’ brand using new tubing materials, combined with artistically and culturally-rich frame graphics, and custom services – ‘the perfect fusion of arts and craftsmanship’.

The Rikulau is a legendary sacred clouded leopard of the Rukai people, a Taiwanese aboriginal tribe. 700 years ago, a group of Rukai ancestors followed the footprints of a Rikulau to find a forever land for their children. They left the east coast, and went up the stream into the deepest forests of the mountainous ranges of southern Taiwan and finally, they settled at the foothills of Da-Wu mountain where the footprints of the Rikulau stopped. Rikulau is the biggest feline animal on the island of Taiwan. It moves like the wind in the deepest forests of the mountainous island and is the best climber among all wild cats. It is the fairy that bridges the dreams between people and the nature, the incarnation of agility, speed and style; a good name for a bicycle then…

Velotastic will initially stock the Rikulau 931 and the 853 frames but also offer an available to order 953 frame. The frames come complete with Easton forks and an FSA headset. “As well as selling framesets, they are planning on selling some custom one-off builds which we are really looking forward too,” said Paul Gregory of Velotastic

Rikulau 853 Mondrian

The Rikulau 853 Mondrian frame offers something different to the norm. Piet Mondrian (1872-1944) was a Dutch painter and was one of the principal characters in an art movement called De Stijl (‘the Style’ in Dutch) also known as Neoplasticism, which seeks to ignore the natural forms and colours of objects, and finds their expression in an abstract composition that uses predominantly primary colours in square, rectangle and straight lines.

Like all of Rikulau’s frames, the 853 is aimed at riders who like to combine a spirited ride with all day comfort. The three main tubes are made from Reynolds 853 steel, and the frame comes complete with matching Easton EA70 forks and an FSA headset. It’s priced at £649.

Rikulau 931

Made from seamless Reynolds 931 stainless steel tubing and with a medium sized frame weighing in at around 1530 grams, the 931 is a real mile eater. Like the 853, the frame offers a balance between comfort and a sporting ride, and as such is ideal for sportive or club riders who want something a little different to carbon. The frame comes complete with an Easton EC90 fork and FSA headset. Price is £1299.

 
Made from Reynolds flagship 953 stainless steel tubing, the Rikulau 953 is designed for the rider who wants to go for an all-day ride. Available in a choice of colours, the 953 frameset comes complete with Easton EC-90 forks and an FSA headset. Cost is £1799 with delivery taking approximately 3 weeks.
 
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For complete speccing and geometry go to: www.rikulau.com.

Velotastic.co.uk