The Montreal-based boutique brand of custom made titanium frames, T-Lab, has announced the launch of a limited edition gravel bike that was developed in collaboration with carbon wheel specialist, South Industries.
“We’re always happy to work with forward-thinking partners who are looking to put out top quality product. “South Industries certainly fits that description,” said Rob Rossi, Co-Founder of T-Lab.
“The two companies, based on opposite sides of the globe, were brought together by a mutual supporter who saw a lot of common traits between them. The fact that South Industries is based in South Africa and that we’re in Quebec seems to give both companies a similar outlier stance, one that brings us to do things a little differently and do it in-house. That created an immediate connection and got us working together on something unique,” adds Rossi.
The Project North x South limited edition gravel bike features T-Lab’s radically profiled titanium tubing that was specially configured according to South Industries’ custom geometry, with the goal of creating a bike that was made to perform exceptionally well on South Africa’s challenging terrain.
“We opted for on a lower front end and slightly shorter chain stays. Our GX rim has been designed to be just as at home on the road as it is off road and we wanted the bike to compliment that,” said Nico van Zyl, Co-Founder of South Industries and key contributor on this project.
The bike features South Industries’ GX rims that are laced with Industry Nine Torch hubs and Sapim CX Ray spokes, along with a Shimano GRX/XT Di2 groupset, an Easton EA90 crankset, a Thomson finishing kit and a Brooks C17 saddle.
To up the style quotient, the bike is emblazoned with a limited-edition finish that gives a nod to the colors of the South African flag on the seattube, which features a unique brushed, bead-blasted titanium finish that signs off with ‘Handgemaak.’
“Handgemaak means handmade in Afrikaans, one of the native languages of South Africa”, added van Zyl.
“For us, #Handgemaak is more than our relentless drive to create the finest carbon composite products, more than our obsessive in-house design and manufacturing process. It is authentic, it’s handmade”.
“This limited edition gravel bike represents the first chapter of a working relationship that should produce more developments down the road,” says Rossi.
You can learn more about the Project North x South limited edition gravel bike by visiting T-Lab’s website here.
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