Steel bike frames, one-offs, "each one is different": that is Stefan Lorenz's passion. His portfolio: "I've built a few hardtails, but now I've also built my third fully. Fully 1 is a Pinion trail bike with single-pivot rear suspension. Fully 2 is a lightweight 4-bar rocket and now an enduro bike."

The story of Lorenz's frame construction began in the summer of 2017. "I was looking for a 29er trail bike with a Pinion gearbox. Unfortunately - or actually fortunately - I didn't find what I was looking for. Because the search led me to custom-built bike frames and then to actual frame building."

"I started soldering in November 2017, without any previous knowledge. I fried countless test pieces together, with little success at first. It got better and better over time". Lorenz acquired his expertise in frame construction through self-study - with the help of the web and a lot of learning by doing. "My self-taught skills are helpful here. Through frame building, I have also established contacts with other frame builders. The frame building scene is very well-organized and friendly. People help each other, be it with tips or with materials."

From 0 to 100 in just a few years

In September 2018, his first hardtail was ready, followed by several more hardtails. Lorenz is also active in wheel construction: "The development of the Pinion Fullys brought us into contact with Pi Rope, for whom my wife Claudia and I took over sales and service in Switzerland in spring 2020. We do the whole thing part-time."

Lorenz developed the first two fullies entirely himself, while the enduro is based on collaborations. "The enduro is based on the Kavenz VHP160 from 77Designz. Michael Refner and Pascal Dommen from Brotlos-Design liked the bike so much that they sat down to design their own fully with a high pivot point. The design is very similar to the Kavenz bike, but the construction is completely different. Giacomo from Kavenz gave the go-ahead for Michael and Pascal to develop a frame based on the Kavenz VHP160. Due to the proximity to the Kavenz bike, there will be no marketing of the enduro bike," says Lorenz. Lorenz then joined the Swiss Made Enduro project as a frame builder in summer 2020.

The special feature of the enduro bike with a high pivot point are the 3D-formed parts. "The rocker is printed from titanium, very light and yet stiff. On the other hand, the dropouts, yoke and pivot mounts on the rear triangle are also 3D printed from engineering steel. The frame was then soldered by me in my workshop, but Michael and Pascal were also actively involved in the construction," says Lorenz.Further projects are already in the pipeline: "I'm currently completing the prototype phase of my LFS down-country bike. And I'm working on a Pinion version of the LFS in CAD. I also have two inquiries for hardtails on the table. The geometries, color, cable routing, tube sets and so on need to be discussed and defined before we can start building these frames."

scarcycles.ch