Lauf Cycling

Last updated
Lauf Cycles
Company type Private Limited Company
Industry Bicycles
FoundedDecember 2010;13 years ago (December 2010)
FoundersBenedikt Skulasson,
Gudberg Bjornsson
Headquarters Reykjavik, Iceland
ProductsBicycles, bicycle forks, handlebars
Website

Lauf Cycles is an Icelandic bicycle brand based in Reykjavik, Iceland. They specialise in gravel bikes.

The Lauf Forks idea was born over a cold bike-ride aprés beer in a cramped basement apartment in Reykjavik around Christmas-time 2010. Avid mountain biker and engineer Benedikt Skulason, at the time working as an R&D engineer for a high-end composite prosthetic feet company, pitched his idea of a super-light revolutionary bicycle suspension fork to his good friend and industrial designer Gudberg Bjornsson.

They are most commonly known for their invention of the Lauf Spring: a pivotless trailing link fork. [1] A set of glass fiber [2] springs are attached between the wheel set and the forks of a bike. [3] Manufacturing is done in Iceland, with subsidiary dealers found in both Europe and the United States.

The company gained media attention when Canadian Cyclocross National Champion, [4] Michael Van Den Ham [5] used Lauf bikes for his successful competition wins in 2018. [6]

In 2023, Lauf launched the Úthald (meaning "endurance" in Icelandic), marking their first foray into the road bike market. [7]

Lauf pivotless, trailing link fork Lauf pivotless, trailing link bicycle suspension fork.jpg
Lauf pivotless, trailing link fork

See also

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References

  1. "Lauf Grit - Outline of Lauf Spring Design". www.laufcycling.com. Retrieved 2020-04-21.
  2. "Introducing Lauf". Epic Cycles. Retrieved 2020-04-21.
  3. "Lauf Grit fork review". BikeRadar. Retrieved 2020-04-21.
  4. "'cyclingcanada.ca' - 2018 Shimano Canadian Cyclocross Championships & PTBO CX UCI C2". Cycling Canada Cyclisme. Retrieved 2020-04-21.
  5. Schuster, Zachary (2018-07-18). "Pro Bike: Michael Van den Ham's 2018 DK 200 Lauf True Grit Gravel Bike". Cyclocross Magazine - Cyclocross and Gravel News, Races, Bikes, Media. Retrieved 2020-04-21.
  6. Schuster, Zachary (2017-11-02). "Interview: Michael van den Ham on Winning 2017 Canadian Nationals". Cyclocross Magazine - Cyclocross and Gravel News, Races, Bikes, Media. Retrieved 2020-04-21.
  7. "Why Lauf has launched a road bike – and the thinking behind it". www.bikeradar.com. Retrieved 2024-05-17.