Singletrack/MTB
Gravel/All-road
Dirt-road Touring
Fat-bike
This week’s Reader’s Rig comes from Jorrit Spoelstra of Munro Wheels in Berlin, who offers an in-depth look at his lovingly built prototype titanium Stridsland Beachcomber. Meet Jorrit and read the story of his journey through the cycling world and how he ended up with this unique do-it-all bike here…
Words and photos by Jorrit Spoelstra
Hello, I’m Jorrit. I am a dad of two and a passionate wheel builder under the name Munro Wheels. I spend about half of my life in Berlin and the other half living in a bauwagen (a tiny house/trailer) on a farm 20 kilometers east of Dresden, at the foot of Saxon Switzerland.
I spent the first 30 years of my life in the Netherlands. We did a lot of cycling when I was younger, and I did my first bike tour when I was 10 with my parents and siblings during the summer holidays. After starting work as a bike messenger in 2010, my cycling fever grew and grew. In 2015, I left the Netherlands for six months to pedal through Argentina, Bolivia, and Paraguay. I did that on a second-hand Koga Miyata World Traveler from the 1990s, for which I paid around €300. That trip changed my life big time.
After returning, I was a bit lost, and the Netherlands didn’t feel like home anymore. I decided to ride my bike some more and visit a good friend (who is now my partner) in Dresden. After that, I visited another friend who just opened Coco, a small bike shop in Leipzig. I knew shit about bikes back then. Just some basics. Willem, who ran Coco, was my wheel builder. I helped out in his little shop in exchange for a place to stay.
A little visit turned into four years. I mainly worked as a bike messenger again, and I made a dream come true by starting a courier collective called Fulmo. I moved to Berlin not long after, where I joined another courier collective called Crow, with whom we opened Crow Cyclery in the summer of 2020. This really got me rolling as a mechanic; I learned so much and realized you can’t run a shop without knowing how to build wheels. From that moment, I was hooked on wheel building.
For me, cycling is life. I don’t own a car, and although it is not a rule I have set for myself, I don’t think I will ever own one. In the city, I do almost everything on my Omnium Cargo, such as hauling my kids around, including groceries, their toys, and even their bikes. It is quality time with them on the bike. We talk about what we see, make silly jokes, and sing along to loud music while rolling around. There is no better bike for city life!
- Frame/Fork: Stridsland Titanium Beachcomber (repainted fork)
- Rims: Fratelli FX40 Plus 559s
- Hubs: SON 28 15 (front) / Industry 9 Hydra (rear)
- Tires: WTB Rangers
- Handlebars: Stooge Moto Bars
- Headset: Cane Creek Forty with Blue Lug brass spacers
- Crankset: White Industries w/ Stridsland chainring and Blue Lug crank caps
- Pedals: Omnium BMX
- Cassette: Garbaruk 11-speed
- Derailleur(s): Sram X01 w/ Garbaruk cage and pulley wheels
- Brakes: Hope Tech 3 E4
- Shifter(s): SRAM X01
- Saddle: SQ Lab 614
- Seatpost: Goldsprint Berlin
- Stem: Unknown
- Front bags: Just a dry bag strapped to my bars
- Frame bags: Witslingers splittable frame bag
- Rear bags: Revelate Designs
- Accessory bags: Bag Face Berlin stem bags
- Lights: SON front and rear
- Other accessories: SQ Lab Inner bar ends, Ocean Air Stem Top No.2, Mone Raw Brass Nipples
Through Crow Cyclery, I got in touch with Matias Stridsland, and we’ve talked about bikes for thousands of hours since. One day, he surprised me by asking if I wanted to have a prototype titanium Beachcomber. I was super stoked but also pretty broke at the same time. Still, I couldn’t let this opportunity pass by, and I took the chance. I spent many hours contemplating the bike. I even made a mood board for it. I decided this bike would be the first one where I made no compromises in how I wanted it to function and look.
It took a while until I had all the parts gathered. Some I sourced second-hand, and some I had to save up for until I could afford them. In the meantime, summer came, and my oldest son and I set off for a week-long cycling trip from Berlin to Matias in Denmark. We rode an Omnium that had to be returned to Copenhagen with all our camping gear and had the best time. That’s when Matias and I met for the first time in real life. It felt like visiting a good friend I hadn’t seen for a long time. Matias is such a humble guy with a great passion, and he’s creating such unique products from it! I still feel blessed to have gotten this opportunity. My son still talks about the trip, and we watch a lot of Stridsland Instagram reels together.
The bike has been rolling since December 2022, putting a big smile on my face every time I ride it. It’s the best bike I have ever ridden. It has been mostly outside of Berlin and on Pizza Gravel rides. We did two short winter camping trips with Matias and many other great souls in Sweden last year and again this year. I have the most fun with this bike on such trips, and it’s where I feel the most at home with it.
The nature is so amazing in Sweden, and Tobias, whose Reader’s Rig you might have seen here as well, is an amazing guide on the trails there. I upgraded the front wheel with a SON dynamo hub and matching lights just before the last group trip. That was always the plan, but I ran out of money and needed time to save. The only thing I plan to change is the seat post to a dropper, and I will add a proper handlebar bag to my setup. But who knows? Bikes are always evolving, and there’s no telling what this one might look like a year from now.
You can follow along with Jorrit on Instagram.
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