Singletrack/MTB
Gravel/All-road
Dirt-road Touring
Fat-bike
This week’s Reader’s Rig comes from photographer Russell in Germany, who shares his custom-built Sayle Cycle cargo bike and the fortuitous story behind it. Meet Russell and learn how his one-of-a-kind rig perfectly suits his car-free, camera-hauling lifestyle here…
Words and photos by Russell Viers
Hello, I’m Russell. I didn’t wake up one day and just decide I wanted a Sayle Cycle cargo bike. No, I blame Pinterest. Well, actually, I blame my wife. It’s her fault I got started on Pinterest. There I was one day, just scrolling through, looking at all of the cool bikes in the world, and I headed down a rabbit hole full of cargo bikes. Most were utilitarian, like looking at minivans, but I kept going. A Surly Big Fat Dummy, stripped down to the frame, with frame bags added, looked very Mad Max cool. And it was muddy for good measure. Clicking on that took me to the back room where they keep the cool cargo bikes.
Scroll…scroll…boom. Out of nowhere, a bike popped up that not only caught my eye and stopped the scrolling, but also excited me. I wanted to see more. Turns out, the photo linked to Sayle Cycle, where I could read all about it, see more photos, and, uh-oh, even buy my own, if I wanted to.
If you’re not familiar with the “No_,” the concept is that, instead of a name for the bike, each bike is issued a unique number, so if you bought one, whatever the next number is in the production line, that’s your bike, something like No_025, or whatever. I can’t say how many times I visited the site and read about this thing. I really wanted one. And not just because it looks amazing, but because if fills a need I have that other cargo bikes don’t: It allows me to carry my camera bag, full of equipment, like the back of a truck. And not just on the paved roads and paths. This bike would let me carry into the wild.
In 2018, when I lived in the U.S., I started taking road trips in old cars loaded up with old film cameras. I would wander around, staying off the interstates, with little or no objective, not knowing where I would end up or even spend the night. I called these trips Kooky’s Road Trip, and you can read more about them on my website.
Now that I live in Germany, I don’t own a car. I don’t need one. Plus, I prefer bikes. As a result, my wife and I enjoy touring on our bikes, just like I used to on Kooky’s Road Trips, except for one thing: it’s really hard to carry camera equipment and keep it safe on a typical bike (and I don’t want to ride all day with a heavy backpack). To put it in perspective, there was one Kooky’s Road Trip where I loaded 27 old Canon cameras in the bed of my 1981 VW Caddy and drove from Kansas City to Phoenix and back. I shot 32 rolls that trip. Only one camera didn’t work. Score.
So, here was my answer, staring me in the face, just calling me to Munich for a test ride and a conversation with Marcel, the Mad Scientist who created it. My wife was so polite about it, tagging along on the train from Magdeburg, and walking with me from the train station to meet Marcel from Sayle somewhere near Marionplatz.
Having never really ridden a cargo bike before, it was weird at first. But once I got it out on the road and relaxed a bit, it was a joy to ride. I could visualize taking it out on our bike tours, loaded up with old DDR cameras and plenty of film. To experience the weight, Marcel put a heavy bag in the back for me, I think it was about 20 kilos. Easy. After the ride, as we headed back toward the train station, my wife asked, “Why are you buying this?”
I can tell you what I didn’t say: “This is all your fault!” No, I explained how handy I thought a cargo bike would be for two people who don’t own a car. “You never know when we’ll need to run to the lumber yard and pick up some dirt,” I said, or something like that. I might have said “bricks” at one point, although I have no need for bricks.
- Frame/Fork: Sayle Cycle
- Rims: DT Swiss U663
- Hubs: Hope Pro 5 (front) / Rohloff Speedhub (rear)
- Tires: Schwalbe Smart Sam
- Crankset: Hope EVO 160mm
- Belt: Gates CDX
- Pedals: MKS XC III
- Brakes: Shimano STI GRX + 4-piston
- Shiftbox: Gebla Rohbox
- Stem: Hope RX
- Frame bags: Restrap
- Other accessories: Capgo Rohloff Cables
Back at home, I had one final question for Marcel: “What number can I have?” He told me I could choose between 008 and 020. As you can guess, this is a new startup, but it seems he’s growing at the pace he wants. Orders are coming in.
Besides the design of the No, I wanted to get one of these bikes because it’s refreshing to me, in this day of cheap mass production, artificial intelligence, etc., that there is a guy a few hours from me who is building bikes in his workshop, from steel tubes and a box of parts. Talk about a low carbon footprint.
Note: This part of the story is best when read while listening to Johnny Cash’s cover of Thirteen.
I decided I wanted No_013. “Bad luck wind been blowin’ at my back…I was born to bring trouble to wherever I’m at” was playing as I placed my order. The hardest part was choosing a color. I was all over the place with so many ideas and had so much fun with it. But once I settled on No_013, it became pretty easy. I decided to paint the frame Matte Audi Silver Metallic, like smoke. I went with all red Hope components for a little fire. For the fork, I went to the hardware store and bought a RAL paint color chart and found a red that matched some Hope parts I had lying around, for a little more fire. Everything else on No_013 would be black, like death, and the Man in Black himself.
I saw a red gear box on the Rohloff site, but Marcel told me that model wouldn’t work on this bike, so I had to settle for black. Maybe one day Rohloff will call me and tell me they made one, just for No_013. Side note: the Rohloff works with a grip shifter on flat handlebars, but I wanted drop bars, because I plan to take this bike on long trips. Marcel found an adapter that attaches to the Rohloff gearbox and works with the drop bars, something called a Gebla Rohbox.
The No_ is literally handmade. Marcel designed the frame himself, and he built it in the jig, and his welder, Erich, dropped in to finish the job. This was the perfect winter build, because there was no hurry to get it done. I test-drove the bike in August, and soon after, I ordered mine. Marcel said he needed to order the steel tubes, and he couldn’t weld the frame until October.
We set the date, and I headed down to Pfaffenhofen to photograph the welding of No_013. After that, Marcel shipped it off for powder coating. A month later, I was heading to see Marcel again, this time in a rental car, ready to bring No_013 home. On this trip, we brought the frame to life. I typed “we,” but it was actually Marcel doing all the work… I just took pictures of him doing it.
I have to say that I didn’t choose Hope parts only because of the color. There are lots of red bike parts on the market. No, I really love Hope parts for many reasons, performance being one of them, and the fact that they are made in the UK is another. Good stuff. I have Hope parts on a few of my bikes. The Hope components I chose for No_013 include the crank arms, wheel hubs, seat clamp, headset, rear axle, and handlebar stem and cap. There may be more someday; we’ll see what fits.
We finished with enough time for a test drive and some final tweaks, then we loaded No_013 into the back of a Skoda Kombi, and I headed home. I was so excited to welcome the bike home that I carried it up to my flat, on the third floor of our old building, and there’s no lift. And it’s one of those dumb old buildings where the stairs from the entry level to the first floor have a narrow, curvy stairwell, which is not very conducive to carrying up a very long cargo bike. On the bright side, the bike only weighs 20 kilos, and it looks amazing in my living room.
The downside of doing a winter build is that I now have to wait to enjoy riding it. Oh, I know, there are die-hards here who ride in the freezing weather. I’m not a fan. So I wait, reading for the next warm day so I can take it out, put some miles in, and really see how it feels. For now, I have to find comfort in the fact that it LOOKS great.
Epilogue: Since finishing this article, it has gotten warm. Yesterday, my wife and I decided to head out for a ride. She is on board with having a cargo bike now, and she brought an easel along, so she could paint a bit. She tucked it beside my camera bag, in the back. It all fits perfectly.
We rode along the Elbe, through the city park, and north along the river to get away from town. After a few kilometers, she decided she wanted to try No_013, so we switched bikes. She loves it. She loves it more than the Kona Sutra, Ltd. she was riding. The Sayle bike doesn’t feel long, or heavy, or anything different from a regular bike. There are times when you notice the length, like turning a corner, or carrying it up a flight of stairs, but it doesn’t feel heavy, and it rides like a dream.
I’m glad I went with the drop bars and the Rohloff gears. It shifts so low that going up a hill feels like walking, even with my heavy cameras in the back. This was a good purchase. Now I’m ready for a longer trip, something epic, where I can feel the “bad luck wind blowin’ at my back…”
You can follow along with Russell on Instagram.
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