minimal.bike is developed by passionate cyclist Bram Moens from the Netherlands, the ultimate bike country. Ever since 1983 Bram is well known from the innovative M5 Recumbent brand, which won multiple international prizes for design, speed and technology.

 

How did it all start?

Back in October 2014, Aart Roelandt, industrial designer and friend of Bram initiated the idea of making a compact carbon city bike. Aart stated there were lots of well handling compact bikes but at the same time “pretty ugly”. So the goal was: feeling like a large wheel sized bike, exploiting the carbon fibres maximally in a minimalistic design. In the brainstorm sessions which followed between Bram and Aart the base of the minimal.bike concept was born. The few sketches Bram made didn’t take more than minutes. The next step was making 1:1 wooden samples of the frame and the handlebar to get a feel for the product. After this phase a lot of 2 and 3D Auto Cad (Bram) and  3 D designs (Vroegh Design) were made before investing in the expensive hardened steel tooling took place. So, after two years and a lot of lab and road testing we are proud to present this unique looking minimal.bike

Based on Bram’s 33 plus years of bike building experience a brand new bike was born:  A fusion between a mountain, road, city and commuter bike. A bike for modern urban people who want beauty, technology and multi-functionality.

M5 also produces unique ultra lightweight bike parts such as hubs, extreme light aluminium calliper brakes, carbon rims, the record breaking 2-SPOKE® wheel and carbon luggage boxes. Besides that, M5 has produced carbon bike frames ever since 1985. Also, M5 Recumbents won the Bike of the Year Award 1997 and the European Aluminium Award 2006. Bram and other M5 riders also set multiple world speed records with their high-tech bikes. On the Rio 2016 Paralympics gold, silver and bronze medals were won by different professional athletes using the 2-SPOKE wheel and the M5 Carbon Handbike.

Aart Roelandt is among other things also the designer of the Roulandt recumbent (1981) which is present in several (museum)collections and the “MAX” dream-cycle, commissioned by museum Boymans-van Beuningen, Rotterdam (NL)