HELLO RWANDA!
ULTRA RACING ON A FOLDING BIKE
We always knew our Max bikes had potential beyond the city. With our new A-MAX, we're ready to show you exactly what we mean.
We took our favorite folding bike to a gravel race. For 1.000 kilometers around Rwanda, the land of a thousand hills.
SEE THE SHORT FILM
We took our favorite folding bike to a gravel race. For 1.000 kilometers around Rwanda, the land of a thousand hills.
THE RACE
Race around Rwanda is a race held yearly, it start and stops at Kigali and goes all around the country - through mountains, jungle, volcanic landscapes and fabulous roads.
1.000 KILOMETERS ROUTE
And an unforgiving 18.000m elevation. We will stop in guest houses along the way, while Stuart manages his food and shelter as he goes.
AN AHOOGA FOLDING BIKE
Stuart is riding an A-MAX. It's the same frame available commercially, but premium brands have joined in the project to make the bike more endurance friendly.
A FABULOUS TEAM
Stuart's adventure were documented by Alix, our Marketing manager. Stuart's wife Holly also joined the adventure to support and drive. Jonathan, our fixer, helped us navigate Rwanda.
MEET STUART, OUR ATHLETE.
Stuart Jefka is our sales rep for Germany. Earlier last year, he offered to race on our Max. If he's crazy enough to do it, we're crazy enough to support him!
Stuart has the legs. He has bikepacked all over Europe and North America. With thousands of kilometers under his belt, the real challenge was to complete this race on a folding 20inch bike.
Stuart has the legs. He has bikepacked all over Europe and North America. With thousands of kilometers under his belt, the real challenge was to complete this race on a folding 20inch bike.
THE HIGHLIGHTS
In a nutshell, it was unforgettable. The landscapes, the people, the adventure. Stuart made history as the first rider to reach checkpoint 1 and 2 on a folding bike!
HUNGRY MUZUNGU
Muzungu means foreigner, traveler, white man. This one spent an incredible amount of energy on his smaller wheels - and food access was few and far between. Pictured: day 2 breakfast, his first bite of real food since lunch the day before!
A TRUE ADVENTURE
Riding as hard as you can until sunset catches you, wherever you are. Sometimes that means a rudimentary hotel, or a cozy jungle nook.
UH-OH
Since day one, Stuart's navigation device kept freezing. He missed several turns and had to line up extra kilometers to find the course again. Tough on the legs and on the morale...
EASY PEASY
At least for the bike. Imagine tackling this terrain on your mountain bike, that's already quite the sweat! But it's all part of the adventure and the bike is holding up amazingly well - Stuart rides onto the twin lakes.
LOCAL WISDOM
Villagers were always curious, friendly, and eager to share directions to stay on course. However, at day 5, with 1 day left and 3 checkpoints ahead - we decide to leave the race as competitors and to finish on our on terms: with a splash!
JUNGLE CRASH
We take off to Nyungwe forest to get a taste of the famous peanut butter mud. Stuart had a taste for sure - his first crash happened that day. But don't worry, the only casualty was his last clean t-shirt.
THE FINAL RECAP
After 6 gruelling days, we finally meet all the other riders at the finish to share drinks, laughs, and crazy anecdotes. Stuart howls, for one last time... "AHOOOOOGAAA!"
We go to bed exhausted, in a haze. Our tummies are full of butterflies, our heads are full of memories. And soon, you'll be able to see it all!
SEE THE SHORT FILM
We go to bed exhausted, in a haze. Our tummies are full of butterflies, our heads are full of memories. And soon, you'll be able to see it all!
MAXING OUT MAX
We Frankensteined an A-MAX with some parts to make it more endurance-friendly. While in the middle of Rwanda, Stuart needs a bike that he can easily repair in case of a crash or mishaps, as well as a dérailleur he can use for the ruthless elevation.
The result is a super light, optimized, racing version of Max that our R&D team built in-house. Who knows what this prototype might bring...
CHECK OUT A-MAX
The result is a super light, optimized, racing version of Max that our R&D team built in-house. Who knows what this prototype might bring...
