Cyclist
Meet the maker: André Pfeil of Kocmo Titan Bikes
Admit it, if you don’t already own a titanium bike, you’ve thought about getting one. After all, they’re light, fast, strong, comfortable, corrosion resistant and beautiful to look at. Yes, they’re also pricy, but titanium is arguably the ultimate frame material.
The Soviets certainly understood the benefits of titanium – although their interest was more for the purposes of building submarines than bicycle frames – and invested heavily in its production. This led to an abundance of the material in the former USSR and Eastern Bloc. So, for a bike brand rising from the ashes of the German Democratic Republic in the early 1990s, it was the obvious medium to work with.
‘We decided, OK, we’ll take titanium for us, no problem,’ says André Pfeil, CEO of Kocmo Titan Bikes. ‘Technology has come a long way since then, but it’s part of our DNA now, part of our history. We don’t make carbon frames. We don’t make steel frames. We only do titanium.’
Until recently, Kocmo had a long-standing manufacturing arrangement whereby its titanium tubes were made in Ukraine, then sent to Russia to be welded together. It worked flawlessly from 1994, but when Vladimir Putin launched his unprecedented assault on the neighbouring country, the brand’s future was cast into doubt.
‘Our frames were manufactured in Nizhny Novgorod,’ Pfeil tells Cyclist. The Russian city is famous for metalworking, and in the 1990s Kocmo also made frames for Colnago, but as of this year no bikes come from Russia anymore. It’s not possible for political reasons. The tube factory was in Ukraine, it was the largest of its kind and it produced for Boeing and other big companies. But everything has changed now.
‘When the war began, there was a lot of uncertainty regarding how we were going to continue. But now we have a solution. Everything is clear again,’ says Pfeil. ‘We’re specialising in bespoke production. The company now focusses on anodising and 3D printing processes to offer customers highly customised products.’
On point for off-road
For a prime example of what Pfeil is talking about, look no further than this rather special version of Kocmo’s Daytona RS gravel bike. Designed for off-road racing mayhem as opposed to slow-paced bikepacking adventures, it features a low stack for an aggressive riding position, full internal cable routing to aid aerodynamics and an eye-catching anodised finish. It also makes use of Sram’s T-Type direct-mount derailleur for increased shifting precision and durability.
‘The idea with the Daytona RS was to have a gravel race bike with standard geometry, but to also give customers the option to have a custom-made frame if they wish,’ says Pfeil. ‘For customisation, the additional cost on top of the price of the bike ranges from €400 to €1,200 [approximately £340 to £1,000]. It all depends on the design, the colour and the geometry.’
The rear dropouts have been designed around Sram’s UDH standard. This means that all Sram full-mount rear derailleurs can be mounted directly onto the frame. Pfeil points out that some customers might worry about the absence of a derailleur hanger in the event of a crash, but says that, thanks to the way the derailleur attaches via the thru-axle, it’s actually more robust. And even if the derailleur does get bashed, key parts are replaceable so you can just switch out the damaged bits and get back up and running.
‘We think it looks better too,’ says Pfeil. ‘And that was really important to us – to have a nice clean aesthetic.’
To complete the clean look, cables are internally routed and the bike has been fitted with a sleek one-piece bar and stem. Rolling comes courtesy of a pair of DT Swiss GRC 1400 Spline wheels, and shifting is taken care of by a Sram 1x transmission featuring Force AXS and Eagle AXS components.
The icing on this titanium cake is the multicoloured anodised finish. It’s something that, as Pfeil says, the brand is now investing considerable time, effort and money in.
‘We’ve been doing the anodising for five years now, so we have a good amount of experience with it,’ he says. ‘I think we’re good at getting those colours to really shine. It’s something a lot of other brands struggle with. They ask us every time how we do it – the green, the blue, how do we get them so shiny? But it’s a big secret for us, and it’s one of the things that makes our bikes special.’
The Daytona RS is available to buy on Kocmo’s website, with prices starting from €3,485 (approx £2,950) for a frameset or €6,340 (£5,400) for a complete bike, both in a raw titanium finish. Prices can increase significantly depending on spec and finish, with the anodised version seen here coming in around the €8,000 (£6,800) mark.
• This article originally appeared in issue 156 of Cyclist magazine. Click here to subscribe
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