Tunk Times #11
November 2025
The days are gray and November rain is drizzling down.The sun has not been seen since the last newsletter went out, or so it feels. Nothing exciting has happened, mostly boring paperwork and problem solving and head scratching has been done. Money worries, insurance and delivery contracts, parts supplier registrations and such. The reality of running a business really.
The many delays with the frameset delivery times are not helping to lift the mood, but now we have a date that seems final, at least for the preordered frames, as we agreed on taking the most acute ones first and getting the rest a little bit later. The truck should take off on the 21st of November, they promise from Fort. Let’s see!
Due to delay in frame delivery we have had nothing to sell for months and thus have had strict money constraints and all other projects are stalled. Stem and rack manufacture have been on hold as there was nothing to pay for them with, and producing them by ourselves, at least in larger quantities, does not seem like a viable option in the end either.
We did manage to negotiate an offer for a batch of 650b rims from Alexrims in Taiwan, but they are slow to respond, and delivery time will be multiple months. Still it is something! If you are involved in any type of business looking to get silver, 32 hole, low-profile, TL-compatible, 650b rim brake rims for a decently affordable price, you can contact us and we can try to co-operate on the matter.
One thing that did happen is that we had our first ever business meeting at the new office!The agent of Sapim Spokes happened to be on a Finland/Estonia tour and wanted to drop by. Our spoke volumes are extremely small for now but maybe in the future we will have a wheel building program and this type of contact will prove useful. And it’s always fun to chat with bike people, just to talk about where to go on bikepacking trips and so on. They were also showing off their new woven fiber spokes with thermoplastic coating and such. It is improbable you will see those on wheelsets sold by us anytime soon…
I (aki) was convinced though to consider their “D-light” spoke design (1,65mm mid-section), versus the “Laser” (or DT Revolution) superlight spoke (1,5mm mid-section) that I would have previously used for my personal wheels. They claim it is as light and as strong, but easier to build as there is less wind-up. The only apparent downside is less shock absorption by the spokes, which maybe is not a huge deal to begin with. Finally I also made sure to point out the bladed CX-Ray spokes that were used on the bronze show bike for fun and aero gains.
The happy news is that our office is starting to look like an office, there is some actual furniture here! We will possibly have a smaller welcome party for friends to test it out and a more official launch party after we get the frames. Until then it’s doing some jobs that actually pay and some more head scratching and patient waiting.
Until next time
Tunk Crew
