Tunk Times #14
February 2026
It’s still freezing cold, but the darkness is slowly giving way to daylight. The beautiful sunny and snowy part of winter is starting!
Business is slow, if you consider only the money coming in that is. It is still steadily going out, as we are getting orders in for parts and starting new projects. So we are ever progressing forward with zeal and belief in Tunk!
We finally finalized the deal with Fort to make stems, racks and decaleurs, which we’re trying to rename simply as ‘bag holders’ so let’s go with that. The estimated delivery time is around 4 months.
Stems will be first and foremost designed for Hike-Use framesets, but will of course be compatible with other frames as well. We want slender tubing, smaller outer diameter than Nitto etc are making, and for the stem to fit the said bag holders perfectly. 8 stem variations, 4 for 1” steerers and 4 for 1&1/8” steerers. Two angles, 0 degree and 17 degree, and lengths from 60-90mm depending on the size. Made from CrMo tubing. The surface finish is still undecided, maybe a ‘hammerite’ style antique silver powdercoat along with a plain zinc option? We shall see.
Some Tunk-made stems and references. 90s Titec, Tunk OS tall stack, Nitto fillet brazed and Tunk with weird special face plate bag holder
Racks will be the same design as have been seen on the prototypes and show bikes. 8mm tubing, attachment on cantilever posts, light mount for ‘normal light orientation’ not upside-down, weight around 230 grams. Designed for a medium-to-large-sized boxy handlebar bag.
Bag holders will use the ‘Routens’ style bag attachment with the horizontally sliding receivers. And the thing itself attaches onto two stem bolts.
We are working out a deal with Tim-Tas-Rek to make framebags for the bikes as well. The orders would go directly to Jean-Michel, but with sizing information and basic style features thought out for the frame, so the order process is simplified. If you already have a Hike-Use frame and are looking to get a framebag, send us an email and we can use you as a test subject for the order system!
The Alex rims that have been already mentioned before in the Times are now sailing towards Helsinki from Taiwan. The trip is around 2 months, so in April we should have a nice batch of economical 650b rims available. Tubeless-ready, ‘functional grey’ color, medium weight of ~500grams etc.
We also did a deal with Anders from Veloform in Sweden for a combined order from Japan: some basic Nitto products but even more importantly a good batch of Honjo fenders. Fender availability has been an issue and this should fix it for now. Delivery time is around 6 months though.
All of this is going to cost tons of money which in an ideal case will come from frame sales during the next few months. Or then we need to borrow more from somewhere.
The first picture shows the entrance to our office by the way, in case you ever find yourself looking for it!
Oh and on the Articles section on our website, there is now a long and winding treatise by Aki on their personal prototype bike. You can read it here (LINK)
Until next time
Tunk Crew
