Tunk Times #17
JUNE 2026
Summer rains are here and the perpetually recurring green boom is at its height.
We even tasted a sample of summery nature in full power in northern Italy a week or so ago, with temperatures going up to 37 Celsius and the energy-balancing thunderstorm afterwards. A challenge for us northerners after barely getting out of our winter clothes a few months earlier! That trip is also the reason the News was on a little hiatus. It was this time just me (Aki) and my companion Inka on this assignment, while Antti and Aleksi held up the fortress, aka Tunk HQ back home.
A full report from Fenderfest in Germany and the following bike tour around the Dolomite mountains will be given in the coming weeks, so we will settle for a brief sample for now. Many bicycle enthusiasts with a taste for the clean and stylish mode of life on befendered bikes gathered in Groß Lüben, invited by one of the foremost european constructeurs, Meerglas aka Tom Becker. New friends and acquaintances were made, nerdy chat and random banter was had and good advice on where to go bike touring in the Alps also was provided to us! Which we duly followed and ensued on a two week tour around Süd-Tirol, that is the area in northern Italy near the Austrian border, with the famous sharp and jagged Dolomites. Spectacular views with beautiful riding and extremely challenging tunk-ing was on the menu daily.
Meanwhile business has been going on mostly as usual. Some frames were sent out, wheels were built and the showroom at HQ is finally starting to look like a showroom. Speaking of which, we again invite everyone interested to visit us, as we will start to have official open hours once per week, starting next week! The day is Wednesday, and the hours 12-18. At this time you can be sure to find us here ready to provide test rides and any information about Tunk you ever wanted to know. So starting Wednesday 17.6. you are all welcome to visit.
The so-many-times-already-mentioned stems and decaleurs are nearing completion. Stems are being safety tested as I write, and this time we are expecting an easy pass of the test, but we shall see. We expect them to be for sale in the next two weeks.
The handmade in Helsinki front racks are available in small numbers, with about 10 pieces already delivered to frame customers, and some will be added to the webshop in the next day or so.
We also now offer complete wheelsets for all Hike-Use sizes (559,584,622) or similar bikes with 100/130mm hub spacing. All silver components with nice SON dynamo hubs, butted Sapim spokes and so on and so forth. We can offer different hub options by special request as well.
The business in general and life at the office is finally starting to feel normal, and not everyday do we face abrupt new challenges of starting a business anymore. Products are in stock, they are being sold slowly but surely, and soon we could be ready to start planning the next bigger project which most probably would be a new frame model! We don’t have a clear idea what it's going to be, but the three magical letters A-T-B have been floating around the Tunk collective consciousness for a very long time already…
For your art supplement intake, here’s the court painter Inka Kynkäänniemi again, with a visionary glimpse of what the Dolomiti-tour was going to be like, even though it was only the faintest idea at the time of painting!
Until next Times
Tunk Crew
