PRAGUE (BRAIN) — Czech carbon frame and bike manufacturer Festka will provide bikes to Bangkok retailer Concept Speed, which is trying to meet demand in the growing Asian market. And Concept Speed is going big with Festka's pricy carbon models, which often feature spectacular paint and finishes.
"Where most bike shops interested in representing us start with no more than the obligatory two demo bikes, (Concept Speed) ordered a couple dozen in an exclusive design scheme," said Festka co-founder Michael Moureček. "It was the largest single order we have ever got."
Southeast Asia is an important market for high-end brands like Festka. Retailers like Concept Speed or Kuala Lumpur's Cyclist Wardrobe attract serious road cyclists who as many as 10,000 daily can be found riding at a repurposed Bangkok airfield.
Concept Speed was founded a half decade ago by Peach Sukontarath as a high-end cycling apparel retailer that also created its own clothing line.
"On the one hand, people in Eastern, Southeastern and Southern Asia have a very collectivist mindset, but at the same time, they have the desire to stand out from the crowd by expressing their individuality within their hobbies and interests," Sukontarath said. "A bicycle is an extremely personal item to many of them, and they like it to reflect their values, perspectives and the environment they live in (friends, home, work, etc).
"What we see in Festka is a very cool, fast-looking, and unique high-end road bike producer. For them, Festka is a brand that places craftsmanship and respect for the individuality of its clients at the top of the agenda."
Sukontarath intends to offer the exclusive Festka design schemes to other Thai dealers and abroad. To further highlight the special Festka models, Concept Speed has manufactured cycling jerseys with the same design.
"Peach wanted me to use a specific blue color taken from the shop front of CSPD's old store and create a design that would represent the cycling community gathered around it," said Tom Hnida, Festka's art director. "I came up with a solution where the community is symbolized by specs of glitter mixed into the paint and sealed with transparent lacquer."
About 90% of Festka's frames and full builds that leave its production facility are exported, the company said, with 80% going to customers outside the EU: Asia (China, Thailand, South Korea, Singapore, Malaysia, the Philippines), the U.S., and Australia.
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