There are many bike builders around the world who make bespoke frames for their consumers. Cyfac are looking to set themselves apart with an upcoming line of custom clothing that will match a rider’s custom Cyfac bike. As with the bicycles, which are handmade in the Loire Valley, the clothing will be made in France.
“Garuda are the manufacturer that we are partnering with,” said Eric Sakalowsky, Cyfac’s co-owner and sales director. “They are a French company – in the Normandy region, home to Jacques Anquetil – and, like us, have the point of pride in making all of their goods in France.”
To show that regional pride, 30-year-old Cyfac are applying for a special designation by the French government as a Living Heritage Company. “This recognition rewards French firms for the excellence of their traditional and industrial skills,” Sakalowsky said. “In this case, the design/production in France and the savoir-faire of the artisan frame-building mixed with new initiatives to innovate is key.”
The clothing will be available from 15 June, and include jerseys, bibs, vests, gloves, hats and a winter jacket. Besides being able to pick the color accents for the otherwise black-and-gray kits, customers will also be able to add their name or initials to the designs. The preliminary pricing runs between $130 for a jersey up to $200 for bibs or the winter jacket.
As for the custom and stock bikes in Cyfac’s collection, riders can use Cyfac’s styling site to design a bike. You can select between seven standard paint templates and an assortment of colors.
Cyfac offer custom configurations on each of their 26 bikes
“We actually offer more than 30,000 different tints, so you can imagine the options open to someone just in taking the standard templates and adapting colors,” Sakalowsky said.
True to character, Cyfac’s custom paint jobs are all done by hand in-house, using paint and stencils rather than stickers.
Any questions on the program can be directed to Eric Sakalowsky.
