16″ (small) – 18″ (medium) – 20″ (large) –14″ and 22″ are also available.
I’ve been trading emails with my Aussie amigos for the last 5 or 6 months about their new Fat-Bike company called MURU Cycles. “Muru” means, “the path”. Muru cycles plans to embrace the feeling of freedom and adventure, that ‘the path’ invokes, with their new range of adventure fat bikes. These cats truly believe that “Fat IS beautiful”. I asked them for their company build philosophy and this is their Fat-Bike Story!
Muru Cycles is a new entry to the exploration bike market. We’re not new to the bike industry though (who is), in fact, the people behind Muru Cycles were cobbling together mountain (ok, “off road”) bikes with motorcycle bars and Sturmey Archer internally geared hubs in the very early 80’s. Australia That’s right. Muru Cycles is Australia’s first company specialising in FATbikes. Why FATbikes? well If you’re reading this website, then you know the answer to that question already. FATbikes offer a level of freedom and “go-anywhere” ability that can’t be matched with any other form of bicycle. Just the thing for a country the size of North America with a population less than that of California. Remember when you were a kid? Remember the first ride you took away from the eyes of your parents. That sense of freedom and of exploring. Of finding new places and new things? Of discovering your own path? We want to bring that feeling back. Muru means “path”. Define your path.
Product:
First model off the rank is the Witjira. Named after the National Park down under that borders the famed Simpson Desert National Park. Home of the equally famed and feared Simpson Desert Bike Challenge. The Witjira is made of titanium and a medium (18″) frame comes in at a very respectable 1700g (yeah, they use that confusing metric system down under) The Swale ti fork hits the scales at 705g. That’s with the addition of fork cage mounts too. (three each leg) And the titanium Sandbar completes the current range at 240g for a 730mm wide, 9 degree sweep bulged flatbar. And to get it out of the way early, no, the frames are not manufactured in Australia. We looked at that as an option and we had a choice. We could go with fairly std frames (made locally), at almost 1.5 times the cost. Or we could use a factory overseas that has been making ti frames for some very respectable brand names for a very long time. And by doing so, we could get the price down to a level that a normal person can afford. We chose to spread the love. Besides, now, more than ever… it’s a global market out there. Point – THESE ARE NOT SNOW BIKES. (sorry to scare you Northern Hemisphere folks like that) But our total snowfall in Australia wouldn’t be enough to decorate a football field of XMAS trees. At Muru Cycles, we build FAT, mountainbikes. We do have a large amount of sand though, and sand dunes, and stony deserts, and beaches… oh do we have some coastline. (take a look at that map again) But we also have some amazing trails. (seriously, we have fun trails, c’mon down and visit… we’ll go riding) Our bikes are designed to go everywhere. They do everything. In fact, the very first built Muru Witjira is flying over to Alaska for a snow race as you read this. (watch for pics and video on our Facebook page) They will see solo rider use in the Chocolate Foot 8 hour enduro series this coming season and well… yes… they will be present in the Simpson Desert Bike Challenge too. But they’ll also be under plenty of weekend hacks and fun riders who just like to have a good time.
Here is an email that I received yesterday from one of our foundation customers, Troy Szczurkowski (who many of your readers will know from his blog andyoutube FATbike posts) he’s flying out to Alaska today and just getting his frame to him in time was a feat of freight magic.
“Thanks for the opportunity to take this bike with me on this trip, I can’t begin to fathom the amount of work in the background that happened to enable the frame to arrive today. I truly appreciate it. When I look at the frame and fork, it delves down deep into what I really wanted out of an adventure companion and fatbike. Bikes to me are something special, not just mere bits of metal. I see character, personalities, needs and potential. Each of my bikes go on adventures of their own – they have stories not unlike my own, as without each other there is no adventure, so they share my trips like a faithful companion. And then, when stored back home, I can visit my bike room and reminisce on the trips we’ve shared, and plan future trips over mountains, across streams and into the wild blue wilderness. I will do my absolute best to capture the moments on camera, to give you some great marketing material, both still and motion – tested in the harsh Alaskan winters and on Oregon singletrack. A big thank you to all involved in getting the frame to me. Looking forward to the build… :)”
So that’s Muru Cycles in an extended nutshell. We’re not trying to be the biggest kid on the block. We’re not trying to be the next big thing. We just like riding FATbikes. We hope you do too.
Its a big fat-bike world out there! Stay tuned for more reports!
Truly Brilliant! I love these bikes and I want one. I think they would be just fine in the snow. Now, I must go ride to complete my life’s ambition.
Congratulations Muru Cycles,
You have done yourselves and the Australian Bike Industry proud . Good Luck Troy -Have a Fat blast -Show those Northerners some good old fashioned Aussie hospitality .Steal their women ,drink their beer ,and smash those trails .
CHEERS!
hey guys.
thanks for your positive vibes and comments. it makes us feel all warm and fuzzy inside.
the website is coming. probably a week or two away. in the meantime you can hit up the facebook page if you have any questions and we’ll do our best to answer you. (just don’t forget the timezones if yer one o’ them “northerners”)
Interested in getting a frame from you with rohloff gears
As another aussie… yes… fatbike = go anywhere bike! Snow? Pah? But sand is just like hot snow right?
Hot snow – with bikinis!!!
I’m heading off to Australia in March, hopefully I can see one in person, and maybe give one a good down-under thrashing. What part of Australia is MuruCycles in?
My Muru has been built, tuned and sessioned on the trails here in warm, sunny Alaska. I took it to the beach, but couldn’t see the sand because of the snow and ice. After AK, I head to central Oregon for a week and a bit of backcountry bikepacking on the muru, finding ‘my own path’. Muru – define YOUR path.
I meet Troy on Anchorage at Alaska European B&B, with own MURU Fat Bike and enjoned the ITI Winter Training Camp, the bycicle is beatiful and work so well on the Iditarod trail with out problem. I Think there no difference, If you ride on sand, rock le snow, the difference is…..thinkFAT.
Have a nice on Oregon Troy!!!!!
how much for a complete bike?, i would love one of these.