Hey Joe, great to have you here! if this was happening in person, I’d be handing you a cold beer right now to make things even more fun and kick this off properly. Instead, let’s just dive in, where you’re from and what your background is?
Hey Emanuele and dear reader, I’m from Cologne Germany, I’m 31 somewhat of a bike mechanic or wizard at times and when I don’t torque around I study design, I’m almost done but right now and the past two years bikes got the bigger chunk of my dedication.
What’s your very first memory connected to the bicycle?
My pink Puky bike with some wanky training wheels. I rode it what felt like to the moon and back. My Dad made me some custom decals and it had a smurf on the front mudguard as an ornament.
I also recognize in you the passion of a “Save the Rat Bike”: what does this spirit mean to you, and how do you live it in your everyday life?
For me it’s about bikes not having to be perfect just personal, bikes with charakter. I don’t really know how I live it in my everyday life but whenever my and my friends screw around in the workshop and use parts the way they are not intended to and giggle when it works is probably one of the ways.
Why do 26” MTBs hold such a special place in your heart?
I think there are several reasons.
-the bikes I rode around on when I was 12/14/16 were old 26” they are very nostalgic to me.
-they have great history some Women and Men getting together in Marin country, just have fun are friends and found a new sport in cycling this way and birth the 26” MTB. What’s not to love about this story?
-they are a really good value handmade steel frames with highend tubing a times for under 100€ used ofc and they need some love but still
-you can almost build everything with them a chill cruiser, a bikepacking rig, a sporty gravelish bike just very versatile little machines
-and what I really love about them is their charakter the frames often feel so different from brand to brand. They were engineered in a time were there was no fixed geometry for a MTB/ATB so they vary so much and look so different
“For me it’s about bikes not having to be perfect, just personal, bikes with charakter.”
Which bike has been the most important in your journey, and why?
Hard to say I learned so much on so many bikes. I only started working on bikes 6/7 years ago. It all happened because I wanted a bike and had no money. My Roommate at the time Christian was into bikes, he helped me fully maintaining an old folding bike. At one point we had the bike disassabled like a blown-up drawing for a few days, I just moved there had not much furniture, we slowly build a working bike again but I soon realized it’s not the best way to get around so I had to build a roadbike with his help that’s how I got infected since these days I met a bunch of beautiful people, learned so much from them an taught myself a lot.
Scratching expensive parts hurt the most I remember scratching my Campy pista cranks I just got when the dustcap was stuck that was a bad day.
Another bike that definitely had a big impact on me was that Trek 930. It was the first time I stepped infront of a camera talking. And also my GT Karakoram it was the first time I really tried new things and nothing I have seen this way before.
I think I could go on and on about what I learned on different bikes, so I just cut it here.
Tell me also about that Breezer, I love it! You built a nice long rear end on it, which must make it even more comfortable in the city. I actually had the chance to try this frame when I met Jacquie Phelan, who happens to be my same size, and I immediately fell in love with it. It has such a beautiful ride feel.
Yeah, after watching a lot of stuff about the birth of mountain bikes I really wanted a Breezer. At the same time my friend Mati bought a Rivendell and I really liked the loooong chainstays. So I combined those ideas called up my friend Sami from Atelier Wolken, who is always up for a stupid idea. The idea of the suicide 1×3 drivetrein came to me when I saw a reel from Blue Lug, where they build one with a normal shifter and a post from ghost, where he had a 2×10 or so with a manual front mech. And then one thing led to another I met Chris from good grief who offered to build a fork. It’s a super smooth ride with the tires Running at low pressure. I really like how it feels nimble in the front due to the aggressive headtube angle and still super stable die to the long rear end.
“Bikes really became my passion and my valve for creativity.”
How did you start working at L’Étape Cycles in Cologne?
I met Jeremy by chance while working in a social bike shop Friends and me do once a week. I lost my job at the time got into bikes a few month before. I barely knew anything but I had time and was super dedicated to learn so I spend my days in the workshop and after work I tinkered around on my bikes.
What do you enjoy the most about your job as a mechanic?
That it’s different every day and really is all about problem solving specially on old bikes. Also getting stuff cheaper is kind of nice ofc.
In your videos you often show “feats” of solving complicated problems: what has been the toughest challenge you’ve faced in the workshop?
Puh, probably fitting mudguards on a bike not made for them, haha.
I’ve recently seen some of your videos with LeoVelo, the framebuilder, where you’re working together and even building your own frame with his help. Can you tell us a bit about what you’re up to?
Yeah, Leo already approached me one and a half years ago and this November we made it happen. He offered me a free frame building if I documented the whole thing. At this point I have to say a big thank you to everybody watching my content liking my stuff so I can do things like this and big thanks to Leo for teaching me.
We ended up building this weird long bike ATB thing and it’s gonna be wild. Velo Orange, Equal and Sumo Cycleworks all threw in some parts for the build, also friends and followers provided some stuff. I don’t want to spoil too much of the actual build rn.
Let’s start with the tubes because they in itself can tell a story. The top tube I picked up at a parts jumble in august oder june froma very lovly guy named Rainer, who ones a bike shop in Hamburg Germany. Sadly I forgot the name. But I helped him set up his booth in the morning and we talked alot about bikes and our philosophy of riding them. In between I took care of his booth if he went to check the other vendors or took a quick break and at some point he wanted to gift me something from his booth. He had this random top tube in a tub an Columbus Gara Gilco tube, so I took that. He told me back in the days he used to have frames build for him, friends and clients from that stuff. I just really enjoyed talking to him and this way I will always remember that day and our meeting when I ride the bike.
The seat tube is a old Reynolds tube I got from Sami @atelier_wolken, wich he got from an old frame builder, who quit in Basel and now I took it again from Cologne to Basel to build a Frame with Leo a full circle moment. Kind of neat if you ask me.
I wish I knew what the chainstays are because they are super long, Leo got them from a friend.
The rear dropouts are Ritchey and Leo still had them around, the tubes the connect them to the wishbone we got from Mark, super nice person I met at bespoked and then again in Basel when we spend an evening at his backyard workshop with him and the other people renting it. Most of the other parts are newly purchased but still all hold the memory of when I build that frame with Leo.
For the frame I tried to combine ideas from old MTBs like qr dropouts, biplane fork, having exposed cables with more modern standards like disc brakes, ahead fork and a long rear end wich I personally love to ride.
What has it been like to step from working on bikes to actually building a frame from scratch? Has this experience changed the way you look at bicycles and mechanics?
Hmm, good question.
Working with steel in general in the past but also now with building the frame and moding the Breezer definitely gave me a better understanding of the material and helped me understand that is possible sometimes and what isn’t. I wouldn’t say it changed my understanding of mechanics because it feels a bit detached from it but I got a better understanding of bikefitting as this was one of the things we did in the course. In the past I fitted my bikes in more of a trial and error kind of way and I got some more insights on this from Leo and this kind of directly impacts the whole mechanics of a bike and the way it feels so yeah maybe I got a better understanding of mechanics in that kind of sense.
How would you describe the cycling scene in your city?
Pretty diverse, you got the loud fixie people, the sporty ones with their dentists bikes who are all about numbers. But I just want to ride some trails and have coffee on the river with people alike. No matter what you ride just have fun.
Are there communities, groups, or local events that particularly inspire you?
There are quite some nice communities when it comes to alley cats or open work shops where people can learn to repair their bike. I mostly keep to myself. We have this 26” groub but we rarely manage to organise rides but that’s really fun just hoppen on 20 old MTBs and Explore their borders.
In what way do you think Cologne influences your way of living the bike?
The city is super flat and small so most things are in a 5km Radius so I shift little and just cruise around without a lot of stress. Although I have to admitt I rode fixed back in the day and some times I still like to weave around in traffic, piss of drivers and bent the rules.
What are your favorite rides around Cologne?
From my place to the river. A cruise through the parks and some single trail at the end just to chill a bit on the beach and enjoy the time there. About 20/30 minutes long, a short sweet escape from the city.
What’s the perfect soundtrack for your bike rides?
Depends on the mood some times punk, sometimes melodic music, jazz, iron maiden… can be anything.
Besides cycling, what else are you passionate about in life?
I really like fixing stuff and being creative. I have a soft spot for design wich I’m still studying atm. But bikes really became my passion and my valve for creativity. That’s also why I take my time for building them and often take weeks for my personal ones ideas change and it’s really a process. But I drift of to bikes again, haha.
I like cooking, I don’t know I‘m just a normal guy.
Thanks a lot for sharing your story with us, Joe. I truly believe every experience can inspire, and your videos and the way you bring bikes back to life really spread the love for cycling and mechanics. Let’s wrap it up with a promise: next time I make it to Cologne, we’ll finally open those beers for real! 
PH Credits: @stefanbraunbarth @leovelo_frameworks @atbmati @_mobikes_ @tantemaekki
