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- Sour News #002: 2023 See Ya Later!
Sour News #002: 2023 See Ya Later!
But first, let's look back on 2023 for a sec...
Sour Bicycles
December 30, 2023
2023 is a wrap! 2024 here we come!
Welcome to the new and improved Sour newsletter! Click the button below to share the newsletter with someone else that should be subscribed.
We’ll keep these to a minimum, we know you have plenty to do, but we want to share a number of things going on at Sour Bicycles, cool things we’ve seen on the interwebs, and of course all things bike!
2023 Was a Big Deal
2023 was a big deal, it was in a lot of ways our first full year only making bikes in our own facility here in Germany! This year we tested relationships with the companies that forge our dropouts, with tubing suppliers, and with dealers, distributors, and customer alike! It’s been a big year!
Moving the whole company into its own home, has been a huge step. We’ve had to learn on the go while we set up and build systems to manage processes that we didn’t know were a thing. Like, how do we manage inventory flow of not only frames, but also all the parts to make the frames? Seems simple on the surface, but I promise, it is not. We have had some great minds helping us (you know who you are!), and we’re so thankful to them, but also to everyone who has stuck with us, even when we were a little slower than we had planned on.
2024 will see some really amazing upgrades to Sour as a whole. We’re on the hunt for a new space to house our growing team, but we’ve also been busy designing some new “stuff”… Keep your eyes peeled!
Our biggest goals in 2024 are to further refine our production process and get on top of the monster that is “inventory”. Sour really started in earnest during the heat of the COVID parts shortage, but also the bike boom that caused it; we’ve really only ever known scarcity and shortage as a company, and now for the first time ever, we’re progressing towards being able to maintain a small inventory. We’re still months away of fulling meeting the demand on some sizes of some models, but we’re getting closer and closer!
Thanks to everyone who’s helped us in 2023, anyone who has ordered stuff, ridden our bikes, liked, reposted, subscribed, or even just mentioned us to a friend. We see you, and you’re killin’ it!
Thanks!
❤️ Team Sour
Ignore the potato-quality photos please! 💗
A Few Faves Sour Builds!
Now, it’s not really possible to chose one single favorite frame paintjob or build, so we’re cheating and highlighting “a few”. Below is a selection for a long year, all 365 days of it! There were so many cool frames and bikes out there this past year, most of which we were just not able to photograph… but of those we did photograph, we chose a few faves:
We went back and forth about including this one. But really, it’s perfect. It’s a collab between Sour, Brainfart, and Cyber Cycles, which is rad. It’s raw steel everywhere, which is rad. And it’s a bike, which is rad! |  Photo by Miles Arbour for Bikepacking.com |
Star Wars fans, rejoice! Trekkies, let’s meet in the other room! This Purple Haze is so sick, no way we could leave it out! From the custom decals, the Business Fork, and THAT handlebar! Wild. |  |
At the start of 2023 we showed off a modified Purple Haze model that we called the “Lemon Kush, built for Ondrej of Border Bash fame. Ondrej is a great friend of ours, so when he asked if we could fit suspension into our Purple Haze, we found a solution for him! |  |
I promise you I’m not making this up, we don’t have a name for this bike. We built a number of these as a test for an upcoming platform, and people loved them so much that we built a few extra… |  |
This one was extra special, not only is beautiful, but it was also built together with Chariot Bike for Made Bike Show in Portland, Oregon… Our first time in the USA! |  |
Watch
The Divide: Lachlan Morton’s Ride on the Great Divide Route
The Great Divide, Tour Divide, GDMBR… Call it what you want, it’s not going to make it any shorter. From Canada to the Mexico border along the spine of the Continental divide in the USA. For those of you unfamiliar, that’s like riding from Tromsø, Norway all the way down to Rome, Italy with only moose, bears, and snakes to keep you company! Pour yourself a cup of coffee (or three, it’s a long video), and have a watch.
Ride Your Bike… to go Skiing?
Such a rad video of a small group of cyclists headed up a friggin’ mountain to go ski-touring. You just love to see it! Nothing like a great reminder that bikes can really take you anywhere, if you’re willing to walk a little bit too…!
If this one wasn’t enough to scratch that bike-to-ski itch, here’s another one! Also, you should really get that itch checked out, pretty weird if you’re asking me! 😉
That’s it! That’s enough YouTube! Go outside and ride your bike!
Read
The Radavist on How to Photograph Your Bike
Pics or it didn’t happen, right? We love seeing everyone’s bikes, builds, and adventures. Believe it not, we get asked a ton about how to photograph your own bike. We kind of cheat at Sour because we have David, who uh, is preeeetty good with a camera, but if you don’t have a personal “David”, John at The Radavist has some pretty good tips on how to give it your best go!
Speaking of The Radavist
Florian made it on the Radvist! With a stick he brazed for Josh while he was home sick!
Check it out here: Josh’s Favorite Products of 2023
Thanks!
We did it! Through thick and thin, we all made it through 2023. Whether you coasted through, or came to a screeching halt, both tires blown of the rims, few spokes missing, laugh-screaming all the way down… we all friggin’ made it!
Here’s to a great New Year holiday, more bike rides, and a healthy and happy 2024!
Thanks from Chris, Tom, Florian, Joergen, and the whole team at Sour!
