Handbuilt Bicycles From Namibia: Miranda Miller Visits Onguza Bicycles

Namibia is twice the size of California but with a population of only 2.5 million. The Namib desert covers the majority of the country, making much of Namibia either uninhabitable or incredibly challenging to live in. It’s home to several protected park lands (including a long stretch of coast line) and is home to a broad range of animals, like the rhino, that are endangered or considered vulnerable.

Namibia is also home to a handmade bike company, Onguza Bicycles.

Dan Craven, or ‘Dan from Nam,’ as he was known during his professional road racing career, had for years dreamed of starting his own handmade bike brand. As well as traveling internationally, Dan had lived in both the UK and the US. From those experiences, he knew that he would have to return home to Namibia to find the best builders. When it comes to using their hands, Namibian skill sets are highly developed.  Whether it’s in the arts like sculpture or pottery or in the trades like mechanics and builders, their dexterity, precision and attention to detail are invaluable.

Back in his hometown Dan had two friends, Petrus and Sakaria. Dan grew up admiring how they seemed able to build anything, fix anything, think creatively and always come up with an ingenious solution to a problem. Petrus and Sakaria’s initial reaction to a homegrown bike company was that Dan was just crazy. World class bikes built in Omaruru? There was no way! But with persistence, Dan convinced them to come on board as senior builders and shareholders in Onguza Bicycles.

After few conversations with Dan, I was convinced the story of Onguza would be a fascinating addition to our series, “Here, There, Everywhere.” I had already been invited by Rapha to participate in the Migration Gravel Race in Kenya in mid-June, so I decided that I would buy an Onguza in Namibia and then race it later in Kenya.

I sent all the measurements for the custom build beforehand, along with a description of the kind of riding I would be doing so they could tweak and build me the perfect frame. The Goat, Onguza’s gravel frame is built with the UDH dropout design, meaning that this could truly be my dream build, as the all new SRAM RED XPLR was to launch later in the year.

We watched as Petrus, Sakaria and the two junior builders, Tilomwene and Sakeus, meticulously sawed and filed the Italian Columbus tubing to fit together, so tight it is sealed against the light and to be my exact specs. Stainless steel dropouts are brazed to the steel with silver, giving the aesthetic appeal of jewelry. The attention to detail of the builders is apparent in their patience with the process of measuring, aligning, sawing and filing, a process repeated until the product is perfect.

Living in a desert, there is, of course, sand practically everywhere. To circumvent this problem, Onguza built a professional paint booth, sealed and ventilated against the elements. When the frame is ready, it is prepared by Danny and painted by Elvis Presley Sageus, who both work down the street at the auto body shop. They split their time between Onguza and the body shop, going back to the panel shop while frames are drying and vice versa.

The colors of Onguzas are directly inspired by the bright, seemingly random colour schemes found on local houses – colors that perhaps ‘shouldn’t’ work together, but do. Onguza is a reflection of the environment in which it was born, which is clearly seen in the clean simplicity of the frame design combined with the boldness of the paint.

The luxury of owning a custom bike is a privilege and not one I thought I would experience at the tender age of 34. This opportunity to connect with the people who built my bike, who benefit from the work and who believe in the beauty of what they’re creating, reinforces the importance of conscious consumerism. I saw the pride and care that Petrus, Sakaria, Tilomwene, Sakeus, Danny, Elvis, and Dan put into every frame they built. And then I rode it!

Namibia has some of the world’s most dramatic landscapes. Photography cannot do it justice. I might not believe it exists, but I saw it with my own eyes from my bike, as I rode over sand and gravel, fresh tarmac and mountain bike trails. We went camping with one of Namibia’s fastest U23 road cyclists, Olivia Shililifa, at Erongo Rocks. We slept nestled between giant, egg-shaped boulders resembling something almost space age. The lands are so raw and old, they begin to feel futuristic. We rode along the Atlantic coast past towering sand dunes. I raced oryx and melted under the sun, and along the way I told everyone I was riding a bicycle made in Omaruru.

I’ll have the Onguza for life and if you ride, you know the connection you can form to your bike and because of this experience, this connection feels way deeper. I was in love with my Onguza before I even rode it. It is, to me, the most beautiful bike I have ever owned and it was handbuilt in a dusty town, on the edge of the desert, in the middle of the African country Namibia.