Cycleast, a new custom shop in the Texas capital, is also entering the distribution business, bringing in handmade carbon fiber and steel road and track bikes from the Czech Republic’s Festka Bicycles as the brand’s U.S. importer.
“Cycleast is proud to be the U.S. distributor of Festka because we see in them the same fire and passion we have for bicycles and the people who ride them,” said Cycleast co-owner Russell Pickavance, who opened the shop with business partner Jessica Wurtzebach in March.
Pickavance discovered Festka at the 2013 National Handmade Bicycle Show in Denver, where he was casting about for custom frame partners for the opening of Cycleast. In addition to carrying stock frames and doing custom orders for Festka out of the shop, the goal is to “help get them into bike shops all across the United States,” said Pickavance.
Festka’s lineup tops out with the Zero road frame, built from carbon tubes made by Czech supplier CompoTech and carbon lugs handmade in Festka’s shop. “It’s reminiscent of the Colnago C59—big lugs, big tubes,” Pickavance said.
The Zero frame is available in three versions: Standard, balancing of speed and comfort; Race, which has 30 percent more carbon fiber for increased stiffness; and Divan, which uses a vibration dampening technology to improve comfort.
Cycleast also carries handmade steel bikes from U.S. framebuilders Jeremy Shlachter of Gallus Cycles in Fort Worth and Christopher Dornbach of Dornbox Hand Crafted Bicycles in Cumberland, Maine.
