A few weeks ago, I was introduced to Randall Jacobs through a mutual friend. Randall is the cofounder of THESIS, a new carbon bike brand. I was intrigued by their first bike that’s hitting the market later this summer, because it’s a road bike designed with enough versatility to do everything from traditional road riding to gravel and even bikepacking. It cuts across many different bike niches with just a single bike.
Randall was kind enough to answer some questions I had for him about his company and the new bike.
RBR: How long have you been working toward the launch of the new THESIS OB1 bike?
RANDALL: I’ve been wanting to build this bike for a long time. I’ve been a professional mechanic, a pro cyclist, a product developer at Specialized, and a bike tech entrepreneur. In other words, I’ve been a bike nerd’s bike nerd for over 17 years.
In 2014, when I was at Specialized working on the original Diverge (one of the first models marketed as a gravel bike by a major brand), there were so many things I would have liked to do differently. I wanted more tire clearance and mounting points. I wanted to stay away from gimmicks and proprietary standards. I wanted wheelsets that would last longer. But product teams at big traditional brands have a lot of constraints, and with so much of the selling price going toward marketing and middlemen, there’s less to invest in the bike.
So I started THESIS in fall 2017 to work directly with the same top-tier manufacturers to create an uncompromisingly curated high-end bike. The OB1 uses the same premium components, materials, and manufacturing processes you see on bikes from traditional brands costing $6000 or more. And by skipping the middlemen, we’re able to offer it for half that price. The OB1 is the dream bike that I built for myself and my friends, and THESIS allows me to share it everyone.
RBR: I remember when road bike and mountain bike were really the only two categories that the average cyclist would be able to name. Today, it seems like there are dozens of bicycle niches. I find it kind of overwhelming. How did you choose what kind of bike to make, and why?
RANDALL: One major reason I built THESIS was to debunk some bike industry myths. You’ve probably heard the myth of N+1, where the right number of bikes is always one more. It’s a marketing story spread by bike brands to sell more bikes, and all these sub-niches exist to support that narrative.
Truth is, the main differences between road bikes, gravel bikes, cyclocross bikes, bikepacking bikes, and touring bikes are 1) tire clearance, 2) mounting points, and 3) marketing hype. Some might add geometry, but while that may be true at the extremes, there is a lot of overlap in that Venn diagram.
Most industry insiders will freely admit it. Brands will artificially constrain tire clearance or mounting points and pretend these limitations are actually benefits (this one’s optimized for road, this one for gravel…). But if you look at the data, the differences are marginal to none. Most riders would be better off putting their money into a single high-quality and highly-versatile bike and investing the savings in a professional build and fit. And if they regularly ride a mix of road and dirt like me, they can just get a second set of wheels.
So I intentionally built the OB1 to handle every type of road without compromise. I’ve been arguing for years that such “gravel bikes” are really the versatile multi-surface bikes our industry should have been selling to non-pro cyclists all along. It has an endurance road geometry with clearance for fat dirt tires and a comprehensive suite of mounting points for all your gear. It comes with a choice of two wheelsets – an aero 700C and a wide 650B. You can choose your drivetrain, add a dropper post, and even specify a custom paint color. You can also customize your stem length, crank size, and handlebar width to dial it to your body.
In other words, you can hammer with roadies, shred gravel, race ‘cross, or load up for a multi-day adventure all on the same bike. And it’s built to last a long time.
RBR: It says on your bio that you were a two time amateur national champion and former pro mountain biker. You’re the real deal! Which national events did you win, and what kind of mountain bike racing did you do as a pro? Cross country?
RANDALL: Back in 2008, after several months of fairly consistent podium finishes in the NCCA collegiate and New England Root 66 series, I made my way to the mountain bike national championships at Mount Snow, Vermont. After winning the cross country event in my category, I surprised myself by taking the short track race as well. As a pro, I was mostly pack fodder at the national level, but I did pull off the occasional podium finish in local mountain, road, and hill climb race series.
It was my father’s diagnosis with a terminal brain tumor in 2006 at age 49 that pushed me to start training. I was 24 at the time and had moved back home from overseas to be with him. Faced with his mortality, I found myself contemplating what I would want to have done in my life if I were in his shoes. I set myself three goals for while he was still alive, and one of them was to become a professional athlete.
I managed to accomplish the first two (get into grad school, land my first big business deal) before his passing in August of 2007, just days short of our shared birthday. I turned pro the following year by winning those amateur national championships, and balled my eyes out after crossing the finish line the second time.
For me, that period was all about exploration. I was lucky to have built a business that allowed me to work remotely, so I travelled the country, living out of the back of my Honda Element, camping in national parks, and subletting or crashing friends along the way. I spent most of my days riding and most of my evenings working. It was an enchanted period, one that I’m deeply grateful for.
While racing was fun, these days I ride less for ego and more for connection. Bicycles are how I connect with other people, with my environment, and with myself. Group rides are my rolling community. Solo rides are my rolling meditation.
RBR: You’ve worked at Specialized, and you were previously the founder of OpenBike. What are the most important things you’ve learned along the way working in the bike industry over the past 17 years?
RANDALL: Don’t believe the hype. Ask questions. Do your own research.
There’s not a lot that’s truly unique in the bike industry. Frankly, it’s mostly the same stuff with different names, shapes, and finishes. Everyone is sourcing from the same factories and using the same materials and manufacturing processes. In many cases, they’re even using the same engineers at those factories. So brands use fancy acronyms to make themselves look different; for example, most high end brands use a blend of Toray carbon fibers, but if you look them up, they each have their own impressive name for that common material.
The thing is, it’s almost impossible for someone outside the industry to cut through the marketing hype. I’m fortunate to be a fluent Mandarin speaker, so when we’re working with our manufacturing partners, I’m able to go deep when I’m on-site with the owners, engineers, and line workers, diving into material properties, manufacturing processes, design parameters, and testing data for each component.
Most people can’t do that kind of research, so we’re trying to bring it to you. For example, if you visit our website and look at our component spec, you’ll find detailed explanations on how we chose each component. And you don’t have to take our word for it. Vet what we say with your most knowledgeable cycling friends or a trusted mechanic. Do independent research on the internet.
One other major insight I’d like to share is the immense value of a professional build and fit. It’s dollar-for-dollar the single best investment you can make in your riding experience. A lot of folks will spend thousands on fancy parts before spending a few hundred on a fit or maintenance; it’s like buying a $6000 dress or tux and not having it tailored or cleaned. As a former mechanic and pro racer, I can tell you firsthand how a proper build and fit unlocks performance benefits, reduces risk of injury, and prevents wear and tear. It’s an investment I recommend for everyone, especially those who ride regularly and want to continue doing so into old age.
RBR: Do you see yourself expanding the line up at some point, or is this it?
RANDALL: Right now we’re heavily focused on the OB1, but we do have other projects coming down the pipe.
What I’m most excited about in the near term is actually on the service side. Mechanics, fitters, and service-oriented shops are the unsung heroes of our industry. They unlock so much value for riders, and yet they’re some of the lowest paid skilled workers in the US. We want to find ways to reward them and to help them build stronger relationships with riders.
The OB1 was built with a tremendous amount of input from riders, manufacturers, mechanics, fitters, and shop owners. We actively welcome folks to share their ideas and questions. We also welcome people to visit us in San Francisco for a test ride; we’d love to hear your feedback.
About THESIS
THESIS is a high-end direct-to-consumer bicycle company based in San Francisco, California. In summer 2018, the company is launching the OB1 “one bike for every road”. THESIS skips the middlemen and works directly with the industry’s top factories to create a customizable high-end carbon bicycle with carbon wheels starting at $2999. To learn more, visit https://thesis.bike. Product photos courtesy of the manufacturer.
Great article ! Seems that Randall Jacobs is actually thinking about his customer first ! Eliminating all the hype and marketing that comes with everybody else !
While I don’t mind another one setting up a “shop”, the “I’m cutting out the middleman” rhetorics makes me tired. This bike isn’t cheaper than a Canyon, Rose or you name one. It is cheaper than a Pinarello and some ladies handbag, but that is no news.
Actually, I assuming they’re “cutting out the middleman” vs. the traditional model manufacturers like Trek, Specialized (where he is from), Cannondale, and Giant. The middleman includes more than the dealer, but does make it so that the LBS is lucky to break even on a typical new bike sale. It has gotten to the point where my local LBS switched to only doing custom/full builds and recommends people just go to Sports Basement (where he used to work and a local chain) when buying a standard bicycle model, even if it is a non-custom Canyon (since those bikes are partially built-up).
Canyon Grail CF SL 7 (their cheapest CF model) is $2300 USD which is indeed comparable to the Thesis OB1 if you add in cost of assembly. However, I assume the carbon vs. aluminum wheelset alone makes the OB1 a better value overall (not to mention we’ve priced a full-build ($300) from a LBS instead of a wrench together (typically $50 at an LBS or free if done at home) which might cover assembly/shipping issues as well as customization/swaps for fitting.
It makes sense overall. Canyon has to pay pros, marketing, and their foray into North America (deal with Velofix). They also have to develop gimmicks like their “grail bars” to distinguish their bike from a generic CFR505 build with branded paint job. On the other hand, they have the resources/volume to lower the prices or offer custom high-modulus carbon on the ultra-high end (I’m assuming their “SLX” frames use T1000/T800 blend instead of T800/T700 blends. I am not in the industry so I could be wrong) and work out the supply chain kinks to have the bikes partially assembled.
This model has had limited success in the United States, for reasons that are not known yet. My suspicion from living here is people are used to going into an LBS and buying a bike, establishing a relationship, and then buying a better one. Those that aren’t that sort, the budget-minded enthusiasts, have gone one of four directions:
1) migrated to something much cheaper than Canyon like BikesDirect, live with the generic frameset or use eBay to trade up their frame
2) have sponsorship directly from some big-brand (and indirectly from their LBS) thus reducing their prices to be Canyon-like or lower.
3) buy and build their own bikes with high end names like Pinarello, Cervello, etc. or have a custom build from someone they know and trust, search and build out their parts one-by-one through diligent internet searching/shipping from big dealers in the UK.
4) same as (3) for the parts but start with an open-mold frame like the Carbonda CFR505 http://www.carbonda.com/road/gravel/cfr505.html and probably the touch points are spec’d from China through guesswork or luck.
So Canyon is not just competing with Trek or Specialized, they are competing with a decade or two of Americans doing one of the above.
My LBS has their own bicycle http://cityandcountybicycle.com/road-one/ . Basically, he just designed the bike that he wanted and then, in order to be able to have it built, he had to order a batch of them (in his case 20 or so since it’s a steel custom build) which he pre-sold. It looks like Thesis is the same proposition. The difference is a carbon frame, means you have to start with a standard platform and order a larger volume. In addition, because he’s worked as a buyer/spec’er for Specialized and speaks Mandarin, he is also doing the same for other OEM parts for a complete bike because he can add that as a value proposition.
Even the carbon wheelset makes sense in this regard. Most enthusiasts (the target market for bikes this expensive) will replace/customize the wheelset in the second year of ownership, so wasting money on a part that will be swapped out anyways is a lose-lose for Canyon, especially when they haven’t built the trust that say Trek has with their “Bontrager” label to justify a OEM wheelset with design tweaks (in this case I believe the OB1 is using a modified MTB OEM wheelset). They simply get more sales when people can see that the Grail has a widely regarded centerlock DT Swiss alloy wheelset, even if it costs them an extra 1.5 lbs in weight. The pay a little extra for the brand, but pocket the lion-share of the cost savings for other uses. If someone wants to save that weight, Canyon wants to upsell them to their higher margin SLX models first, all under the (albeit true) guise that you can easily swap out the wheelset, but swapping out the frameset is an expensive proposition. Never mind that you are adding $1300 to the price and the complete bike is now $4900.
Nothing wrong with that, but I don’t think Canyon can compete with this as the niche/buyer is different. Even factory-direct bikes who don’t have promotion/sponsorships like BikesDirect have to do different tradeoffs (no-tweaks to open mold framesets and cost-cutting on wheelset builts offset by larger volume orders on components to yield unattainably low price points for name-brand component builds).
Each, from the big brands using the old model (which is breaking down), to Canyon, to BikesDirect, to Thesis, to my own local bike shop have found their niche and hit is successfully. Basically, the argument here is the old model (Trek, Specialized, Cannondale and Giant, the bike brand) is nearly dead. Canyon is one answer, Thesis is another.
Overpriced overpriced overpriced