Lauf Cycles was once known as Lauf Forks, a small component brand out of Iceland. Yes, the small, cold, and normally wet island is home to one of the industry’s most unique component inventions. Lauf is known for their suspension forks that have no moving parts. Once again, yes, you read that correctly. The gravel fork has 30mm of suspension travel but no moving parts. This means no service and unrivaled reliability.
Along with the growth of the brand, it now offers complete bikes and a selection of components that all offer innovative designs and purposes. Like most brands, they have been assembling products in Tawain, but after opening a U.S. sales office in 2022, they realized they could truly capitalize on the opportunity. While the announcement is going out today that Lauf bicycles will now be assembled in America, the founder Benedikt told me that they have been testing it for some time.
The change has decreased shipping issues while improving shipping times, build quality, and most importantly, the end product. This is in combination with reducing overall costs. Benedikt has always been about the end consumer, and this is why he uprooted his family and moved to Harrisonburg, VA., where the Lauf USA HQ is located. Lauf has grown significantly but is still a small brand, and Benedikt understands the importance of being on the ground to implement and improve efficiency.
Lauf is most excited to announce that not only will bikes be built in the USA, but this also means they are able to reduce prices. I’m not sure what kind of magic he is working with, but this might be the first time I have seen a company reduce prices by moving labor to America. At the end of the day, this is big news for the end consumer.
Also read: 2022 Lauf Seigla gravel bike review
From Lauf Cycles:
Pushing the envelope is in our DNA. We’re not here to conform. Since we started the journey back in 2011, we’ve gone from a “garage band” in Reykjavik, Iceland, to a household name in gravel cycling.
Our suspension innovation needs no introduction, but we won’t stop there. We didn’t enter cycling to “only” come up with cool technology. We entered cycling to make a mark and get our technology to riders, for them to enjoy. At the end of the day, the point of it all is to help cyclists ride further, faster, and more often. A crucial variable in the equation is often overlooked though – pricing.
To further streamline our operations, we’ve been busy setting up a USA base in Harrisonburg, VA. Why Harrisonburg, you might ask? Because it offers amazing riding (gravel, road, and MTB), and because it’s a beautiful college town that has excellent ground logistics for the US and flight connections to Iceland.
Earlier this year, we started shipping US-bound bikes from our Harrisonburg warehouse. This increased our efficiency and enabled a price reduction back on March 11th. Not to mention the much welcome reduction in CO2 footprint it entailed.
We didn’t blow our horns when we lowered prices in March, though, as we knew it was the first (smaller) step of the final price reduction we were aiming for. Before we could complete our mission, we would also have to set up assembly in the US. Reducing our inventory cost through Just-in-Time bike building. This avoids tying components down to bike types/sizes/colors, which in turn enables a far lower total inventory. These streamlined operations enable better pricing.
It has taken a while to prepare, but we’ve now started assembling bikes at our downtown assembly plant in Harrisonburg! Our HQ remains in Reykjavik, but all bikes will go out of Harrisonburg from now on. This is the most efficient setup for Lauf, as the US is our biggest market.
Seigla is a gravel bike you should want regardless of its pricing. Its ride, features, and quality set it in a class of its own. Now we’ve also put its pricing into a class of its own!
Below, you’ll find the price drop details for our Seigla gravel bikes:
| Seigla Rigid | ||||
| Original Price | March 11th
shipping efficiency |
April 27th
US assembly |
Price Drop | |
| Weekend Warrior | $ 2640 | $ 2540 | $ 2240 | $ 400 (15.2%) |
| Weekend Warrior Wireless | $ 3640 | $ 3440 | $ 3140 | $ 500 (13.7%) |
| Race Wireless | $ 5040 | $ 4640 | $ 4140 | $ 900 (17.9%) |
| Ultimate | $ 6640 | $ 6240 | $ 5640 | $ 1000 (15.1%) |
| Seigla (with suspension fork) | ||||
| Original Price | March 11th
shipping efficiency |
April 27th
US assembly |
Price Drop | |
| Weekend Warrior | $ 2990 | $ 2890 | $ 2590 | $ 400 (13.4%) |
| Weekend Warrior Wireless | $ 3990 | $ 3790 | $ 3490 | $ 500 (12.5%) |
| Race Wireless | $ 5390 | $ 4990 | $ 4490 | $ 900 (16.7%) |
| Ultimate | $ 6990 | $ 6590 | $ 5990 | $ 1000 (14.3%) |
Note: If you received a Seigla within 30 days ahead of this price drop, you can contact our customer service on Live Chat, and they will get you store credit for the price difference! Not including tax, and assuming you didn’t/don’t return the bike.
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