Twmpa Cycles shows a C-Zero concept bike at Rouleur Live

The Hay-on-Wye gravel bike manufacturer, Twmpa Cycles, shows a C-Zero concept bike at Rouleur Live (Stand RC5, Victoria House, London WC1B 4DA), Nov 4-6th.

With Twmpa's trademark Ash-frame and components from Hope Technology, SRAM, Brooks, Challenge and Thomson, the bicycle has no carbon fibre included, instead opting for aluminium and steel.

Twmpa created the C-Zero to provoke thought in the consumer and continue the conversation within the industry on building a sustainable business model for the bike industry.

"We make frames from wood," said Twmpa Director Miguel Ferros: "As a frame material, it is not only great for gravel bikes and all-road riding, it also happens to have a lot less carbon tied up in it than other frame materials. But that is only part of the story. We want to build a sustainable business, and the C-Zero is an example of a high-end bike built with no carbon fibre."

While the other bicycles Twmpa are showing at Rouleur Live, the GR 1.1 and E-Flow are well appointed in a mix of Ash-frame and carbon fibre; the C-Zero throws the spotlight on the ubiquity of carbon fibre in bicycles: highlighting the challenge the cycling industry has in reaching carbon neutrality.

"With help from our partners at Hope Technology and SRAM", continued Ferros, we have produced a high-performance gravel bike with no carbon fibre. There is nothing to say that carbon fibre can't be part of a sustainable future. Still, we need to start making positive strides now and come together as an industry to find a way to lower the carbon footprint of our materials."