CHAPTER2’s Bike Frames Are Astonishing Feats of Architecture

Michael Pryde has decades of experience designing some of the world’s most impressive architectural marvels. Now he’s building bike frames.

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To the untrained eye, a bike frame is simple: some metal tubes, bent and welded to form a shape specific to one style of riding. That is not how Michael Pryde looks at bike frames. To him, a bike frame is an academic classification of architecture unto itself, magnificently complex and timelessly beautiful. Pryde is a distinguished architect and industrial designer with decades of experience designing architectural and engineering marvels, such as the Hong Kong International Airport and cutting-edge racing bikes. He’s also one hell of a cyclist, having competed in high-level races around Asia and North America for nearly four decades. Recently, Pryde decided to roll all his passions into one ambitious new project: CHAPTER2 Bikes.

CHAPTER2 designs, builds and sells only bike frames. Why? Because, as Pryde will likely tell you, a bike’s geometry and materials are the most important facet of any bike. The overarching goal of CHAPTER2 is to focus exclusively on perfecting the bike frame. Nothing else. CHAPTER2’s only bike frame, the Tere, is an astonishing example of Pryde’s meticulous attention to detail. It is made with Toray prepreg carbon — the same kind used in F1 race cars, America’s Cup racing yachts and aerospace equipment — and it features molded polyurethane and expanded polystyrene mandrels in key areas; plus it’s constructed using a superior method called monocoque blow-molding (more on that here). The Tere comes in four colors, two of which are highly limited edition, and ships directly to your doorstep, wherever you are in the world.