Sule died in 2022 while competing in the Vermont Overland gravel race, and his loss left a huge hole in the hearts of all who knew him or even just knew of him. To a certain extent, it even put into question whether the team would want to continue competing. “I think it has on a certain level brought us all together. Because we realized that not only is this a unique moment and we have some momentum, but we also have some responsibility to the next generation to prove the concept,” Delagrange explained.
RAPHA JOINS THE TEAM
Now for 2024, Team Amani has moved to another level with the addition of Rapha as clothing sponsor. Not only does the team benefit from additional visibility such a popular brand can provide, but the designs the creative minds at the British clothing brand develop provide huge motivation and help represent what is unique about East African cycling.
The bright, evocative Team Amani cycling kit helped spur the imagination of Factor’s Creative Director, Jay Gundzik. “The design for the frames was definitely driven by the Rapha kit design,” Jay confirmed. “The team at Rapha spent a lot of time developing these animal print patterns, which I had already used a little in the previous two designs. They just expanded on it and did some pretty cool stuff because they created laser cut stencils. And then they experimented to get that overspray effect. And they wanted that replicated on the bike.”
COMMUNICATION AND PASSION
“I didn’t want to drive the creative direction too much. My job was to take their kit design and some of the ideas behind those designs and interpret it to fit the bike. So, I sent them some of our design templates and told them to just play around with those to show me how they might like to see the designs from the kit appear on the frames.”
What works well on a jersey can be hard to reapply to a tube, especially when discussing colors, fades, graphics, and making it all scalable for mass production.
Jay had already created two seasons of special editions for the Team Amani, both of which used bold colors that represented the East African region, as well as prints that celebrated the wild animals so deeply associated with the region. “In the past, I had also used the team jerseys as templates for the design,” Jay explained. “This time though there was a lot more input from the clothing brand, which was great. I like working both ways. I really tried to respect the team’s design, but then also make it Factor. I think the bike design is a result of communication and passion.”
In just three short years, Team Amani has accomplished a huge amount and introduced a series of exceptional athletes to elite gravel and mountain bike racing.
With several of the Team Amani members also planning to compete in the Olympics road race, Factor has given this very special frame colorway to not only the OSTRO Gravel, but the OSTRO VAM as well. Though the basic design for each frame is consistent, certain adjustments needed to be made in order to fit geometry and frame shape differences.
“The OSTRO Gravel was the original design. Interpreting it to the other model was a process of adjusting the sizing and placement of the decals to fit the geometry and shape of the frames. It’s quite stunning, I think the colors look really cool and different from anything we’ve done. And certainly different from previous designs we’ve done for Amani. I think it’s really a nice evolution; I quite like it. It feels fresh.”
Specifications:
FRAME: TeXtreme®, Toray®, Nippon Graphite® Pitch-Based Fiber
FORK OSTRO: Wide Stance Fork
SEATPOST: 0 and 20mm setback available
BARSTEM: Black Inc Integrated Aero Barstem Reach 80mm, drop 120mm. Multiple stem lengths and bar widths available.
HEADSET: CeramicSpeed SLT 1-1/8″ and 1-3/8″ bearings
HEAD TUBE DIAMETER: 1-1/8″ upper and 1-3/8″ lower
SADDLE RAIL CLAMPS: 7x7 and 7x9
BOTTOM BRACKET: CeramicSpeed T47A Aluminium cups / CeramicSpeed bearings available for DUB, 24mm, or Ultra-Torque
CABLE ROUTING: Internal
COMPATIBLE COMPONENTS: Electronic
BRAKE TYPE: Disc
MAX ROTOR SIZE: 160mm front & rear
MAX CHAINRING: 54-tooth
FRONT AXLE: 12 x 100mm thru-axle
REAR AXLE: 12 x 142mm thru-axle
WHEELSET: Black Inc 48|58
WHEEL SIZE: 700c
MAX TIRE CLEARANCE: 32mm Measured
WEIGHT: 900g
