THE STORY BEHIND OSPA

What is OSPA

OSPA is a unique and nearly maintenance free , indestructible multipurpose-performance bike.

Where does the name OSPA come from?

The name OSPA derives from the intial letters One Sevrvice Per Annum and means that the OSPA bike requires only 1 service per year.

What makes the OSPA bike different?

Nice weather cyclist might think, a yearly service is just normal for any decent bike. The difference is, that the OSPA bike can do this in the harshest weather and race conditions. So this means from freezing - 15C to hot as +40C. From snow, sludge, salt to dust, mud and pooring rain.

For races this means, while most of my opponents pre- and repare their bikes bofore the race, I simply rince and roughly check it. The downside is, that I now need other excuses to visit bike shops.

Is there a proof - does it work?

YES it works, and YES there is a proof for it.

In an experiment, that lasted the entire 2017, I rode the OSPA bike 10’000km without mechanical support. This included:

1. Commuting once or twice weekly (approx. 180km per week)

2. Several Cross-Country races (the first on 1. January 2017 in Budapest, HU)

3. Bikepacking trips (e.g. Budapest - Vienna on 2. January)

4. WINTER TORTOUR Cyclocross (3-day stage race in February)

5. 24h World Championship in Finale Ligurie ITALY ( in a team of two)

6. NAVAD 1000 - a 1000km non-supported Bikepacking race in SWITZERLAND

What are the core components?

Every component is selected according to the SCLFE principal (*Simple, Lean, Consistent, Fast, Economic).

The 5 distinguishing Elements

1. Frame - Titanium custom build

2. Transmission - Pinion Gear-Box C1.12 (12 gears / 600% range)

3. Drive mechanics - Gates carbon belt

4. Fork - Lauf TR Boost - carbon, 990g / 60mm

5. Handlebar - Jones H-Bar carbon

Other parts and accessories

• Saddle - SQlab 611 Ergowave active LP, carbon

• Seat tube - Syntace P6 CARBON HiFlex

• Wheelset - Syncros TR1.5 PLUS

• Bikepackings - Ortlieb Waterproof

• Tires - Schwalbe Rocket Ron 2.6

Accomplishments

1st year - 2017 - total 10’000 km 

During this 365 day experiment I rode wide variaty of bike disciplines. From comuting and touring in all seasons to cyclocross, stage-race, 24h race and ultra longdistance bikepacking events as the the NAVAD 1000.
Changed parts during 1st year in operation incl. the yearly service:
- 7 tyres (3 rear / 2 front) 
- 3 brake disk (2 front / 1 rear)
- 5 sets of brake pads (3 front / 2 rear)
- 2 set shifting cables 
- 60 ml transmission oil

2nd year - 2018 - TOTAL 8’500 KM 

in the harshest everyday and race conditions incl. the ITALY DIVIDE 2018.
Changed parts during 2nd year in operation incl. the yearly service:
- 4 tyres (2 rear / 2 front) 
- 2 brake disk (1 front / 1 rear)
- 6 sets of brake pads (2 front / 2 rear)
- 2 set shifting cables 
- 60 ml transmission oil

3th year - 2019 - total 7’500 km

in the harshest everyday and race conditions incl. the ITALY DIVIDE 2019.
Changed parts during 3rd year in operation incl. the yearly service:
- 4 tyres (2 rear / 2 front) 
- 1 brake disk (1 front)
- 6 sets of brake pads (2 front / 2 rear)
- 1 set shifting cables 
- 60 ml transmission oil

4th year - 2020 - total 6’500 km

in the harshest everyday and race conditions incl. the HOPE 1000.
Changed parts during 4th year in operation incl. the yearly service:
- 4 tyres (2 rear / 2 front) 
- 2 brake disk (1 front / 1 rear)
- 8 sets of brake pads (2 front / 2 rear)
- 1 set shifting cables 
- 60 ml transmission oil

5th year - 2021 - total 6’000 km

in the harshest everyday and race conditions incl. part of the HOPE 1000 and the FRENCH DIVIDE.
Changed parts during 4th year in operation incl. the yearly service:
- 4 tyres (2 rear / 2 front) 
- 2 brake disk (1 front / 1 rear)
- 8 sets of brake pads (2 front / 2 rear)
- 1 set shifting cables 
- 60 ml transmission oil

Background - How it begun

After returning form the Eurobike in September 2016 to find my new bike for 2017, I was frustrated.

Most bike companies offer similar standard bikes in countless variations to choose of but none of them really caught me. Most bikes have no real USP nor UAP and most impotently no bike inspired me, so returned home empty-handed and frustrated.

Not quite, I found a few components, that fit my expectations. With this in mind I started an interesting journey that lead me to my new bike the OSPA. The path leading to my versatile multi purpose bike was not always nice nor straight and there were some steep uphill's and realy bumpy bits, but that's my preferred terrain anyway.

Custom build - the only option to fullfill my vision. 

After some more research, a couple of brainstorming sessions and design concepts I finally decided to take the bull by its horns and build this, by that time visionary bike and to run an unmatched experiment in 2017.
The OSPA project was born. OSPA the nearly indestructible multipurpose-performance bike that requires only One Service Per Annum (1x yearly).

Retrospective I'm astonished myself that only 2 months passed from the idea to the project start on January 1, 2017. Besides my tight project management this is mainly due to the great support of the team of Marquart Radsport, the frame engineer and builder, Lauf forks, Pinion and some other suppliers.

The Rinse & Ride Mission

The OSPA prototype consists of selected components, all strictly follow the *SLCFE principle. Every part of the OSPA bike has made its journey throu a selective matrix with weighted criterias. The result is a bullet proof adventure bike that can race in multiple disciplines. The rider can fully rely on the OSPA, concentrate on the trail and  enjoy his ride.

*SLCFE stands for Simple, Lean, Consistent, Fast, Economic 

Want an example? 

Lets take the Lauf fork from Island. Lauf forks use four sets of three fibreglass strips as the leaf springs. These connect the carbon fibre legs of the fork to the two lowers that carry the axle and brake caliper. The whole thing is very light (under a kilo) and gives you 60mm of undamped travel.

Here is how this correlates with the SLCFE principle:

• Simple - the fork has no moving parts, nothing to adjust and service, just ride

• Lean - with the wight of 990 grams the Lauf is the leanest suspension fork on the market (to be fair we need to mention, that the travel of 60mm is also fairly lean ;-)

• Consistent - the fork fits into any standard bike, so it can be applied or replaced constantly

• Fast - thanks to the sensitive fibre legs, the fork reacts extremely quick/fast to tiny bumps. Also the lightness has a positive influence to the speed of the bike

• Economic - as the fork is maintenance free, the higher purchase price is more than compensated after one year, not to mention what that means in the course 5 year warranty one gets on every Lauf fork.
  
  Learn more about the Lauf fork on http://www.laufforks.com

OSPa A MARK OF SIMPLICITY

The OSPA logo is a simple circle, standing for:

• the symbol of the wheel - the mankind most important invention

• the circle of of life, always returning to the its origin

• 0 aka zero - meaning no distraction but full concentration/control

• O = the first letter of ONE - striving to be the #1 and always standing before the 1 - 0, 1, 2, 3, ... ;-)