BikeBiz Bicycle and cycling retail news
We first stumbled across Vaaru back at the London Bike Show, nestled into a corner of USE/Exposure’s booth. Founded by former employee James Bereford, the label specialises in titanium frame builds for the road, gravel path and trails, as well as a handful of UK made components. Having just placed the brand into Hargroves Cycles and with further expansion plans lined up, BikeBiz spoke to Beresford about his plans:
Tell us about Vaaru and your plan for the business:
Vaaru Cycles specialise in manufacturing the highest possible quality Titanium bikes and components. As the former design and development manager for U.S.E and Exposure Lights I realised that I could use my extensive design and manufacturing skills to bring to the UK a special range of bikes.
I wanted to forget about cost and concentrate on finding the premium suppliers around the world in every given component, not cutting corners to achieve a lower price. I’m passionate about bikes and passionate about engineering to the highest degree regardless of price and origin.
I choose to have our frames made to my design or custom designs in Taiwan, at possibly the best Titanium frame manufacturer in the world. The quality achieved is better than I’ve seen on any other titanium bicycle and I challenge anyone to find me a better manufacturer. However, that’s not where manufacturing stops; I have the raw frame sent to me in the UK where I can then add an extra stamp of quality. I have a background in custom paintwork and finishing and have facilities to add any design and finish to the customer’s requirements. I have a CNC dedicated to milling the custom head badges and we can brush, bead blast, sand blast, paint, laser, anodise or even gold, silver or copper leaf the finished design.
Our seatposts are made in the UK by U.S.E, again sent to me in a raw state to anodise or blast to match the frame finish. I have saddles recovered and embroidered in the UK, again to match the frame finish.
Why have you chosen to add the finishing touches and manufacture select components domestically?
My father is a UK precision engineer and my experience working for U.S.E who also manufacture in the UK mean I will always support domestic manufacturing where I can. At the moment this is through design, prototyping and hand finishing. I would love to produce frames in the UK, but until I can find a supplier to beat the existing quality I won’t be moving. I would like to think when Vaaru becomes a larger outfit, the company values will remain and we will always bring our customers a unique experience. It’s easier to control the UK production, but ease won’t bring you the best quality.
Price is not an issue between the UK and Taiwan, it is almost as expensive. Design, prototyping and development is all UK based so this is another benefit to have the skills in house to make a company evolve quickly.
Are you selling anything to overseas customers?
I’m not exporting overseas just yet as I want to concentrate on supporting the UK market first. I have existing relationships with US, ASIA and EU distributors, but will only utilise them when I can dedicated the level of service we aim to give to our customers and dealers within the UK.
What products do you produce and can retailers take stock?
We produce and specialise in Titanium bicycle frames and components. We have a brushed finish frame with discreet decals for a standard frame, or if a customer wants something unique and bespoke to them, our possibilities are endless. We will work with the dealers to give their loyal customers something special.
Our range includes both disc and standard road bikes, MTB 29er XC and 27.5 Trail, with a dedicated disc CX arriving for this season.
We currently have stock in all sizes and models. I’m looking to work with a few dedicated dealers nationwide who also share my passion for design, quality and service.
If any dealers would like to discuss becoming a stockist, please get in touch via james@vaaru.co or 07789931124.
