Drössiger - this is how your individual dream bike is created - Part #1

Market: Everyone has an off-the-shelf bike. Custom is cool! Drössiger offers the opportunity to have a say in your own bike and to choose equipment, color and design. There is also a network of competent dealers who are available to advise you. Velomotion shows how this works using the example of an RSA Street and the dealer Ganghelden near Nuremberg.

Everyone would like to have their personal dream bike. To build it up from the frame you have to be a real Velonerd, building the frame yourself is almost impossible for anyone. Individuality and taking your own needs into account is still possible. Drössiger offers a modular system with which the wishes and dreams of (almost) all cyclists can be fulfilled. We were curious to see how this process works and have accompanied the purchase of a bike from the very beginning. In a three-part series of articles we would like to describe our experiences to you. In this, the first part, you can see how a bike is selected, configured and ordered. In the other parts you can see how the bike is then built and whether the bike lives up to expectations.

We found a dealer in Stein near Nuremberg who puts together the right bike for customers and does not use off-the-shelf goods. Die Ganghelden is Alex Ederer's store. Alex loves and lives the topic of bicycles. When asked how he became the owner of a bike shop, his career and countless anecdotes just bubbled out of him - it was immediately clear: bikes are the word here. In short: cycling and cycling have always been part of his life. He had worked in the field before, but figured things could be done better. So starting your own business was a logical and consistent step in order to implement your own ideas.

With a custom bike from Drössiger, we can respond even better to the special wishes and needs of the customer.

Alex knows what he is doing and what he is talking about. I could see that live. We were allowed to look over his shoulder during a consultation. Perhaps the most important point was the first thing he asked: What does the customer want to do with the bike? In this case, the customer was a young manager at a medium-sized company who plans to commute a few kilometers to work by bike. This requirement profile already gives rise to criteria that can be used to narrow down to just a few models.

Image showing how different models are explained with advantages and disadvantages — Various models with advantages and disadvantages are explained

Picture that shows The RSA Street equipment is also explained in detail and tried out — The equipment is also explained in detail and tried out

Which surfaces should be driven on? Are gradients desired in the route planning or do you rather avoid them? Do you only drive when the weather is nice? Should luggage be able to be transported? Is the focus on sporty, rapid progress or is it more about comfort? These and other questions result in a clearly defined user profile for the customer advisor. In our case, the RSA Street turned out to be the ideal bike. Sporty seating position for good propulsion, equipment and geometry that make the bike ideal for cycle paths and urban environments. In addition, the tidy look is a real plus point for the customer.

Test seat on the RSA Street as a picture — Try out the RSA Street

Biuld by test drive with RSA Street — A test round provides certainty

Picture of Alex doing the fine adjustment — Alex doing the fine adjustment

The choice falls on the RSA Street 1 with trapezoidal frame. The hub dynamo and the reliable Supernova lighting ensure safe driving, even at dusk. The RSA rolls along on Schwalbe Marathon Supreme tires, driven by a Shimano XT-SLX mix and braked by a hydraulic Deore disc brake. Here you are moving at 1.699 euros. The modular Drössiger program also enables RSA variants that start at just over 900 euros.

Some time ago we were able to convince ourselves of the qualities of the RSA Street:

Test: Drössiger RSA Street 1 - urban, versatile, individual

There are "naked" bikes without mudguards and luggage racks, variants with hub gears, or with 1×11 derailleur gears. Finding the right bike for the customer is what Alex does with test rides. Model, seating position and size are determined first. Then you look at different brakes and gears together and try out what feels good and can be operated intuitively.

Once the technical details have been clarified, things will get colorful. You can choose between 31 colors for the basic color of the frame alone. The same applies to the fork and mudguards, so it's good that the online configurator also shows virtually what you might otherwise find difficult to imagine. There are 15 additional colors to choose from for the decors. It's a good thing that you can also see some colors live in the store. Anything that cannot be viewed on wheels can be seen on color cards.

Together with the customer, Alex configures the bike on the PC. When everything has been finally clarified, the bike will be ordered. Experience has shown that the delivery times are quite short, especially when you consider that the frame first has to be painted and the bike is then built as desired. This usually takes two to three weeks.

The Ganghelden already have ready-to-ride Drössiger bikes. They not only serve as a visual object, but are "Bikes to Go"

In the next part of this series, we invite you to take a virtual tour of production at Drössiger. We accompany the RSA Street through the individual stages of its 'birth'. Starting with the surface coating through assembly to shipping.