Test Contoura Freejack: It only starts with the frame color. With the new Freejack, Contoura offers more freedom of choice than ever when composing a custom bike.
A brand that has a firm place in the discerning specialist bicycle trade is Contoura. The subsidiary of the wholesale company Hartje, one of the most traditional companies in the branch with more than 120 years in the bicycle business, is at home wherever customers ask for individual solutions. Because apart from the 15 color variants, each in matt and glossy, the Contoura configurator allows many options for switching components and equipment details. Hub or derailleur gears, rigid or spring fork? Standard lighting or high-end lighting system? Even cheap models can be planned individually, and of course they are not that cheap anymore, but they are definitely worth their price.
With the new "Freejack" model, the Lower Saxony company is now pushing its customization concept to the extreme. Leaving aside the frame size and the three decor options, a total of 288.000 differently painted and specified versions of the beefy rigid bike can be ordered via the configurator. And that's just the basic model - if you opt for the "Cross", "Scrambler" or "Speed" versions, you will once again be faced with various options within a narrower framework.
So total confusion? Rather the opposite, because there is no shaking the base: Contoura only provides a frame shape and a rigid fork. If you decide on a Freejack, you will definitely get a balanced, sporty all-rounder with a calm character that radiates a lot of solidity. At the same time, this bike is extremely versatile and can be just as good a workhorse as it is a nimble trotter. Sport or travel, asphalt or terrain? Once you have made these basic decisions, you can configure your individual Freejack pretty quickly, because you don't have to think about it for a long time.
Even when choosing the circuit, you have a quasi-free decision; the 15 variants cover all reasonable possibilities.
The basic version of the Freejack with a three-speed hub gear costs 1.299 euros; the first version with a triple chain ring is already available for a hundred more. You have to invest 1 euros for the sports variant with 11×2.100 derailleur gears from SRAM’s cyclocross segment; if you add another 700 euros, you can drive the ultra-solid Rohloff gear hub. These variants in one model are already a rarity - and many suppliers shy away from the effort of offering a bike with derailleur and hub gears. Not to mention the different wheel sizes: In the "Speed" version, the wheel has 28-inch wheels and 32 mm narrow tyres; all other variants come with 27,5 inches and tires between 44 and 60 mm wide.
A multifunctional dropout, which also serves as a chain or belt tensioner, allows for freedom of choice when it comes to shifting gears. The shift cables are routed under the down tube instead of inside. Different guides can be screwed to the frame, depending on whether one or two shift cables need to be accommodated. The two wheel sizes can be realized because all models are equipped with disc brakes.
While the Freejack Speed comes across as a slim, fast trekking and touring bike, our test bike is more of a "heavy duty". Finely profiled, smoothly rolling balloon tyres, eleven-speed gear hub and toothed belt: This is what a bike looks like that can withstand years of daily use without complaint, but is also not short on riding fun, be it on gravel roads or on smooth asphalt. If you are less demanding, you can go with the Shimano Nexus Premium eight-speed three gears and leave out the belt drive - the bike with otherwise identical equipment costs no longer 2.000, but only 1.400 euros. And if the 40 lux of the standard headlight is not enough, you can add 69 euros and get the Busch & Müller IQ X with 100 lux at a special price.
In other words: what is important and which components they spend a little more on is up to the customer themselves with Freejack – and of course that is much more important than just getting a wheel in the color of their choice.
Apropos - such an individual Contoura Freejack is not difficult to obtain. Hartje's dealer network is huge; on the configurator page, everyone is guaranteed to find a bike shop nearby and can send them the equipment they want by e-mail. Powder coating and assembly then take place in the Hartje factory on the banks of the Weser; 24 hours after the final quality control, the bike can already be at the dealer. Maybe it will look like the variant presented here, or maybe completely different - in any case it will look exactly as its new owner wanted it to.
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