Lauf

Lauf is a bicycle manufacturer based in Reykjavik, Iceland, which specialises in gravel bikes. Among its notable products, the brand pioneered the Grit fork.

History

One of the newer brands on the market, Lauf started out in 2010 when Benedikt Skúlason came up with the idea for a super-light revolutionary bicycle suspension fork.

Having worked as an R&D engineer for a composite prosthetic limb company, Benedikt already had many of the skills required to turn the idea into reality and soon Lauf’s first fork was in development. Based around a leaf spring system, which used to be commonly used on automotive vehicles, it was a mountain bike fork with 60mm travel and officially broke cover in 2014. A year later, Lauf built on the design with a stiffer version.

This formed the basis for all of its following forks, including the Grit as the company made its first foray into the world of gravel. Released in 2017, the Grit design is still used on its bikes today.

Spurred on by the success of the fork, the brand soon turned its attention to manufacturing frames. Considering the adventure-focussed design of its forks, it’s no surprise that this started out with gravel bikes.

The first was the True Grit, released in 2018, which was promptly followed by the Anywhere a year later. As the name suggests, the Anywhere was designed to be more of an all-rounder, ideal for rough roads as well as gravel.

A decade after the seeds of the company were sown, it changed its business model, switching from a distributor model to instead going direct to the consumer.

In recent years more bikes have followed, including the Seigla gravel range, before the company caught the headlines in 2023 when it unveiled its first road bike, the Úthald.

Sticking to its ethos of thinking out of the box, Lauf said that the bike provided a fresh take on road bike design, putting the rider at the centre of the design. While other bikes “feel fast or look fast”, Lauf wanted its new bike to be fast for the rider. That’s why factors such as rider fatigue and discomfort were taken into account when trying to make the bike as fast as possible.

Did you know?

Pro cycling

Team sponsorships

• Café du Cycliste Gravel Team

Rider sponsorships

• Ashton Lambie
• Ben Thomas
• Leah Dixon
• Kae Takeshita
• Mat Stephens
• Christina Birch

Highlights

• Four years after being founded, Lauf released its first fork in 2014. Designed for mountain biking, it had 60mm of travel.
• The fork had already been tried and tested in Iceland, even winning an amateur race in Reykjavik in 2013. It was the first race the fork had ever been used in.
• Arguably Lauf’s best known product, the Grit fork was launched in 2017. It’s undergone some changes since then but is still used by Lauf on its gravel bikes.
• Having built a reputation for building forks, Lauf moved on to also creating bike frames. At the start, Lauf wanted to work out how its forks could complement bikes. That soon turned into creating the ultimate gravel bike package.
• For most of its history, Lauf’s focus has been off-road. That changed in 2023 when it launched its first ever road bike, the Úthald.