But let’s be honest: owning one of those little treasures is definitely not for everyone. To get an idea of what we are talking about here, getting a Festka bicycle is almost like to have a very luxurious car in your garage. It will always be something very exclusive, doesn’t matter how “big” its production is. Also, these products are far from being considered affordable – a single Festka can cost more than 7 thousand Euros.
Never mind about that for now. What amazes us is how Michael Mourecek and Ondrej Novotny, the Festka founders, managed to build up such a prestigious brand in only five years in the market – production started in September 2010.
The extra factor
You already heard about the good stuff Festka produces. But there is an extra element that, it seems, moves the whole Festka’s team forward: the passion factor.
To better understand that, have in mind that Mourecek used to be a pro rider himself, competing and riding bicycles he was sponsored by. It used to be like that until the day he retired from the roads. After a few years off, his family decided it was time for him to go back on wheels. He was turning 30 and he could choose the bicycle he wanted as a birthday gift.
“I suddenly found myself in an interesting situation. I had a great knowledge about bikes, but because I’ve never bought any, I never needed to decide about brands, components or colors. So, I wanted something that was really connected to me as an active cyclist”, he remarks. “During this search, Ondrej – a close friend of mine who became my entrepreneur partner – and I realized that all manufactures had some serious drawbacks. Some of them could produce good frames but the paints weren’t very nice”, laments the cyclist.
All that disenchantment with potential suppliers was huge. But if no one could produce what they were looking for, they would have to do it themselves. So Festka started to produce its first fixies, as the community around this type of bike was getting bigger. The company was also acquiring the necessary skills not only in the field of technology and functionality but also in design.
International success of the colorful Festka concept attracted more wide open markets, particularly in Germany and in the USA. The constant internal pressure to not stagnate helped to launch an enterprise growth trend. At the same time the community of expert collaborators has not stopped growing. In the team you can find personalities like the legendary bike builder Frantisek Babicky, as well as the celebrated Czech graffiti artists Jan Kalab aka Point and Michal Skapa aka Tron.
The first of their breakthrough concepts was called the Number. This model is made out of a sandwich carbon tubes while fiber is conducted under a zero angle. The tubes are extremely strong and rigid. They have four layers and each of them resists the force applied to the pipe while riding.
In the following year it was time for the Divan frame. Its pipes are tuned to specific vibrations that occur during the ride on different surfaces. But it’s not only us who really appreciate the marriage of luxury and efficiency. The confirmation was made by the customers who are repeatedly coming back to Mourecek and Novotny.
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Are you still wondering why people love Festka so much? Maybe it is because of all the feelings involved in every bicycle produced by them. As stated by the couple Adam Lux and Jana Nova, one of the first Festka’s clients, “You can even touch their feelings.”
