Factor's high-speed heritage comes at you like John Candy in Planes, Trains and Automobiles— in your face yet curiously chipper. Its credentials come via the air and on the ground, primarily in aviation and Formula 1, where the innovation is scintillating, and the speed of change is frankly stupefying. Yet, for all the brand's advanced tech, it still retains an air of welcome and warmth. And for a 'mainstream' outfit, that's pretty rare.
Factor’s story began in 2009, when the CEO of a UK-based company called BF1 Systems, a design house with clients such as Ferrari, Aston Martin, Lamborghini, Maserati and a string of F1 and Moto GP teams, gave his staff a challenge: design a bike with an F1 mindset. The bike they came up with, the 001, was heralded for its futuristic technology and seamless aesthetic - it even appeared at the London Science Museum. The wider bike industry watched and wondered with more than a little trepidation.
After that came high-level collaborations with Aston Martin and, in 2012, a move towards commercializing what was in danger of becoming a project of radical one-offs. Just at the right time, BF1 began a budding relationship with Rob Gitelis, who owned his own factory in Taiwan and had years of extensive experience designing, engineering, and producing some of the best bikes in the world. From that moment on, Factor Bikes proper was born.
Rob’s involvement in the brand kickstarted an explosion of ideas and innovations that continues today, with bikes like the Ostro, O2, Slick, Vista and more picking up wins at the Tour de France and on the other side of the fence at gravel races like Unbound here in the US.
What keeps Factor Bikes pushing on when so many other brands have stalled by the roadside? We'd suggest it's the brand's spirit of creativity entwined with a racing DNA that is no mere marketing speak. To Factor, aesthetics, aerodynamics, comfort and outrageous speed are essentials, not pay-per-ride add-ons. And in an industry that frequently engages in confusion and non-speak, that clarity is cutting-edge.
