Craven puts Namibia on bigger wheels
Two-time Olympian Dan Craven has placed Namibian craftsmanship on a bigger set of wheels after his Omaruru-based Onguza Bicycles unveiled what it describes as Africa’s first 32-inch gravel bicycle in Windhoek.
Hand-built for Namibian cyclist Martin Freyer with support from King Price Insurance Namibia, the bicycle combines an emerging larger-wheel concept with a steel frame cut, shaped, brazed and painted in Omaruru.
Craven recently unveiled the bicycle alongside King Price Insurance Namibia chief executive officer Braam Vermeulen as the centrepiece of Onguza’s latest range.
For Craven, who represented Namibia in road cycling at the London 2012 and Rio 2016 Olympic Games, the launch connected two chapters of his life: racing around the world and building an internationally recognised manufacturing business at home.
“We realise Omaruru is quite far from Windhoek, so we had to bring Omaruru to Windhoek [for the launch],” said Craven.
“Most people don’t really understand what we do. We take raw metal tubes and turn them into bicycles that are desired by name in places such as London, New York and Amsterdam.”
Built for rough roads
The new bicycle features wheels larger than the 29-inch size commonly used on modern mountain bikes.
Craven believes the increased diameter will help riders roll more smoothly over potholes, loose gravel and the relentless corrugations found on many of the country’s roads.
A larger wheel meets an obstacle at a shallower angle, allowing it to roll over depressions and bumps instead of dropping as deeply into them.
“Namibia has got enough corrugations for days,” Craven joked.
“[With our new addition] you can float over the corrugations instead of sinking into every bump, which will make gravel riding much more enjoyable.”
The 32-inch concept is still in its early stages internationally, but it has already made an impression in top-level racing.
Swiss rider Felix Stehli rode a 32-inch-wheeled Stoll mountain bike when he and South African teammate Marc Pritzen won stage three of this year’s Absa Cape Epic.
Onguza’s creation takes the emerging concept into the gravel-bike market. Craven expects other manufacturers to follow as the wheel size develops.
“This is not only an Onguza thing. I believe all the big bicycle companies will eventually bring these out,” he said.
Namibian hands at work
Beyond its larger wheels, the bicycle tells the story of a small team transforming raw steel into high-end sporting equipment in central Namibia.
Onguza co-owners and master framebuilders Sakaria Nkolo and Petrus Mufenge lead production at the Omaruru workshop, with Sakeus Mufenge among the younger builders who have joined the operation.
The team works with specialist Columbus steel tubing imported from Italy. Each section is measured, cut with a hacksaw and repeatedly filed by hand until the tubes fit together with the precision required to form a bicycle frame.
Rather than using a conventional mass-production welding process, the joins are fillet-brazed by hand. Brass or silver is melted around the carefully prepared joints without melting the frame tubes themselves.
Craven told guests at the launch that the process requires temperatures of about 900 degrees Celsius, leaving little room for mistakes.
“Metal and heat are not friends. But if the preparation is good and your attention to detail with the heat is good, you are going to get a product that is straight at the end of the day,” he noted.
Once the frame has been completed, it is prepared and painted locally before undergoing final quality checks.
The process requires patience rather than the speed of an automated production line, but that hand-built character has become central to Onguza’s identity.
Craven began developing the framebuilding project with Nkolo and Mufenge after recognising the practical skills they had demonstrated while working for his family.
Their ability to repair equipment and make solutions from limited resources convinced him that the same hands could be trained to produce world-class bicycles.
Training started in 2017, before the operation gradually developed into the Omaruru workshop and brand it is today. Nkolo and Mufenge later became co-owners rather than remaining only employees.
Life beyond the finish line
Craven’s journey into manufacturing was shaped by the uncertainty that followed his professional cycling career.
After representing the country internationally and racing in about 44 countries, he began questioning what his years in the peloton could contribute beyond personal results and medals.
The answer was to take the knowledge and international connections built through cycling and use them to develop skilled employment in his hometown.
The more Craven travelled, the more he became frustrated that Namibia’s craftsmanship was rarely attached to high-value products known internationally by name.
He described Namibia as a country of makers, where people regularly build, repair and adapt what they need because distances are vast and access to replacement parts is often limited.
“If we have the people and we have that amazing ability to work with our hands, why are we not making things of high value that are desired around the world?” he asked.
“If we can build bicycles in Omaruru and sell them in London and New York City, what else can we do in this country?”
Craven said Onguza has sold more bicycles in New York City than on the entire African continent, while another locally built frame was recently prepared for a bicycle shop in Amsterdam.
The company’s global recognition was further strengthened when its Bliksem gravel bicycle was named the best bicycle at the 2026 Monocle Design Awards.
The international publication praised the model’s construction, custom finish and people-centred production process. The name Bliksem, an Afrikaans word for lightning, reflects the bicycle’s focus on fast gravel riding.
Built to compete
Onguza’s bicycles have also shown that their appeal extends beyond appearance and craftsmanship.
One of the earliest frames to leave the workshop, bicycle number seven, was ridden by Namibian Olympian Alex Miller when he beat then two-time Cape Epic winner Matt Beers at South Africa’s 2023 Race to the Sun.
Another Onguza bicycle was ridden by Freyer when he won the 2022 Munga in South Africa, completing the demanding 1 127 km ultra-endurance mountain-bike race in 56 hours and 36 minutes.
Craven acknowledged that handmade steel bicycles will not always be the lightest or most aerodynamic machines in a market dominated by carbon-fibre technology.
However, he said their strength lies in durability, comfort, individuality and the connection riders form with the people who made them.
“Our bicycles are beautiful, and they have a certain meaning to the people who buy them,” he said.
Namibian backing
King Price’s involvement allowed the project to bring together a locally manufactured bicycle, a Namibian rider and support from a Namibian company.
Vermeulen said the insurer understood the vulnerability involved in growing an ambitious business after King Price faced similar doubts when it entered the local market.
He said Craven’s decision to manufacture international-standard bicycles in Omaruru aligned with the company’s commitment to backing the country’s talent and ideas.
“It is a Namibian bicycle, hand-built in Namibia by Namibians, for a Namibian athlete and supported by a Namibian company,” Vermeulen said.
King Price marketing manager Christo van der Merwe said the partnership was also intended to help home-grown talent gain the support needed to reach another level.
“It is not always easy to get started in Namibia as a small African country,” he said.
“It is important for Namibian companies to recognise the talent we have in our own country and to support people who have the passion and ability to build something.”
Setting an example
Namibian Cycling Federation president Tauko Shilongo described Onguza’s work as an example of how athletes can apply the lessons, visibility and relationships gathered during their sporting careers to life after competition.
He encouraged current national cyclists to start considering business and other long-term opportunities while they are still competing, rather than waiting until their careers end.
Shilongo said Craven’s move from professional rider to manufacturer demonstrated that sport could serve as the beginning of a broader journey.
“This is a Namibian-manufactured gem. There is life after professional sport, and athletes need to think about entrepreneurship and what comes next. This is the pride of Namibia,” he noted.
Craven hopes the sight of bicycles made in Omaruru being ridden and sold internationally will inspire young Namibians to recognise the value of their own ideas and abilities.
“I hope that if we build bicycles in Omaruru and sell them in London and New York, there will be a few children who say, ‘I can do that too,’” he said.
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