The Team

Creating a community has to start somewhere so why not start with the people behind the ACME Freedom Machine movement.

Raoul

Adventurer. Gentleman.

Solar powered.

I am, if nothing, an obsessive fan of outside.

The kid who tinkered with his bike, obsessing over the details for hours and hours – that’s me. Always looking for short cuts, exciting stitch-ups and beautiful roads, the love of where a bike can take you has been with me since the first pedal stroke.

Returning from a season of flipping hamburgers in the snow, I started dabbling with imports and distribution whilst finishing up my uni degree in Pretoria, South Africa. I was out of the industry by 2008 and back in there again by 2011. It’s safe to say I love my work. I still obsess the details and in my apparel business, scrutinize sleeve and bib lengths with multiple samples ridden by multiple riders to make sure things are just perfect. 

I have ridden more bicycles than I can remember, worked with a variety of brands as sales agent, sponsored rider and distributor and more than anything, obsessed the details for years. I believe in the power of bicycles. Great bicycles. Having ridden enough bikes with toe overlap, weird handling, and terrible standards, I wanted to make something truly adventure-proof.

ACME is a dream project for me. Skipping the small iterative changes the bicycle industry makes (to sell you every version in the middle) in favor of bold expressions that get to the right bike faster. As someone who rode 23mm tyres down forgotten donkey trails on ‘road rides’ to make them more fun, a bike like CAM is the most fun I have ever had on a bike. Once you ride BAR, you will believe in the quiver killer and you might consider a new career racing the brown tar. What about JAC? 

Well, summer 2022 is looking like it descends on rails, ascends like Pantani and isn’t scared of a little dusty backroad. 

In the interim, if you see me riding something around Girona that looks odd or not in our catalog, know that I am obsessing the details so that by the time you get an ACME, every detail has been considered. 

After 20 years in this industry, ACME has me refreshed and excited about the future of bicycles. I look forward to having you along for the journey.

Charl

Creative. Contemplative.

 A romantic for all things cycling.

1991, Gianni Bugno conquering the mystical Alpe d’Huez on stage 17 of the Tour de France, beating the mighty Indurain up the climb in the process. 9 years old sitting on my grandmothers lounge floor watching the drama and pageantry unfold before me, not even knowing what I was witnessing. It mattered not, it was cycling and I was hooked.

The kid who would buy old MTB magazines from the kilogram store, sitting for hours reading every word including the classifieds. Fascinated by the latest bikes and hero’s like Tomac and Tinker that were riding them. A teenager riding hardtails down steep mountains then later drawn to the road and gravel taking distance over speed, mile after mile after mile. I have always been drawn to the beauty that is cycling in all its shapes and forms.

After 20 years working in the private yachting industry as well as a number of other projects including building websites and even starting a luxury online cashmere business, I realised that the cycling itch was not going away and so I looked to move back ashore and into the two wheeled world. Taking years of management and business related skills gained while at sea and combined with my passion for design, creativity and cycling I was off to write the next chapter.

As is often the case, in an almost serendipitous way I crossed paths with ACME co-founder, Raoul (we actually went to school together). Sitting there at a well-known coffee spot on Bree Street talking all things life and bikes, he mentioned an exciting project that he had been working on. Immediately drawn to the concept and ethos of the idea and brand I floated the idea of working together on it. A partnership was born.

ACME represents all the reasons why I love this sport including the simple notion of just being outside and riding ones bike. From the start we make sure to regularly revisit why this company was started and what we stand for. Our slogan ‘Freedom Machines’ is not something we take likely. We build machines, beautiful, functional, desirable machines to empower and facilitate freedom through adventure and community. 

It’s not just about the bikes we build but also about the people that ride them. I am so excited about the future and the amazing community we are creating.

Welcome to ACME.