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Want to design some iconic bikes?

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After much speculation and forum gossip, here’s the press release from Planet X, owners of the On One brand:

On-one, Europe’s original singlespeed anti-brand, and part of the Planet X stable was created over nine years ago by Dave Loughran and Brant Richards and has seen significant growth during their time working together.

Brant, recently headhunted by mail order company Chain Reaction, has left and Dave is on the lookout for a unique designer who can work closely with his small team to maintain and continue to develop a quirky, interesting, and fun loving brand.

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On-one is a direct selling single speed and mountain bike brand offering incredible value and products that major manufacturers wouldn’t consider viable or simply wouldn’t understand .

Dave Loughran, owner of Planet X and On-one said, “This is an exciting time for On-one. We are looking for a new designer and the opportunities are out there to continue to fill a niche that big manufactures can’t see. We always said that our most successful projects were finding the “niche of a niche” and that’s a tradition were going to continue.

I believe a new designer, with different ideas and a fresh look will help take On-one further along its unusual path. I am sorry that Brant is leaving and wish him every success. He has been an influential part of the team that has built a brand with strong foundations and a cult following ”

For more details, see the On One Website

And this, of course, may have got you pondering ‘But what will Brant be doing if he’s not designing On-Ones?’ – Tune in later today for our exclusive interview with Brant, live from his shed just up the road from Singletrack HQ.

First, though, here’s the ‘official’ release from the Singletrack end of the Valley…

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Glad to see Brant has the best PR folk working for him


Shedfire Ltd announces that it has secured the services of “award winning” designer Brant Richards to design and develop a new range of bike frames, bike parts, hats and various dried meat products, for release to the public in the early Summer of this year (2009). Richards was formerly brand manager and designer with on-one (and sometimes made the tea) commented – “It’s just over nine years since I ended up in the Planet X warehouse in Doncaster, and after offering to fix some mudguards I broke, in return for a singlespeed frame with a funky five piece welded wishbone that Dave had designed. I hope that on-one will continue to be known for product that fills a niche that big manufacturers can’t see. Or creating niches that people didn’t know they needed. Long live on-one!”

Based in Calderdale, West Yorkshire, Shedfire’s palatial headquarters (I think you probably get the joke by now) are ideally situated for test riders to experience the valley’s diverse conditions (so long as the kids are in bed, or not playing up too much).

With a design brief based around making bikes that can go up and downhills, around and over things, without the rider falling off too much, Richards will have his work cut out to meet his deadline of May 1st for brand launch.

The new brand will be distributed “inside and outside Calderdale”,though details remain scarce at this time. “No really”, said Richards, “you’re going to be able to buy this stuff in like normal bikeshops” – so long as I get the deal together.

I’m spending the next couple of months either in my shed, or in Taiwan, working hard to get a lovely range of frames and components, for launch under a new brand name in early May. All being well, that brand will be available through one of the UK’s key distributors, and available to all LBS’s in the country, and extending worldwide as we roll out. What I’m trying to achieve is that fast route to market, volume purchasing, great margins, all in key areas that the big brands aren’t hitting. And if that fails, I’ve got a backup plan of going to sell odd hats and beef jerky.”

Chipps Chippendale

Singletrackworld's Editor At Large

With 22 years as Editor of Singletrack World Magazine, Chipps is the longest-running mountain bike magazine editor in the world. He started in the bike trade in 1990 and became a full time mountain bike journalist at the start of 1994. Over the last 30 years as a bike writer and photographer, he has seen mountain bike culture flourish, strengthen and diversify and bike technology go from rigid steel frames to fully suspended carbon fibre (and sometimes back to rigid steel as well.)

More posts from Chipps

Comments (19)

    So was that it ?????

    strange decision – why leave your own company to work for someone else ?

    its all part of his big beef jerky/global domination plan, I’ll bet ya!!

    strange question justa.

    as it says above On-One has never been “his own copmany” and if you’re a designer and brand marketer then surely the backing of a much bigger company with a large stable of brands would be considered a step up and a challenge?

    This sure will be a challenge. CRC have got loads more customers than On One- how on earth is Brant going to maintain his personal level of service. It’s hard work being obnoxious to that many people!!

    Great stuff, perhaps Brant could show them how to “make their phones available as soon as possible” or answer the emails that I’ve sent them about the returned shoes that I sent them nearly a month ago without any kind of response, being as nobody else there seems to want to!!!!

    “For more details, see the On One Website”

    Can’t see anything news on the site?

    Good luck to the bloke, I for one will miss the slightly vague phone conversations I have had with him 😉

    Well, it said that more would be available on the website when they sent out the press release. You’ll just have to stay tuned to Singletrack then as we have more stories to bring you shortly…

    I blame Zak Tempest.

    Italics are hard to read, so I’ve lost interest now.

    With regard to my earlier comment, CRC have now been in touch and resolved my problem. Apology accepted.

    Presumably he’ll retain a significant share in On-One, and so continue to profit from it.

    Look forward to seeing what he does for CRC.

    He’s ALWAYS answered my emails rapido, and whatever I bought I never felt like I was being ripped off. I hope that continues wherever he goes.

    Good luck Brant.

    Very best of luck to Brant in the new venture.

    It can only mean good things for mountain bikers as he is a talented designer.

    We’re gonna have 2 brands to choose from, not just On-One. Interesting 🙂

    It looks good, the existing on one bikes are great functional designs IME and now Brant will go his own way and introduce some more competition just like dialled and cotic amongst others.

    I think we, the STW populace should be the designer. Just start a new thread everyweek for ideas, you’ll get so many one of them is bound to work!

    I’d like to start off with an 853 456 (people may want to know why you’ve got you’re phone number on the bike?) Also a sliding dropout version of the 456 so it can compete with the chameleon for versitity.

    phyncra what an arsehole you really are.if you was geting that many questions and people to deal with you wouldnt always be on form.i found him helpfull but to the point.good luck to the man and i will be keeping my eye out for the new brand aswell as still using on one.i suppose if the world didnt have arseholes with pathetic comments we wouldnt appreciate the good.phyncra go and ride off a cliff

    Well I hope he either keeps making things like On One do / did or One One do, if you know what I mean. What will i do when I need another frame if one of them doesn’t make 456’s any more.

    What’s the brand called then?
    off One? One two?

    oh yes forgot almost, good luck Brant.
    I’ve always found you perfectly polite BTW

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