Pole Bicycles returns: Leo Kokkonen on CNC'd bike frames, bankruptcy lessons, and eMTB prototype

<p>Leo Kokkonen is the founder of Pole Bicycles, a boutique mountain bike brand based in Finland that&#39;s known for its innovative design and construction techniques. Founded in 2013, the brand was forced to file for bankruptcy in 2024, but now they&#39;re back with a brand new prototype and a desire to continue pushing the envelope.</p><ul><li>Why start a bike company in 2013? What did you want to do that wasn&#39;t already being done</li><li>How did the mountain bike community react to your geometry ideas back then?</li><li>In 2017, you were planning to produce a carbon fiber bike. But then you decided not to. Why</li><li>How did you come up with your process for machining frames out of aluminum?</li><li>What are the advantages of designing and manufacturing bikes in Finland? What are the challenges?</li><li>What are the MTB trails like in your area of Finland?</li><li>Tell us about the challenges Pole faced that ultimately led to bankruptcy. What happened? What did you learn?</li><li>What can you tell us about the latest prototype you&#39;re working on?</li><li>How has your production method changed?</li><li>What&#39;s next for Pole?</li></ul><p>Visit <a href="https://polebicycles.com/">polebicycles.com</a> online and follow @polebicycles on Instagram to see the bikes and to keep up with the brand.</p><p>An automated transcript will be available at Singletracks.com later today.</p><p>Follow Singletracks on Instagram ⁠⁠⁠@singletracks⁠⁠⁠ to keep up with the latest mountain bike news.</p>