Club cycling’s entering a new era—one where you no longer need to join a 100+ member club to feel part of something. Anyone with the drive and the want is better placed than ever to start their own union. Over the course of a year, I hatched a plan, invited some mates, and launched OCTÄVE in late 2017.
The name was inspired by French professional cyclist Octave Lapize—three-time winner of Paris-Roubaix, three-time French national champion, and one-time Tour de France winner—who later died in WWI after being shot down in the French air force. His first name—adapted with an umlaut over the “a” to make it ours—was never meant as an homage. For us, it meant different things: some with a musical background leaned into the tonal reference, others saw a nod to German design, and those into cyclocross liked the legend of Lapize being the first to shoulder a bike and run. Ultimately though, it was just a name—no backstory, no symbolism—something we could make our own.
I worked closely with our kit manufacturers to finalise the design, with each garment including a hidden detail unique to each rider, marking the very first batch of team kit. We were also lucky enough to collaborate with Stayer on some team-issue wheels that combined the best of both brands visually, along with a one-off prototype team bike that raced at the European Single Speed Champs in 2018.
Photography by David Morgan and Calvin Chung.