Here at BikeRadar, we’re absolute suckers for a bit of old school goodness and the recently announced neo-retro styled Kepler Flash, from Brother Cycles, is the latest throwback bike to catch our eye.
Read on to transport yourself back to a more humble time of toe straps, thumbies and neon colours...
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The Kepler is Brother's “all-purpose adventure frame,” which is equally at home on the pavement as it is getting a little rowdy off-road, with full rack mounts, mudguard eyelets and clearance for tyres up to 42mm wide,
Brother has previously offered the frameset in a number of memorably jazzy paint jobs, but the newly announced Kepler Flash is our favourite yet.
We absolutely adore the retro styled, purple fade paint job and font — which looks like it was taken straight from a vintage Casio calculator — used on the Flash. This is what the eighties thought the future of cycling was going to look like!
To celebrate the launch of the bike, Brother has also produced a run of throwback posters which the brand hopes are something like those “that you would have hung on your wall as a teenager” in years gone by.
We think Brother has hit the nail on the head with the poster and the amazingly cheesy, studio-lit poster is a cacophony of nineties cycling motifs — between the Pit Viper shades, retro AXO shoes and thumb shifters, we don’t know where to start!
The posters are available in limited numbers from any Brother Cycles dealer and will be available for purchase on the site soon.
The special edition build, which Brother commissioned to show off the new frameset, was put together by Cycle PS, based in Camberwell, South London.
Although the Kepler is optimised for drop bars, Cycle PS has opted for a flat bar build here and we love the look of this rowdy, 700c shredder.
Coming in at approximately £1,400 as pictured, the bike features a 1x11 Campagnolo Veloce drivetrain, Paul Components Neo-Retro cantilever brakes and tan wall (naturally) Challenge Limus tyres.
Constructed from double-butted 4130 tubing, the frame is claimed to weigh in at 2.1kg for a 54cm with the fork coming in at 900g.
Brother also offers the Kepler for disc brakes and the Kepler Disc SE — a throwback to the original Kepler Fade from a few years back — will be available to order shortly.
If you fancy something a little more subtly toned, Brother Cycles is also offering both the rim and disc brake versions of the Kepler in plain ol’ ‘stealth black’.
The Kepler Flash frameset is available for order now via the Brother Cycles website and comes in at £439. Curiously, those ordering outside of the EU will pay slightly less at £399.17 (approx $497, AU$647).
What do you think of the Kepler Flash's retro styling? Does this remind you of any bikes from your youth? Leave your thoughts in the comments below.
