We’ve always had one mission: getting people outside. Eighty years ago, we did that by making it easier for people to practice outdoor sports and transport their gear by car. Today, and especially since the 2020 pandemic, there is a growing desire to blur the lines between urban and outdoors, inside and outside, and bring short adventures into everyday life. What could be better than a bike to achieve that?  

Being stuck in traffic or underground in a crowded subway is nobody’s definition of a good time. For some people, the time they spend on their bikes is the only fresh air they get and, sometimes, their only opportunity to be alone with their thoughts.  

As we better understand what constitutes a healthy life, more people opt for a biking commute rather than a drive or public transport. As a result, cities are increasingly transforming themselves to allow more bike-friendly circulation. Taking inspiration from their Nordic counterparts, cities such as Paris and London are investing significantly in new bike lane systems and shared-bike technologies.  

Today, with the right gear, there are very few reasons why you wouldn’t use your bike for every trip, short or long. Investing in your bike lifestyle allows you to go further and for longer than ever. With specialized travel cases like Thule Roundtrip and bike racks such as Thule Epos, you can now easily and comfortably bring your bike on long-distance travels (even on planes!) and explore the most remote places. Your commute, your bike trip through the mountain, your downhill bike race, your bike stroll with your children—Thule aims to be the connector between people, their bikes, and the rest of the world. 

Undeniably, bikes are a great mode of transportation. But for some of us, the bike has a spirit of its ow, a creative medium to face our limits and sometimes play with life and death. Emil Johansson is one of those people. At 24, the Swedish slopestyle rider makes history at each competition he takes part in. Witnessing him in action, you find yourself staring at the sky, quoting classic movie lines: “Is it a bird? Is it a plane?” Or more of a helicopter? No, it is Emil Johansson in full flight, rewriting the rules of his discipline with spectacular figures and tricks that leave his audience’s jaws on the floor.  

When I'm on my bike, I'm truly at peace. I'm in my creative zone. I feel invincible. 
Emil Johansson 

The best place to experience it is at a Crankworx event. Crankworx is a global Mountain Biking festival with four yearly gatherings starting in Whistler, BC, then Rotorua, New Zealand, Cairns, Australia, and Innsbruck, Austria. Crankworx has been called the “Superbowl of Mountain Biking” and gathers bike lovers from every horizon and every level. Thule is one of the event’s main sponsors, and we also host the entire Slopestyle competition.  

For three days, come rain or shine, biking fans and athletes, including many Thule ambassadors such as Emil Johansson, the legendary Martin Söderström, and Downhill icon Eliot Jackson, get muddy, get inspired, and get creative. A perfect example was when, in 2023, we launched You Inspire Us, a podcast by Thule hosted by Eliot Jackson. With a first edition all about biking, Eliot interviewed fellow Thule ambassadors Mylo Fowler, Martin Söderström, and Tomomi Nishikubo in front of a live audience.  

Crankworx is a celebration of all that biking has to offer. Camaraderie, passion, and unfiltered joy is what the event will be remembered for. The scenic mountain town of Innsbruck becomes a fertile ground for new friendships, partnerships, records, and all-around fun. From the amateur spectator to the flying slopestyle champion, the biking community is one, and it is rarely as obvious as at Crankworx. 

The beauty of biking resides in its people. Passion for the sport but equally for the culture around it is palpable through many social projects and charities that have emerged from the community. 

Take Thule ambassadors Mylo Fowler and Eliot Jackson, for example. They are two of the most inspiring people we know, and it is through riding bikes that they have found their way towards activism. Eliot Jackson’s Grow Cycling Foundation focuses on increasing diversity and inclusion in cycling through education, opportunity, community, and access. Mylo Fowler is a National Geographic photographer and Navajo community organizer. In 2022, he went on a 400-mile (approximately 644 km) bike trek in five days to raise 50 thousand dollars and bring electric power to Native American communities.  

A bike is not just a bike. It is a human-powered transport to your dream.
Grow Cycling Foundation  

We chose our ambassadors for their personality and impact just as much as their professional and athletic achievements. This is also what we love about the biking world. For us, it is as important to shine a light on the grassroots movements within biking as to focus on the achievements of champions. Biking’s true power is its potential to be a vehicle for change.  

Finally, we can’t overpass the bonding that occurs when people ride together. Between friends, lovers, and family, biking together creates memories that remain in our bodies and our brains. Sharing a ride with your children safely sitting in their bike seats, introducing them to their environment in the same way you experience it, is potentially one of the purest forms of joy.  

Biking encompasses everything Thule believes in. Urban and wild, for the daily commuter and the athlete, connecting people across cultures and generations and conducive to a more sustainable way of living. We “are” are biking. 

And this is why we ride.