Hi There! I am Rahul. I fell in love with bikes as a child and discovered endurance riding in my thirties. Along with the brevets and the long tours, I was also taking interest in the technical side of things, slowly getting bewitched by the lore of steel bikes. After a bit of research on tube diameters, wall thicknesses and geometry, I commissioned a custom bike of my own design from Aurovelo (Sukrit @ Aurovelo, makes kick-ass custom bikes!) I did a lot of brevets and a cross country (K2K) ride with this bike. It was far superior in comfort over the other bikes I've taken on long rides.

The twist in the plot happens in 2023, when I was diagnosed with a nerve compression issue at the back, some breathing trouble and a slipped disc. This means saying 'bye' to ultra rides. This was a huge blow! To take out the frustration of not being able to do what I loved, I rented out a place, got some steel tubes and a brazing setup to experiment with filet brazing and frame building. The journey has gathered pace and has reached a point where I'd love my friends and like minded folks to experience the joys of long rides - on my kind of steel bikes. Project Friend by VELOPILGRIM is exactly that!