Pole Bicycles founder Leo Kokkonen announced on Instagram today that the Finland-based brand is selling off “museum stock” to help fund its return. Pole filed for bankruptcy in April 2024, and this year Kokkonen said he had “acquired certain assets of Pole Bicycle Company Oy.”
Pole was started by Kokkonen and Patric Palonen in 2013 with the idea of producing a DH bike that could pedal uphill like an XC bike. The brand found early success in 2014 with Kokkonen winning the Master’s category at the Finnish National DH Championship race that year. In 2017, the company scrapped plans to deliver a carbon fiber frame, and embraced aluminum alloy. The brand later developed a process to create bike frames from a solid block of 7075 T6 aluminum that is CNC’d and then bonded together.
Like many bike brands, Pole faced challenges recently and filed for bankruptcy in April 2024. “Although we started the year on the back foot, we soon faced further challenges: two of our CNC machines broke down, and the Finnish logistics industry went on a month-long strike, draining our cash reserves. At the same time, we were negotiating for funding and a potential business acquisition, but unfortunately, we didn’t succeed and had to file for bankruptcy in April.”
Museum pieces up for sale include prototype and unreleased bikes
“Our first step of financing our new growth is to sell all our museum and prototype frames for collectors and enthusiasts,” reads a message on the Pole website. “It’s a hard pill to swallow, but we need to look into the future.”
In a video posted to Instagram, Kokkonen talks about some of the bikes available for sale, including an unreleased bike that’s basically a hybrid of Pole’s Onni and Sonni bikes. There’s also a prototype Evolink 110 frame on sale for $712 that looks extremely polished for such an early version.
“Our goal is to relaunch the brand fully step by step,” the brand writes. “We are set up to make spare parts and later we start making frames.”
Current Pole owners will surely be relieved to know that spare parts could be coming soon, though Pole makes it clear that, legally speaking, Pole Bicycle Company Oy is still under receivership.
“For inquiries regarding debts owed to Pole Bicycle Company Oy or unreceived products, please contact the appointed receiver.”
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