WEAPON X

‘Soma’ is in fact a hip-and-happening district in the San Francisco Bay area – akin to Joburg’s Maboneng District, or Woodstock in Cape Town – and it’s the perfect environment for creating the type of bike that’s not for racers, but for ‘everyday’ riders looking to venture beyond the stopwatch.

Wolverines are hand-welded in Taiwan, using hi-tech Japanese steel: Tange Prestige heat-treated double-butted tubes for the front triangle, and Tange Infinity tubes for the rear end and lugged flat- crown fork. Malan was drawn to the Wolverine’s versatility, meaning its potential for being turned into anything you want it to be.

The real spice is in the rear end, where split seat-stays make it compatible with the Gates Belt Drive, and sliding rear dropouts allow for single-speed conversion. The Wolverine is available in seven sizes (because steel), with Malan’s being a 52cm, painted Pumpkin Orange.