How a Female-Founded Canberra Brand Is Reshaping What a Bike Brand Can Look Like
Not long ago, someone sent Chloe Hosking a message of a vibrant two-tone blue Hosking bike outside a coffee shop in Sydney. No words were needed. As the saying goes, a picture is worth more than a thousand words.
When you start a bike company from your home in Canberra, seeing your bikes appear in the wild, ridden by people you have never met, becomes a quiet but powerful moment.
Those sightings are happening more often. A Hosking rolling into a café bunch. A flash of Purple Marble on a Saturday loop. Bit by bit, Hosking Bikes is making its presence known across Australia. Not through hype, volume or aggressive marketing, but through the simple truth that riders are choosing a bike that feels considered, honest and built for them.
For Chloe, this has always been the purpose. After thirteen years racing professionally, she saw how many riders were overlooked by the traditional cycling industry. She saw women on frames that did not fit, juniors riding equipment that was never designed for them, and countless people who wanted to start riding but felt intimidated or unsupported.
Hosking Bikes was created to meet those people where they are and invite them into the sport with confidence.
“I didn’t set out to create a boutique brand,” Chloe says. “I set out to remove the barriers that stop people, especially women, from starting.”
From home-built beginnings to a growing community
Hosking Bikes began in 2023 with a clear belief. High-quality bikes should be accessible, thoughtfully designed and built around the needs of everyday riders.
Many brands prioritise elite geometry, stiff racing frames and high price points because that is the traditional formula. Chloe wanted to build something different, something grounded in lived experience and shaped by the kinds of riders who make up most of the cycling community.
Frames are manufactured by trusted partners, but the bikes themselves are assembled by hand in Canberra. Each rider receives personalised sizing support, often in direct conversation with Chloe or Jack. Every bike has a human story behind it.
The brand has grown naturally and steadily, carried forward by riders sharing their experiences, recommending the bikes to friends and supporting the ethos behind the company. It has never chased fast growth. It has simply focused on doing things well.
Value for money that actually means something
One of the defining features of Hosking Bikes is the ability to deliver quality and performance without an overwhelming price tag.
The brand’s value-for-money proposition is not about being the cheapest option. It is about offering thoughtful design, reliable components and real performance at a price that respects the realities of riders entering or returning to the sport.
Riders often say they chose Hosking because they felt they were getting a bike that was built for them, backed by people they could talk to, at a price that made sense.
Finding a place in an industry that was not built for people like us
The cycling industry is dominated by legacy brands with enormous marketing budgets and long histories. Hosking Bikes sits outside that world.
“We are not small anymore, but we are not trying to be massive,” Chloe says. “We are figuring out what it means to be a female-founded, community-driven brand in an industry that did not consider that perspective for a very long time.”
Designed from lived experience, not industry trends
Hosking Bikes offers sizes that truly work for smaller riders, crank lengths down to 160 millimetres and geometry that balances comfort and performance.
“We design from the rider up,” Chloe says. “What does this person need to feel confident and capable on the bike?”
A community that grows through shared stories
Hosking Bikes has not grown because of advertising campaigns or industry hype. It has grown because riders share their stories.
Growing with intention, not pressure
“Some days it feels like sprinting just to stay in place,” Chloe says. “But every message from a rider on a Hosking makes it worth it.”
A brand built with intention and built to last
Hosking Bikes is not trying to be everything to everyone. It is becoming exactly what it set out to be.
“We are not chasing hype,” Chloe says. “We are chasing impact.”
The sightings out on the road are only the beginning.
