We’ve just been digitally and physically hacked

An initial trigger – spoiler: we’ve discovered a copy of our basket – and a rare lull in my to-do list has decided me to take some time out to write this afternoon. I want to give you more material to understand what Manivelle is all about. And as I begin to write the lines below, I’m not yet aware of an event that will intervene two days later: our Instagram account being hacked. These two colliding stories, a hack in real life and then in digital life, forced us to take a step back. A few days later, we decided to change our predominant feeling: from emptiness (8 years of content and community deleted in two clicks) to resilience (we continue to exist, our identity and community are not measured by subscriber numbers). This article tells the story of these last few days and the reflections they have opened up. Thank you to those who are motivated to read it, you’re entering the confidence 🙂

“A few weeks ago, on instagram, Thomas came across a reel from bikes tunadas, a Brazilian account presenting its first product: a bicycle basket. When Thomas showed me the video, I felt like I was in a disturbing dream, one where everything was close to reality, just a little distorted, a little fake. This basket is a complete copy of ours.

This account seems to be managed by a single person, claiming a rather alternative approach and far from the bike industry. So our immediate reaction, after a brief state of shock, is one of irritation and incomprehension. Why does a little ant from the bike world run over another ant, energetically making its way among the giants? If it’s about stealing, why not at least do it to those who have too much? We weren’t sure how to react, how to get in touch with this person. Thomas was talking about it last weekend with Marie and Laurent, friends and co-founders of Avalanche, a brand of ingenious handmade bikes in Montreuil. Marie, strong as she is, decided to put a comment under the real thing (thanks <3). You can find the ensuing exchange below.

As I discuss this exchange around me, I realize that there’s more to it than just copying a product. Bike tunadas begins by confirming that they were inspired by our basket because it’s cheaper and easier to do it that way. Okay, at least that’s clear.

Then comes a completely different subject: he says he lives in a third-world country, and that he built this project from scratch, with no money, no investors. And I quote “without any resources such as a brand like Manivelle might have”.

The rest is more concrete: it costs too much to import a European product to Brazil, so he decides to manufacture the same product in Brazil, to make it affordable.

I won’t go into the rest of the exchange – apart that it made me sick to my stomach to see the hatred Marie received in return for her question.

After a night of sleeping on it, I think I could almost agree with him on the subject of accessibility (except that he still wants to sell his basket all over the world, so making it all about accessibility is pretty dishonest). We designed the Manivelle basket to be as simple and inexpensive as possible for our former industrial partner Caddie to produce. Its design is drawn from industrial history, existing tools and machines, and discussions with David, Christophe and the Caddie teams. In fact, it hurts to see our design copied, because it’s linked to human stories that no longer exist today, following the closure of Caddie.

It took us a while to realize that it was okay to entrust production to an EU company with the same know-how as Caddie. We lost our original idea of producing locally, reinterpreting the craft and industrial skills present around us. But we also kept one that would otherwise no longer exist, and which we felt was beautiful enough to continue. Racks made in Europe, sustainable and affordable.

But the subject that doesn’t get across is what our company can reflect. When Thomas and I set up Manivelle in 2018, we were just out of college and it was the beers served all night after the day’s work in the workshop, then the RSA, that enabled us to develop Manivelle without paying ourselves a salary from the business for quite a while. When we contact Caddie to propose working together, it’s by calling the switchboard and crossing our fingers that we manage to negotiate a factory visit. When we launch the first series of baskets in 2020, we’re counting the cost of our salaries. There’s no pathos here – we’re still privileged, insofar as we felt sufficiently supported by our entourage to think of creating our brand, and the French system was still a little supportive at the time. Quite simply, our brand was also born from scratch, with no investors or public funding.

Today, we’re delighted to have succeeded in structuring our business, making it sustainable and visible. The two of us, along with Thomas, still take all the decisions in our adventure. If our equipment is now known and sold all over the world, it’s only because of our work. And we’re so grateful for your trust and enthusiasm. We’re not shaking in our boots about the copied basket, because we know our value and our basket has nothing left to prove.

We’re an ant who’s built up quite an ecosystem, enough to make clay-footed colossi tremble. If we make a short list, you’ll find around us :

• Isaure with us in the workshop every day, working on bespoked bags
• the team at Libre Objet, a social workshop in Strasbourg, responsible for sewing our ready made bags and preparing all your orders.
• our European manufacturing partner for steel racks
• our industrial partner in the Vosges, which manufactures our stainless steel baskets
• raw material manufacturers, local machinists, postal services, our graphic designer, our place Les Ateliers Éclairés
• all the independent shops we work with that make our work visible
• everyone who buys a Manivelle piece of equipment and uses it on the street, tells a friend or family member about it, shares a photo on the socials

People often misunderstand our scale. We take it as a compliment if the energy we put into being professional reflects that. But we don’t want to be dehumanized!

The hacking of our Instagram account has added a powerful sense of injustice and fragility. How can 8 years of photos, shares, threads and mentions be gone in just two clicks? This network will definitely no longer be a priority for us. We’ll continue to use it to happily share our work, to spontaneously exchange with you, but feeling less dependent on this tool. And in fact, it feels really good! “

Article written by Silvin, between 28.04.26 and 04.04.26

If you would like to share this article, it will be received as a big hand on the back to help us in this new climb!

You can also follow our instagram, temporary or permanent if we don’t get the old one back: @cyclesmanivelle_reload. Thanks 🙂