Photo: Eoin Holland Photography - www.eoinholland.com

Enjoying huge success since since starting up seven years ago, Funked Up Custom Bikes are as creative as they are unique. Founder Olaf O’Moore talks about his passion for cycling – and music. Offering stylish, high-quality bikes custom built to your own personal tastes, Funked Up Custom Bikes are as far away from mass production as you’re likely to get. “Custom Bikes was set up in the New Markets area of the Liberties around the time that the whole ‘fixie craze’ was taking off,” says founder Olaf O’Moore. “Everyone was talking about trying to build their own unique bikes and getting all the custom pieces for it, so myself and my co-founder Andrew Casey decided to do Funked Up. People can go onto our website and customise their bikes for themselves.” Olaf says his drive to succeed was maintained by his displeasure with city traffic jams. “My passion lies in engineering and urban development,” he tells us. “I just hated being faced with constant gridlock every day in Dublin, and realised that cars weren’t the solution. Another side of my passion is quality of product. I can’t stand obsolescence – this idea that you buy something to be disposable in two years. I like when people buy things that they know are going to last long-term.” Funked Up’s name comes from Olaf and the aforementioned Casey, who were both huge funk fans in their youth. “We were both in a funk band together as teenagers,” Olaf explains. “The name was a nod to the ’70s music that inspired us. That’s also the case with the bikes themselves; the colours are loud and poppy, like the artwork of the day. The bikes also have names likes ‘Daft Funk’, ‘Purple Rain’ and ‘Give Up The Funk’. We want to give people something they won’t get anywhere else.”

75 Francis Street, D8 | funkedup.com | Tel: (01) 531 2932