155, New name for long travel 29er project

New name '155'

The development project that I've been working on under the name of Vortex is changing from now onwards to '155'. The new name comes simply from the rear suspension travel in millimeters. 

Why change?
This is where things start to get slightly complex! In the past when deciding on a name I've simply thought of something that sounds good to me and fits in with my project in some way, then done a quick google search to see if there is someone else using the name for something similar, if not  I've gone with that name. This approach has been fine up until now and Trademarking hadn't even entered my thoughts....

Turns out that the Vortex name has been used by another brand for a bike related product, on top of that that brand has taken the precaution to Trademark the name. This gives them the right to legally try to stop others using the same name for a similar product.  So it's pretty clear, I needed to find another name! 

Easy, just think of something else? Yes and no..... I spent well over a week thinking about new names (we had something like 500 suggestions through comments on my social media posts Cheers everyone!) and came up with a list of 10 or so great ones. I checked them all for trademarks  and narrowed down to just a couple of options. But how do I stop this problem arising again? Well, I could take out a trademark to protect my new name right? This costs money to do and if someone else started using my name I couldn't afford to actually defend my trademark!  So trademarking for me seems pointless, but what if someone comes along and trademarks my new name after I've been using it for a while?

In this case I would have some rights as long as I have proof of prior use.  Exactly how it would play out if they decided to try to stop me using the name is unclear and I'd imagine would get complicated and stressful very quickly!  

All this is a lot of fuss and worry for a one man band who's only really interested in manufacturing great frames. So I'm cutting it out completely by taking a simple and obvious approach to naming my full suspension frames. From now onwards, they'll simply be designated their rear travel number as the name. I'm also going to be officially recording these names on my site (and I guess this blog post!) as unregistered trade marks... So '155' and also 'onefivefive' will be my unregistered trademarks for this frame from this date onwards.

All this makes me realise why so many brands use numbering systems to name their products!

Swarf Cycles 155
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155mm travel 29er frame
63.5 degree head angle
77 degree seat angle
160mm fork travel
​Coming soon! ​