thekrds

Last ride 22 Oct · London

Your logo rides with me.

On 9 July I weighed 113.5 kg. I have been riding ever since. There are 16 sponsorship spots on the bike — take one and your brand comes along for the rest of the climb.

Claim a spotRead my story
115
days in
699
kilometres
−14.5
kilos
16
spots open

The unbranded satin grey road bike, viewed from the side

Loading the bike

Drag to turn it. Tap a spot to claim it.

And the winter half of it

The Wahoo KICKR V5 indoor trainer, with every sponsorship spot marked

Loading the trainer

Drag to turn it. Tap a spot to claim it.

How it works

Three steps, and one of them is mine

1
Claim a spot
Pick a placement and pay what it costs today. No auction, no waiting list — your logo goes on the frame and on this page as soon as the payment clears.
2
It rides with me
Every ride, every café stop, every hill I regret. I shoot photographs for a living, so the bike gets photographed properly, and you get the files.
3
Someone can take it
Any spot can be taken over for double what you paid. If that happens your money comes back in full, automatically. Then you can take it back.

Where the money goes

The kit list

Every spot sold pays for something on this list. £14,900 of it is still looking for a sponsor — take the item, or take a spot on the bike and I will tick the next line myself.

The spots

16 placements, none of them taken

Every time a spot changes hands the price doubles and the sponsor before you is refunded in full. The numbers match the markers on the bike above.

#SpotPriceClaim
The frame · from £1,000
1Down Tube£3,000
2Top Tube£2,000
3Head Tube£1,000
4Seat Tube£2,000
The wheels · from £500
5Front Rim£500
6Front Rim£500
7Front Rim£500
8Front Rim£500
9Rear Rim£500
10Rear Rim£500
11Rear Rim£500
12Rear Rim£500
The indoor setup · from £200
1Trainer Leg · Rear£200
2Trainer Leg · Rear£200
3Trainer Leg · Front£200
4Trainer Leg · Front£200

The bike

The bike this pays for

This is what I ride now: a second-hand 2010 Tarmac that has done every kilometre on this page and owes me nothing. It is also sixteen years old, and I am asking more of it than it has left. What you are sponsoring is its replacement — I have not picked it yet, and when I do it goes on the kit list above at the price I actually pay, in public, like everything else here.

Frame
Specialized Tarmac Expert SL, 2010. Carbon, and older than some of the companies that will end up on it.
Chainset
Compact 50/34. I am not fooling anybody about the hills.
Bought
Second-hand, off a man who had stopped riding it. That is the entire acquisition story.
Kilometres
699 of them since 9 July, every one logged on Strava.
Condition
Scratched, and getting more so. It is a bike, not a display case.
Replacement
Not chosen yet. It is on the kit list above, at whatever it actually ends up costing.
The red 2010 Specialized Tarmac leaning against a bench in the park

The bike as it is today, out in the park where most of these kilometres come from.

Who you're sponsoring

Hi — I'm Emre

I'm a software engineer in London, and a part-time professional photographer. Both jobs have exactly the same posture: sitting still, staring at something bright.

On 9 July I stood on a scale and it read 113.5 kg. I had known for a while. Seeing it written down is different.

So I bought a bike. Since then: 54 rides, 699 km and 37 hours, almost all of it around London, almost all of it in the weather London is famous for. I’m 14.5 kg lighter. Nothing dramatic happened. I just stopped negotiating with myself every morning.

Here is the part I’m less comfortable admitting: I know myself, and I know motivation runs out somewhere around week fourteen. So I’m doing the one thing that has always worked on me — making it public, and making it cost something to stop. Your logo on my frame is a receipt. It means somebody is watching.

Emre, in a jacket and sunglasses, on a pavement in the sun

Progress

Two months, in two charts

Every weight is a reading off the same scale and every kilometre is a ride imported from Strava. Nothing is smoothed and nothing is left out — if a week looks bad, it is because it was.

Weight

113.5 → −14.5 kg

Kilometres each week

699 km total

Latest rides

8 of 54

  • 22 OctMyWhoosh - Arctic Trail6.5 km15m30 m
  • 21 OctMyWhoosh - Silent Dunes15.3 km39m81 m
  • 16 OctMyWhoosh - San Francisco Spin10.4 km26m66 m
  • 15 OctMyWhoosh - King's Way14.0 km35m53 m
  • 13 OctMyWhoosh - Al Wathba-S6.7 km17m8 m
  • 12 OctMyWhoosh - Old Town Sprint8.7 km24m22 m
  • 11 OctMyWhoosh - Yas Marina Circuit5.5 km13m14 m
  • 3 OctMorning Ride10.0 km25m41 m

Emre Kardaş

Strava · every ride, unedited

Follow on Strava
699
km ridden since 9 July
54
rides, every one on Strava
2,958
metres climbed the hard way
−14.5
kilos, and still going
23,839
calories burned getting there

Latest · 22 Oct — MyWhoosh - Arctic Trail, 6.5 km in 15m, 30 m climbed

Nutrition

The quiet support behind the progress

Elif İncetahtacı | Bitki Bazlı Beslenen Diyetisyen

dyt.elifincetahtaci745 followers · 594 following

🔗 linktr.ee/elifincetahtaci

Elif İncetahtacı | Bitki Bazlı Beslenen Diyetisyen

🌱 Bitki Bazlı | Sürdürülebilir Beslenme

💻 Online Beslenme Danışmanlığı

🎓 @yeditepeuniversitesi '23 (BSc)

🇬🇧 Human Nutrition (MSc) @yourstmarys '25

The media plan

Where your logo actually goes

I can't promise you impressions, clicks or ROI, and I would not believe anyone in my position who did. What I can do is tell you exactly where your logo shows up — in order of how certain I am about it.

On this page
Your logo and your link, live the moment the payment clears and there for as long as this page exists. This is the part I control completely, so it is the part I promise.
On Strava
Every ride is public and unedited, linked from here. You never have to take my word for a number — the profile is right above this.
On the new frame
Die-cut vinyl, cut and fitted for race day. Until then your logo lives digitally, which is the honest version: I am not putting a decal on a bike I am about to replace, and you would not want me to.

FAQ

Questions a reasonable person would ask

Is this a real thing?
Yes. Real bike, real vinyl, real me. Every kilometre on this page comes straight out of Strava, so the numbers only move when I actually ride.
What do I actually get?
A linked listing on this page for as long as it exists, your logo in the photographs I publish here and on Instagram, and die-cut vinyl on your spot on the frame when I race.
You do not even have the new bike yet.
Correct, and I am not going to pretend otherwise. The bike is the top line of the kit list, and it gets bought with this money — that is the whole point. What you buy today is a spot at today's price, listed publicly from the moment you pay. The vinyl goes on the frame I race, once there is one.
How does the price work?
Every spot opens at a fixed price. After that the only way to get it is to pay double what the current holder paid — and they get every penny back. Then it doubles again for whoever comes next.
What if someone takes my spot?
You are refunded in full, automatically, and I email you who took it. You can take it straight back at double, as many times as you like. Change your mind before anyone takes it and I refund you minus the card fee Stripe charged me.
Can I put anything on the bike?
I keep the final say on artwork. If it would embarrass me at a group ride, in front of my mother, or in a police report, it is a no.
How do I pay?
By card, through Stripe. Pick a spot, put in your brand name and pay. The spot goes live the moment the payment clears, and I email you for the artwork straight after.
When does the vinyl actually go on?
On race day, on the bike I race. Two reasons, both honest: the new bike is not bought yet, and a spot can change hands at any time — cutting a fresh decal every time one does would be silly. Between now and then your logo is on this page and in every photograph, which is the part that never comes off.
What if you stop riding?
You would see it before I admitted it — the numbers here come from Strava on their own. If I stop for good, everyone gets refunded.
Can I support you without a logo?
Yes, and it means more than you would think. Email me at [email protected]. You get a thank-you on this page and a genuinely delighted reply.

Still open

16 spots still open. The down tube is the good one

Something is going to end up on this frame. It might as well be the brand that got there first, at the price nobody has doubled yet.

Claim a spot