Guava Bikes - Freedom Machines

Words by James Ion - Photography provided by Guava Bikes

When Guava Bikes officially launched in March 2023, it wasn’t announcing itself with megaphones. Instead, it quietly positioned itself atop the foothills of Collserola, in Barcelona, operating from a low-slung clubhouse by coffee bars and gravel trails. That modest venue would soon evolve into a symbol for something greater: a new kind of bike brand that marries playfulness with serious craftsmanship. Guava’s foundational truth? Build “freedom machines” grounded in local spirit, but with global ambition.

At the heart of that vision is co-founder David Álvarez, a Seattle native who is now deeply rooted in Catalan culture. His relaxed demeanour welcomes you in as he reclines on the leather sofa in the brand's main showroom in Barcelona. David has worked in bicycle distribution, product development, and operations across continents, including Asia, Europe, and the Americas.

He jokes that gravel bikes were the inevitable intersection of his passions. “We’ve been working in the sector almost my whole career,” he reflects in our interview. “The plan was always there to launch a bike company, and I think COVID delayed us a little bit. But, you know, when we moved here, we set that into motion.”

“We’re very serious about the product and about cycling,” he said, pausing just long enough to smile, “but we also want to have fun doing these things.” David Álvarez

Gregarious and thoughtful, David embodies the brand’s tone: serious about the ride, but never too wrapped up in buzzwords. “We’re very serious about the product and about cycling,” he said, pausing just long enough to smile, “but we also want to have fun doing these things.” That philosophy is echoed in Guava’s tagline: “Freedom Machines made in Barcelona”, and steers nearly every strategic decision, from marketing copy to supply chain design.

Guava’s story starts with bike industry veterans: David Álvarez and Nacho Suárez, an industrial engineer and former enduro racer from Barcelona. Though they had worked together in the industry for years, it wasn’t until the post-COVID gravel renaissance that they were struck with inspiration.

“Our roots come from seeing a super diverse community of riders, road, mountain, gravel, circling Barcelona’s trails,” David tells me. “We wanted something made here, by people who ride here, for a community that loved it.” They’re joined in this mission by Bojan Krkić, the former FC Barcelona striker-turned-passionate gravel rider, who became both co-founder and brand ambassador. Bojan’s celebrity lifted Guava into a spotlight that few startups achieve so quickly, thanks in part to backing from NSN Ventures, co-founded by Andrés Iniesta, another Barça legend.

The synergy is palpable. David covers product and strategy; Nacho ensures every bike is engineered and assembled with intent; and Bojan brings spotlight and spirit. As one recent piece noted, having Bojan and Iniesta involved “put their weight behind Guava Bikes” and gave the startup credibility on top of what a strong product was already generating.

“You choose the colour of the base colour and the logo, there are about 100 possible combinations,” David tells me, describing the bike personalisation process. 

Frames are produced in Asia using proprietary moulds, then painted and assembled by hand in Barcelona. Each bike is built to order and shipped in roughly three weeks.

“When you go to an event and there’s a bunch of Guavas, there’s all different colours.”

“That’s just part of our strategy, something we can offer that I don’t think anyone else can offer right now,” he confirms, “When you go to an event and there’s a bunch of Guavas, there’s all different colours.”

“Frame design, painting, and final assembly happen back in Barcelona,” and customers can even demo before purchasing. This isn’t typical for direct-to-consumer models. It blends the benefits of a small brand, personality, and customisation, with the convenience of buying online.

Guava avoids the buzzword bingo that often marks cycling marketing: aero percentages, max stiffness numbers, gram-by-gram boasts. “You won’t see us bragging each year about a few grams less weight or a 1% more stiffness,” said David, smiling. Rather, the brand pivots on experience, on the smiles, the community, the stories. “We want to have fun working and have fun cycling,”.

It’s reflected in their “freedom machine” verbiage, their test-before-you-buy policy, and their commitment to creating inclusive space. On its website, Guava describes itself as bringing together people from all cycling backgrounds. Whether riding technical gravel, sweet-talking a road climb, or simply pedalling for fellowship, the only requirement is a willingness to smile.

And, yes, Guava is a small operation, especially when compared with global powerhouses like Specialized, Trek, or Cannondale. But that’s a feature, not a hindrance. The brand’s ethos has worked better than expected, with David reporting that Guava will double its 2025 sales. “We launched right when the market completely crashed. Some friends’ companies closed. We’ve managed to ride that out,” he says, referring to what has been described as the worst slump in riding-industry history. Their lean structure meant they could continue the marketing that was cut from bigger players. They stayed visible, and it paid off.

Guava’s signature gravel bike, the Spot, reflects the ethos in its design and ambition. A clean carbon frame with geometry that leans slightly playful but not gimmicky, calculated tire clearance of 45mm, internal storage for tools, and multiple mounting points for bags and racks.

“We try to make something for everybody, a bike that can be raced at the highest level but also just ridden with your mates,” David explained.

Pricing reflects that: about €2,950 for the GRX-base spec and approx. €5,300 for the top-tier SRAM Force AXS build; assembled-to-order, customised, and still under typical offerings with equivalent specs. “Bike looks really good, rides really, really well, and has good value for what it is,” states one favourable review.

Rider-based feedback and press reviews underline that sense. Cycling News described the Spot as a “good-value, well-specced bike,” while Cycling Weekly highlighted its ability to straddle road and gravel terrains with confidence and joy. The guiding question Guava seems to ask: If you love gravel and want one bike that can do it all: fun, touring, racing, why pay a lot more?

Their racing ambitions are real, too. Benjamin Perry, Canada’s National Gravel Champion, rides a custom Guava Spot through the Gravel Earth Series. “He’s a real deal,” said David. “We stepped up to a full program as sponsors. He’s leading the series, and we gave him special paint, special jerseys; it feels like family.” (Perry was leading the series at the time of writing, but has now dropped down, but is still in the fight for the overall)

Perry found his ride through the shop, almost by serendipity: “His team folded, he walked in, and we started talking.” It’s gritty and genuine, not a sponsorship by spreadsheets.

Perry will be representing the Guava brand at this year's Badlands where several Guava bikes and riders will be put to the test, including one of the co-founders.

About a year after launch, Guava expanded with a second storefront in Girona, both geographic and symbolic. Girona is the epicentre of Europe’s cycling tourism, locals, pros, hobbyists, café jaunts, and multi-day tours. It makes sense: riders descended on the old-town shop from the U.S., Australia, the Netherlands, every day. For many, sending a bike home with them became part of the trip.

That physical presence gives Guava the upper hand. Spain is a hotspot for gravel tourism, but it’s one thing to read about a brand; it’s another to ride it. Their Girona shop reinforced Guava’s brand DNA: inclusive, borderline spontaneous, community-first.

By late 2024, they celebrated their hundredth bike sold, impressive for a boutique brand in under two years. Word-of-mouth, born in group rides and espresso-spiked conversations, became their most potent marketing tool. That’s not a PR claim, but a strategic choice backed by behavioural science: community + experience = deeper customer loyalty than top-down ads.

Guava’s ambitions are measured but fervent. David shared that the brand is scouting new markets and expanding its distribution in the UK and Ireland. They don’t want to cannibalise the boutique Aura; rather, as David puts it, they want “Guava to come to mind when anyone thinks of a gravel bike, that would be a big milestone.” They will continue to grow, but remain small enough to stay nimble and true; new paint collaborations, a more aggressive race geometry, maybe a second model, but always rooted in the fun-first ethos.

David consciously chooses stewardship over scale. When asked about long-term goals, he smiles: “We want to build something that people like. Something we can earn a living from. I’m not getting any younger, so I can’t be doing this for 30 years, but for a good 10 years, let’s build a global brand that stays small but mighty.”

There are challenges. That personal touch—the clubhouse hangouts, test-rides, Bojan riding with locals, it’s hard to replicate at scale. If Guava grows tenfold, will it still feel like it does when a handful of cyclists grabbed a beer with David on the terrace? Scaling a community without losing its soul is a delicate task. And competition from both giants and fellow startups is fierce, carbon gravel bikes are everywhere these days.

But Guava has something many brands pay for and few earn: culture-carrying intention. They brought a superstar athlete into the mix, but he rides the trails alongside fans, not above them. They built a workshop showroom, not a boiler-room factory. They chose to appear in Girona’s dusty roads with guests and espresso, not billboards in airport terminals. Their customisation isn’t an optional extra, it’s baked in.

One of the best encapsulations of the brand came in our interview’s closing. Pressed to sum it up in two simple sentences, David laughed and said: “We take the product and cycling seriously—but we also want to have fun doing these things.” Another moment of pause: “Serious but fun.”

That duality is Guava’s North Star.

So as Guava pedals forward, quietly scaling regionally and internationally, the road ahead looks promising. They’re not trying to be the next Specialized, or take over the world. They’re just trying to make great bikes, build a community, and keep the wind in their hair. And given how swiftly they’ve spun up their local hubs, and how gracefully they’ve threaded inclusivity into every test ride and gravel weekend, Guava stands poised to do just that.

Serious. Fun. Distinctly Guava