What happens when a wheelbarrow pushing superhero wants to continue his journey, but also level up to two wheel transportation. The internet sensation that is Catman, walked from WA to Sydney over two years, and he now wants to travel back to WA in his Catman LEVEL TWO adventure. When it comes to long distance self-supported bike rides across Australia, we have a huge amount of knowledge. Combine that with a new New Product Development lab, a crazy paint job and a mechanically minded evil genius, Taylor set to work, and the GMX+ wheelbarrow edition was born.
Multi-skilled New Product Development team member, Taylor Patrick, is always up for a challenge. He’s also very experienced in carrying heavy loads by bike, either in a trailer or on his cargo bike. This was right in his wheelhouse. Inspired by the iconic BOB Touring Trailer, Taylor conceptualised and built a custom black steel bracket and welded onto the famous Catman wheelbarrow. There needed to be a degree of freedom rotating about the rear axles as well as a head-tube-like pivot to allow turning with the bike connected to the barrow. The finished product joined barrow and bike with a steerer-like connection with nylon bushings and removable pins to allow the whole barrow and bracket to be removed from the bike in 30 seconds. Taylor made all the pieces from scratch - even the nylon bushings were turned on his lathe.
From idea to rolling prototype took less than a few days, with Taylor pulling some big nights and taking the whole contraption for its first test spin at about 10pm on a Wednesday evening. With the New HQ Housewarming Party and Catman’s eagerly awaited arrival coming in hot, there was no time to spare on this build.
Steve Varga, Curve co-founder and Candy Factory Paintworks boss conceived and executed the paintwork, which included Catman’s own branding. The frame with fresh paint was still baking in the oven 200 km from Melbourne on the morning of the scheduled new bike day!
Our mechanics are fast and it only took a couple of hours for the frame, once in Melbourne, to be transformed into a complete bike and connected to the Catman wheelbarrow.
Fully equipped with our Carbon Dirt Hoops, SRAM Apex Mechanical, Dynamo with kLite lighting and the Seek 430 Fork this machine was kitted out to carry some serious load. With Catman expecting to carry up to 40 kg in the wheelbarrow at some points of his journey we needed to make sure this bike was ready for the outback. Taylor even managed to give the wheelbarrow some fresh bearings and replace a couple of rusty bolts, all ready for a serious expedition across Australia.
Before leaving Melbourne, the Curve squad made sure Catman was up to speed on plug use (tutorials included stabbing test tyres with screw drivers) and the basics of maintenance. He knows he can call upon us to help him out if he has trouble out there.
So whether it’s bonding carbon-titanium hybrid race gravel bikes, or conjuring up wheelbarrow pulling adventure machine solutions, the Curve NPD lab is not short of mechanical engineering talent. This is certainly a left field project, but one that is inherently ingrained in the Curve ethos. Get people off the couch and to experience the outdoors. Whether it is by bike or two feet. Keep inspiring people on your journey Catman! Everyone here at Curve wishes you luck on your adventure! We really hope this works!
You can see the maiden voyage here
The NBD!
Catman joined us at our New HQ Housewarming Party on April 16th 2026 and we got (maybe) our biggest NBD photo ever!
Candy Factory Paintworks
Steve, Curve Co-Founder and Candy Factory Paintworks boss, used Catman's concept to turn this already one of a kind experiment bike into something truly personal. The fully cat colour way certainly stands out!
Custom paint options are available on new and used Curve's as well as other bikes. Check out the link below if you are looking to jazz up your forever bike.
An update from the road - May 2026
The thing with attaching a complete wheelbarrow to a bicycle is that no one (to our knowledge) has done it before. When floating off into the unknown there is sure to be some issues! Our favourite superhero, Catman, broke the axle-to-barrow-bracket connection. As it turns out, the higher weight position of the barrow, compared with a BOB-trailer, produces more torque on the axle connection, and version one of that attachment snapped like a twig. Well, maybe more like a medium sized stick!
But, we’re in this for the long haul and we’re going to make sure Catman’s machine is solid for his LEVEL TWO adventure. We are not scared of a challenge! The original attachment was bolted into the inner threads of the Relaxle. Although this held up for a number of short test rides, with both an unloaded and lightly-loaded (30kg) wheelbarrow, with the strain of the extra load on the open road, the attachment bolts proved to not be strong enough to support the barrow. We are very familiar with BOB trailers, but the wheelbarrow load sits higher up, and so there is more torque on the axle attachments when towing a loaded barrow!
We were quickly on the phone with Catman, who had stopped in Newcastle, to properly identify the issue. Taylor was straight to the drawing board thinking up a solution! After brainstorming some ideas with the New Product Development team a plan was locked down. The idea was to add a force distributing plate that utilises the rear bottle cage mounting bolts on the GMX+ to take some strain off the connecting attachment. Not only that we beefed up the axle choice and also welded a BOB trailer attachment to the plate itself on the drive side. This solution should better brace the bracket against the torque created by the loaded barrow. Two days after the call for help, the new attachments were on route to Newcastle for installation.
Then comes the power of the adventure cycling community! Our friends at Ghost Gum Bikes, in Newcastle, where Catman had stopped, came to the rescue. While Catman was doing general superhero things, the Ghost Gum Bikes crew were hard at work. Not only did they fit the reinforcement plate, they also added a whole suspension dampening system for the wheelbarrow. Utilising old stems, hubs, and also a gate hinge they constructed an massively edited barrow-to-bike connection attaching to the rear rack on the GMX+ and Taylor’s original mounts on the barrow.
Call this GMX+ Wheelbarrow edition 1.1. Who knows where this project will go? But with Catman involved you can be sure it will be WHOLESOME and UNPREDICTABLE. We are stoked that more people in the cycling community are getting involved in this ever-evolving project.
With a heavily reinforced setup in action, we hope Catman can now complete his journey with his famous wheelbarrow in tow! Who knows what will happen next? We have no idea! But we are in it for the long haul and will do everything we can to help Catman realise his dream of riding across Australia.