New? I suppose that's relative in cycling terms, they'be been around for about a decade. The examples I've seen have been very nice, just what the owners wanted.
I doubt the similarities were intended. Once you've chosen wheel size, brakes and purpose, the resulting bikes are always going to look fairly similar. The Kibo which looks similar to an earlier 26" wheel Thorn still has some significantly different design features.
As an aside, and I'm sure nothing to do with any similarities, their frame builder is Lee Cooper, who at one time built frames for Thorn.
