Oh yeah its almost 10 years ago when we came up with the idea of our very own rider owned brand. In early 2000 when we first thougtht about the idea of designing our own stuff we were deeply in work with our distribution and other stuff so we never really find time to finalize this idea which shoveld in our heads since our beginnings in bicycle motocross since the late 70s when bmx were almost more like motocross jumpin dirt jumps and hangin around eatin nachos and drinkin tons of dr. peppers. I rember those days when we first started trips over to USA headin down YMCA Orange bmx track, met cool people and livin California life style hangin out in Venice Beach or gone surfin. Trippin through the Mojave Desert and ridin motorcycles and shootin cans. Oh yeah those days were gnarly and awesome. Or first visit at BMX Action magazine or headin down to SE Racing meetin cool guys and legends like Scott Breithaupt or Perry Kramer he went with us to his favorite ridin spot. Oh well the 80s were a blast and as often we found time we went over and over to USA to have fun there....So lets get back to nowadays, so 2018 will mark our 10th anniversary with Stereo Bike Co.
In the beginning 2007 we started to create our first stuff and lookin for some producers which offer a great service and good quality. We met the first people over in EUROBIKE, Friedrichshafen which is the biggest bike show in the world right now and made some appointments and showed our first hand drawings which were later transformed into 3D drawings, thanx to Till who is with us since day one. He is an early bicycle motocross shredder and still can jump stuff no one would do. Ok said and done we tripped over to Taiwan for first really sample productions and meet great and handsome people over there. After long nights and daily meetings we finally got our first samples in hand and now the really work began. Endless testings and rider discussions lead us to some more changes and technial fine tuning and in the end we were all happy standin in front of our first line of completes and parts. From now on we were so stoked to hold our own desinged stuff in hand, which lead us to even more and more riding sessions and what else can we do. From now on things got rushed so fast, but we always said we still want to be "the lil bike co" as we are still today. We kept it small and family buisness this makes sure you can still control and work happy every day. We never wanted to be a bmx company poppin up with new stuff every month. A chillin way and gipsy spirit which we wanted to keep since our very early days in the late 70s. This is how we learned and enjoyed bmx and this is how we want to keep it.
Over the years we brought up some cool ideas from the very first 3D bmx catalogue which included a 3d google and you can strive
through our modells with a 3d feelin. Later made another step to a very first POP up bmx catalogue some still have those, its a unique way to show completes and parst while you open up the catalogue the bikes poped up. Or have you every seen our bike boxes , from boom box to hairy beast we had em all. Our goals was always to bring out one of the best completes out there, this is why we often sit down hours and hours and create some wild stuff. We had an "End of the World" creation or "Rasta" colored completes. Or have you seen our "Snake" modell wrapped in snake foil. But not the design was our main focus the technical function and durability of our stuff was still the main focus we had, and this lead us to test all before gone nationwide. Endless test sessions with new created stuff was a must. Our very first own tire called "Humbucker" which is a fat 2.3 tire with a 100psi pressure were tested almost 2 years before gone to mass production. And in the end it pays off testing before production. We did so with all our stuff from frames, hubs, cranks etc. Even our first grips called "Audio" grips were the molding is very specific cause the outer shell and pattern looks like a chord wrapped around a grip, the pattern is very grippy and we tested differnt rubber materials. From year to year we try to remodell all around our completes and parts and check what is really neccessary for the rider out there who buys a complete or other parts.
Over the years street oriented riding style were more and more popular. So a lot of riders like Sam Jones or Dan Paley went through our team. This is how we began ridin around streets and jumpin stair sets and doin wall rides. I remember back it was a pain in the a...when you jumped around and ripped of your chainstays or your dropouts bend, the late 70s and early 80s frames had those simple frames which were not made for heavy pressure ridin. Thanx god today better welding techniques and new materials made it way easier to produce stiffer and longer lasting frames and parts. Especially weldings are the key factor for frame strength. Butted tubing or heat treating process is only a few things whice made it way easier today. Over the years the street ridin get more and more radical which lead us to more improvments, so we do top and down tube gussets or laser cut drop outs on our frames. So research and development is a never ending process and our story for the "one of a kind complete" still continues...
Our 2018 completes and parts line will drop late august, so stay tuned on our social media channels for updates and sneek preview.