There’s something about BMX that is pretty awesome to watch and that is the evolution of the quality that it is producing. Everything from the riding and videos to the products that brands are producing are getting better and better. Anyone who has spent a number of years riding BMX will tell you that complete bikes now days are a million times better than the bikes that they were on when they first started. It’s been pretty amazing watching things change over the years and there’s without a doubt that this year we’ve seen some of the most impressive bikes yet.
The guys over at Kink have released their new 2015 bikes worldwide and just looking at all 13 of the bikes they cooked up for this year, it’s easy to see they’ve put a lot of time and effort into their new range. We were thinking about how much goes into creating these bikes, so we figured it would be cool to catch up with Kink’s product manager, Matt Antes, to talk about what it took to get the bikes from the initial idea to the final product that you can pick up in the shop now! Let’s take a look and see what he had to say!
Tony Hamilin’s signature 2015 Solace complete.
Alright, so for this Insight we’re going to be talking about what went into designing the full range of 2015 complete’s from you guys. How long has Kink been offering complete bikes for now?
Our 2015 models just arrived, so that makes this our 8th year offering complete bikes.
I’ve heard designing for complete bikes start over a year before they’re actually available. When did you guys start working on the 2015 line?
Yeah, a year is about right. We started working on the 2015 line around June 2013. Certain parts of the complete bike take longer than others though, so we may start working on some parts a year out and others closer to the first production date. It’s kind of an ongoing thing to be honest.
What kind of a timeline is there when it comes to doing a full range of bikes like this? Care to kind of take us through what you have to work with as far as time goes?
So, the timeline starts from the end basically. First we have to figure out when we want the bikes to become available, and what the schedule needs to be so that they will be ready by that date. I create a timeline with all the major steps that take us from re-evaluating our current bike line, all the way to shipping out next year’s models.
Once you get the project rolling, do you guys work with the previous years models and build around those bikes or do you start completely from scratch and design them from the ground up?
Basically we evaluate each bike in the line and go from there. Sometimes it needs a few tweaks, sometimes it gets a complete overhaul and sometimes it gets discontinued and replaced all together. Customer feedback, competing bikes in the market and sales all come into play in the decision for each bike. So for example we introduced the 16” Carve bike this year, and since this is our first ever 16” bike we did that one from the ground up.
Ken giving the new bikes a test in the studio in Shanghai
I’d imagine by now you guys are either pretty good at predicting the future or just good at gambling. When you start working on a project like this, how do you guys plan for the future as far as creating bikes that are similar to what trends the kids are looking for? I feel like things like the oil slick and camo colors can be pretty tricky to design for with so much time between the initial plans and the bikes actually becoming available.
Haha, I think we’ve done pretty well so far but it’s definitely hard to predict the trends sometimes. I get a lot of feedback from our sales guys, team manager and graphic designer; plus always paying attention to what kids are riding helps the most. Sometimes though you do have to make an educated guess, like in a year from now when our new bikes come out again… how tall will people want their bars to be? All that being said though, depending on the part we sometimes do make last minute adjustments.
A lot of hours making sure everything is going to plan. Matt with Ken in their Shanghai office.
What would you say the hardest part about designing a full range of bikes is? What about the easiest part?
The hardest part is pulling it all together at the end. Making sure every drawing, every part, every color, every logo, every sticker, every cost, on every bike is all correct… it’s overwhelming to say the least. Each model bike is made up of so many small details, making sure they all come together is super crucial. The easiest part, for me, is shipping them out to customers! I love when all the containers arrive at our warehouse, and the warehouse crew starts shipping them out. That’s when I can finally relax.
Once the bikes have been planned, I’d imagine you find yourself overseas in the factory doing quality control checks and everything, right? What’s it like over there working with these factories to get the bikes made just the way you have them planned?
Going over to Taiwan and China is amazing, I’ve been there dozens of times and I still get excited every time. It’s great to form a relationship with all the manufactures, and really knowing who’s making every single part on our bikes. Of course it can be frustrating at times, getting something to work right or come out just the way you want, but in the end it’s awesome.
Matt cruising through the paint booth to make sure the bikes are looking to plan!
How much time does it take for them to produce all of the bikes for an order usually?
Once all the parts have arrived at the factory and the assembly line starts running, it’s pretty fast. I don’t want to share the exact details, but even with a large order the production run can be done in around week.
After the order is completed, what’s next? What does it take to get the bikes from the factory to Blackout Distribution in New York for example? How long does that take?
Once the production run is completed, the bikes are shipped out to our distributors around the world and to Blackout in the US. Being on the East Coast the containers getting here takes a little longer, about 4 weeks from the factory to our warehouse.
Can you kind of give us a quick run through of the logistics of what it takes to get a bike from the factory to a shop where these bikes are being sold? I feel like there’s a lot of boats, planes, trucks and people involved.
The bikes get loaded into shipping containers at the factory and locked up. From there they get trucked to the nearest shipping port, loaded onto a container ship and arrive at the port in Seattle a couple weeks later. From the port, they take a train across country to Buffalo, NY and then trucked down to our warehouse in Rochester, NY. We unload them, store them in the warehouse and they are shipped to shops around the country via UPS or other various freight companies.
For 2015 you guys are offering 13 different bikes from entry level bikes like your Curb to the pro level bikes like Sean’s Liberty complete or Tony’s Solace complete. How do you guys go about picking how many bikes you will be offering?
For the most part we do it by price point. We select price points that we think are important for our dealers and riders, then we build the best bike we can for that price. There are also a few cases where the prices are similar, but the bike fills a different need, like the 16” and 18” models.
The new 16″ Carve for the little guys out there!
This is the first year you guys are doing a 16” bike, right? What were some of the factors that lead to adding that to your line up?
We’ve just been seeing the trend of more kids getting into riding at an early age, and we wanted to make a great bike for them too. The Kicker 18” did great for us, so the 16” was a no brainer really. Also, a few guys around the office have had babies in the past year or so… so I think the idea to do a 16” was well received!
How has the reaction to the bikes been so far? It seems like bikes like these have been the key to getting the younger kids into BMX.
The reaction has been really good every single year to be honest. Both our dealers and riders are always giving us great feedback and compliments on the bikes. It’s really cool to put out quality yet affordable bikes for young riders; I definitely didn’t have options this good when I start riding. I’m ashamed to say it, but I bought a K2 (a ski company!!) complete bike back in the day because it has the best specs for the price…
Do you guys have any plans of adding additional sizes like the strider bikes or even a 12” at all in the future?
We’ve got some ideas rolling around for next year’s line…
2015 Gap complete
Obviously when you guys are designing these bikes there are a ton of different factors involved like materials, the aftermarket parts used, etc that can raise or lower the final cost of the bike. Could you explain what differentiates between the high end Search and the mid-range Gap and why the Search retails for $599.99 versus the $369.99 price tag on the Gap?
Yeah, this is a great question! I think a lot of riders/customers have the same question too. To put it very simply… you get what you pay for, haha. We know that people have different budgets, and we know that someone getting their very first BMX bike might not want to spend $700 on it. So using different materials and components, we build the best bike we possibly can around that price point. So on the Search, you are going to find all sealed bearings, 100% chromoly tubing, some aftermarket Kink parts, etc. The Gap uses some Hi-Tensile tubing, factory brand tires, Mission parts, etc. to keep the price down but still provide a quality bike that rides great. Then as the rider gets better and grows into it, he can upgrade some parts as he needs.
You guys use the Mission Parts brand on all of your complete bikes. Can you tell us a little bit about what that brand is all about and how that has an effect on how you guys can build these bikes?
Mission was developed for two reasons really, one is to complement our complete bikes and two is to provide quality, yet very affordable, aftermarket parts. There are a lot of “factory stock” items that are fine parts, but not something that we ourselves may have design (and some we have). Using these parts greatly reduces the cost to riders and Mission takes advantage of those products by selecting the best ones and putting the Mission seal of approval on them.
2015 Kink Search Complete
For this year you worked with Tony Hamlin and Sean Sexton on some signature bikes. What are some of the different features those guys wanted to do for these bikes?
Tony and Sean both have aftermarket frames already, so the geometry is all the same as their signature frames and the forks/bars are their geometry preference as well. The graphics and colors were inspired by them and their signature parts too.
What’s something unique about the Kink complete bikes that you can’t find on other complete bikes out there?
Well it’s no secret that BMX bikes and parts are getting more and more similar these days, but I think the passion and experience that goes into them is pretty special. A product that really is unique though is the Stealth Seat and Seat Post on the Solace Pro bike, which is the first time the Stealth System has been on a complete bike.
If you had to pick your favorite bike out of the entire range, what would you pick and why?
I’m going to have to say the Search. After the photo shoot was over, we were out riding some of the bikes around the Shanghai area and the Search was my bike for a couple days. It felt just like my bike and I literally adjusted to riding it in a few minutes.
Matt giving the Search a proper test.
How can people get their hands on these bikes?
The new 2015 bikes are available now worldwide, so get in touch with your local Kink dealer, online store, or the Kink distributor in your country if you don’t know where to find one!
How can shops and distributors get these bikes in their shops and warehouses?
Just email [email protected] or give us a call at 585-654-5250.
Let’s say somebody has a general question about these bikes… Who should they talk to?
I’m usually the go to guy for product related questions, so shoot me an email at [email protected].
Other than the complete bikes, what’s new with the product line for Kink? I feel like you guys just dropped a ton of new stuff?
Some new-ish products are the nylon Drift pegs, Minus One sprocket and the Stealth seat and post. Those are all doing awesome and available now. Available at the end of June are the raw finish Titan and Mudrunner frames which people have been super psyched about and the new Highrise stem which is our first lifted top load stem.
How can people keep up with Kink these days?
We’re all over the internets, so check us out on …
Website: KinkBMX.com
Facebook: Facebook.com/KinkBrand
Instagram: @KinkBikes
Twitter: @KinkBikes
Youtube: Youtube.com/KinkBMXVideos
Is there anything else I missed you want to add in?
I can’t take all the credit here… We couldn’t have produced these awesome bikes without the help and input from everyone here at Kink and Blackout, all our vendors in Taiwan and China, distributors around the world, Kink dealers and loyal Kink riders! Thanks for supporting Kink!
