THE STORY OF ENGINE11 (English) ~ Charlie ~make a personalized bicycle~

Today we will like to tell the story and the history of ENGINE11,from Charlie with full of respect and thanks.

-Encounter with the fixed bike-

Kevin Kang, the founder of ENGINE11,had his first fixed bike 11years ago.

His first fixed bike was BIANCHI PISTA, with the wheel AEROSPORKS which was ruling the times then.

He got his bike first as a fashion item like we all did.

At first it was just a fashion item, but it didn’t take long for him to be captivated with the fixed bike culture.

He enjoyed running like the wind through the town of LA. Soon that wasn’t enough for him.

He joined a class for beginner’s race, at the stadium VELODROME.

Here he became completely captivated in the race world.

He told us it was the moment he will never forget.

He soon upgraded his bike to CINELLI MASH, and he started racing in VELODROME.

Then he bought himself a BIANCHI PISTA CONCEPT and was one of the race member .

From street to stadium.

From fashion to an athlete.

Kevin’s fixed bike life made a big change.

One day he got the most lucky chance to get NAGASAWA NJS which was made in Japan, and the most famous racing bike in the word. It was his dream bike.

How that frame used to run in the stadium was breath taking.

But that frame got destroyed in an accident.

Kevin was discouraged a lot, but soon came his second luck.

He got himself MAKINO NJS frame which was made for one of the most famous champion MASAMITSU TAKIZAWA.

Kevin was the only one who raced KEIRIN with a vintage frame in VELODROME.

KEIRIN is the race he most liked.

Kevin told us one of his most precious memory was when he won that race.

-From America to Korea to Japan-

KEIRIN culture gave Kevin a completely different values about quality and the philosophy of KEIRIN and the bike.

One word lived in Kevin’s hart strongly.

The word “全速力　ZENSOKURYOKU” meaning “full speed”.

Kevin was born and raised in LA, but his Korean grand parents who lived in Japan, and his Japanese friends from student age, gave him a strong bond with the Asian culture.

Kevin’s bike life became more and more wonderful.

ENGINE11 was the brand made from his inspiration from America, Korea and Japan.

-The first meeting with Sei Heang and the start of everything-

One day Kevin went back home to Korea to see his family and friends, where he first met his longtime partner Sei Heang,the owner of HOME BIKE.

The organizer of the most famous fixed bike criterium KING OF TRACK.

That’s one of the few races sfiDARE CRIT JAPAN race in.

(By the way Kevin is a great friend of Mr. Kodama. We will tell you more about that some other time)

Those days Sei Heang used to only sell bike goods, so Kevin helped him sell his products in the US.

That’s the time when Sei Heang suggested Kevin to start a fixed bike company.

Kevin made one condition.

“To make the best quality bike”

He didn’t want to make a bike just for making money.

He wanted everything to be the best.

That’s how ENGIN11 started.

-what’s ENGINE11?-

Now ENGINE11 is still a small company, but well known and loved by the riders all over the world.

The world is changing a lot these days, but there is one thing that I can tell you.

ENGINE11 will be the one of the biggest brand in the world.

One big difference between other company is that the president is actuary an athlete.

VELODROME、FIXED GEAR CRIT、

ROAD CRITERIUM、

CYCLOCROSS and MOUNTAIN BIKES.

As you know being an athlete means that you know everything about a bike.

There is something that Kevin tell us all the time.

“We live bikes”

“We study the bikes and make them with a wide field of view”

“We don’t make bikes to make money”

“That’s us. And that’s ENGINE11”

It wasn’t easy to make a bike better quality and sell it. There are so many companies making cheap bikes, he thought of it once but now he is sure about the decision he made, SELL THE BEST QUALITY.

-YOUR LEGS ARE THE ENGINE-

Know I would like to tell you my favorite hart warming story of ENGINE11.

That’s the story about how he came up with the name ENGINE11.

The plan of making a company was going very well, but he didn’t have a clue about the brand name.

One day when he was driving through LA, he drove passed a fire station and noticed they called the fire engine “ENGINE”. They called it with a number depending on the area they drive.

Like ENGINE 15 or ENGINE 20 , for example if it was Tokyo it may be ENGINE 10 ～20.

At the same time, one story hit his head. When he was Jr high school student, he used to commute in a bus.

One day he missed the last bus and walked home long hours. When he got home, his mother saw him all sweaty and said “Did you take a Taxi 11?”. He was like “what?”. Obviously his mother was making fun of him.

She was pointing his legs! The number 11 represented his legs!!!

That’s where “your legs are the ENGINE” came up.

And that was the moment the name ENGINE11 was born.