The tire industry is known to be cost-prohibitive, due to the significant costs for tire molds, tooling, long lead times, and the number of models that a competitive brand must provide. Despite those barriers, Joe Yang and Tim Krueger decided to attempt to break into the industry with a small startup.
“We are taking a different approach to marketing than the majority of bicycle tire companies,” said Krueger. “Rather than talk in a lot of technical jargon and acronyms that may overwhelm riders, we take care of the technical aspects to build a high-quality tire and make each model available in ‘Light’ and ‘Tough’ constructions.” “Light tires are a high-end casing that is a good blend of lightweight and proper tire construction—not a paper thin racing tire. Tough tires pull from Joe’s experience with tire casings, and based on the intended use of the tire, we have created a casing that has anti-snakebike, puncture resistance and reinforced sidewalls.”
Yang and Krueger aim to fill holes in the tire width and application market that they don’t believe the larger companies are successfully filling. At their launch at Interbike this year, they’ll be rolling out three tire models: the Wazia, a studded fat bike tire; the Chunk, an aggressive trail tire; and the Elwood, a dirt road tire.
“All of us are riders—when we aren’t working we spend a lot of time on our bikes. We are passionate about this sport and the products that we bring to market and are confident that other riders will take notice,“ said Jim Glose, managing sales.
