video Archives - KP Cyclery

Posted on November 11, 2016November 22, 2021 by Kaspar

Kickstarter, Bicycle Sale, Product photos + more – This week’s news

So much has been going on during the last week or two that our ambition of writing an update has fallen flat on its ass, sitting in the back of our minds. Luckily, last day of this week happens to be a bit more relaxed to take a few minutes to give a quick update on what’s been going on.

New product photos & new frame colours – Last week was largely spent on something that had been long over-due, product photos of all our bikes. So we took a couple of days, built all the different combinations of bikes and took nice clean photos of them. You can see the results when looking at the product page of our bikes and designing your bike. PS! Life as a KP Cyclist just got a lot more colourful – many new frame colours!

We have some bikes for sale for a bargain – Over the years we’ve accumulated some frames with small scratches or defects by the paint shop. We took some time to look through them and uploaded them to our website as a separate product. It is a full spec bicycle, with very small paint defects, but a huge discount of 200€. Check it out, you might score a bargain!

This Laguna Blue frame in any components configuration is one of the bicycles available.

Moving a head with prototypes – All the buzz around our Kickstarter (more on that coming below) has not been able to keep our hand off our prototype products, we’ve meen making steady progress with both the Sidecar Bike, which is now also available for purchasing separately from a bicycle and our front rack.

The biggest news last – our KICKSTARTER IS BLASTING THROUGH THE ROOF – After launching the Bike Hanger 2.0 firstly on Indiegogo where it really didn’t pick up, we were feeling a bit beaten down, especially given the past experience with Kickstarter. We took a few deep breaths, and decided to try again on the latter platform. We’re really glad to say it has taken off like no other project we’ve launched in the past. With the first 5 days, it’s already over 300% funded with more than 50 backers! We couldn’t be more thankful for all our backers, it’s a nice ray of sunshine during the years of hard labour, labour of love, but none the less a lot of it. Here’s the Kickstarter video if you haven’t already seen it:

Thank you all for keeping an eye on us, and wishing you a fabulous weekend!

Your KP

Posted on May 9, 2016February 19, 2020 by Kaspar

Leaning Sidecars

It’s been a little while since the last post – we’re looking to get back into it now as we’ve successfully moved the shop to our new location in Copenhagen (Ingerslevsgade 103, Kbh 1705 if you’re curious to stop by ;) ). Here’s a piece on something that’s been cooking for a while – leaning sidecar history.

Leaning sidecars were first invented by Freddie Dixon, an English motorbike racer, way back in the 1920’s. Dixon was the first to figure out that by having the sidecar passenger control the tilt of the car with a lever, instead of the sidecar being rigidly fixed to the bike, it was possible to take turns a lot faster, and he used this idea to great success in his motorbike racing career. Leaning sidecars were further popularized in the same decade in American motorcycle racing, although now the focus was on having the sidecar wheel tilt by itself, giving the bike rider control. The technology used in these tilting sidecars has come a long way, and we have now been able to come up with our very own leaning sidecar for a bicycle, allowing you to easily carry goods around without knocking the bike itself off balance.

Leaning sidecars have many advantages which they can bring to your bike-riding, that make them an excellent choice for anyone who wants to be able to carry things on their bike with ease. With a leaning sidecar, riding the bike feels normal, and you aren’t constrained by having to compensate for the added weight of the sidecar. You’re able to take corners as you normally would, leaning in and taking them faster, as the sidecar is able to tilt freely to match the curve of the corner. Furthermore, since the sidecar is able to move independently, you don’t have to worry about holes in the road knocking you off balance – the sidecar can move over these without affecting the stability of the bike itself. On a three wheeled bike, you might notice that the bike rocks around when moving over holes, but this is not a problem with a leaning sidecar.

At KP Cyclery, we’ve specifically designed our leaning sidecar bike to match the demand springing up for more efficient, effective bikes. With more and more households choosing not to have a car, it makes sense to enable your bike to carry goods such as groceries home easily. You’re sure to be impressed with how much weight it can cope with – in testing, we even managed to fit an armchair onto it!

Sidecar Bicycle by KP Cyclery from above — Our version of the leaning sidecar

Stylish and functional, this bike makes a great choice for those who want to cut through urban congestion with ease, and carry goods around safe in the knowledge that they are still doing their bit for the environment. The only constraint on what you can ferry around is your imagination, so you’re sure to find that it adapts to your particular needs perfectly. If you have good balance, and hang on tight, you can even fit a person on it, so it really is suitable for everyone. We look forward to seeing what you can do with yours!

**Rasmus K, if you’re reading this and haven’t checked you inbox, then do so, you just won a set of magnetic lights.

Posted on April 30, 2016January 27, 2020 by Kaspar

Risto Kalmre – founding father of a country’s urban cycling scene

As we talked about Lucas Brunelle last time, this time we are going to take a look into the life of someone slightly closer to us.

Often referred to as one of the founding fathers of the bicycle culture movement in Estonia, man who has gotten thousands of people to gather up on their bikes, and a man who brought together people across different continents for Simple Session – Risto Kalmre.

Risto is definitely best known for organising one of the world’s biggest extreme sport competitions Simpel Session with his brother Mario. Hosted annually since as far as 2001, the event brings together BMX riders and skateboarders around the world, currently with the audience-base of over 1 million people, both at the spot and behind the screen.

This event has inspired the brothers so much that by the end of 2015 they opened the biggest extreme sport centre in the Baltics – Spot of Tallinn. Right beside Tallinn, with a great mission to offer better and more opportunities for the young & talented riders across the country.

The urban bicycle movement started in 2011 during Tallinn Bicycle Week, when Risto Kalmre, with a few other bicycle enthusiasts, organised a night ride (called Tour d’ÖÖ). Starting off as an event of organisers and their closest friends it has now turned into mass rides with over 2000 participants. This amount of people cycling on the streets directly shows the growth of the urban cycling culture in Tallinn. Events like these are a good way to show the growing existence of cyclists and through that have a louder voice in the future of city planning.

Seeing the growth of the urban cycling movement, Risto, back in 2014, made the next obvious step – opening a bicycle studio (called JOOKS) in one of the fastest developing parts of Tallinn. A studio, which serves purpose as a store for dapper urban bikes, serving coffee and is also known as the headquarters of Tallinn bicycle movement. Furthermore, it is used to host variety of events, for example few smaller concerts from Tallinn Music Week.

At the end of the day, Risto is a graphic designer by profession. After all of this organising he still has time for running an agency.

Risto is truly a person, who “takes the bull by its horns” – if something isn’t right, he makes it right. He truly wants to make this place better and more liveable for all of us.

Where to next, who knows, but with the Simple Session coming right up, lets wish them all the best.

Sweet sixteen Simple Session! Watch it live this weekend at – http://session.ee/2016/otse/

Posted on April 6, 2016January 27, 2020 by Kaspar

Berlin Bike Show – part 2: The Show

Having finished putting together the last bike a few minutes after the show officially started, we were ready. From the moment door opened at 18:00 until they closed at 23:00, it was on. And not just a people wondering around, but ON. We managed to take a moment to have a quick look around and we understood why it was so busy for us. It is best put by a set of maritime designers who visited us on the 3^rd day – ‘you guys have the best ideas here.’ I’m sure not everyone thought that, but there must have been at least a few more.

Day 2 was largely the same, a lot of people, cool ideas bounced around, The Bike Hangers continued to sell good, and we continued to enjoy attention. After Station Berlin, the venue, closed its doors at 19:00 it was time for beers, and time to witness a mad race on a go-kart track. It was a criterium type race with fixed gear riders blasting around in heats, leading to a superfinalé. Event boasted a great atmos and we really started to go from liking Berlin to loving Berlin. Check out a short summary here:

The last day – day 3 – could be summed up as the most productive one for us. We nearly sold out our hangers and got some exciting interest from other companies. Having personally followed the growth of Berlin based Steel Vintage Bikes team, with their truly rare restorations, having them as a reseller in Berlin feels very heartwarming. And there is more news to follow on reseller front soon.

Steel Vintage Bikes at Berliner Fahrradschau 2016 — Steel Vintage Bikes booth at Berliner Fahrradschau

As the show was slightly slowing down during lunch hours, it also gave us a nice moment to reconnect with friends. Having met Pelago folks during last year’s Tallinn Bicycle Week’s alleycat race, it was god to see their new lineup for 2016, and hearing that they have now reached as far as opening a shop in Japan. Over the weekend we also enjoyed our personal tour guides , and ex-berliners from Czech – SegraSegra. They are the ones who can also be blamed for our participation, after talking us into it during 2014’s SPIN London show. If you’re not only into nice bikes, but also want to look good when cycling, then give them a look – they have off-shelf and made to fit clothing for cyclists.

Pelago Bicycles at 2016 Berlin Bike Show — Pelago Bicycles booth

SegraSegra at Berlin Bike Show 2016 — Friendly picture with SegraSegra people.

Over and out. Berlin, thank you for treating us well, we’ll surely be back next year.

Posted on March 26, 2016 by Kaspar

Hey kid, you’re hired!

The interweb is a vast place, and every once in a while you tumble on something hilarious.

We’ve never thought of opening an electric bicycle division, but maybe we should..? If only we could hire this kid.

Check out his ingenious homemade eBike. We can only imagine lawyers taking their electric-drill-powered bikes between their meetings.

Posted on February 23, 2016January 27, 2020 by Kaspar

5 impressive Sidecar hauls

Ever since we finished the 1st Sidecar Bike prototype in mid-November 2015, we’ve been throwing everything at it to test its limits. Here are 5 different loads we’re most impressed about.

5. Groceries – perhaps it’s not as impressive as the rest, but it rightfully deserves a place in the list. You can probably relate to this one if you’re like 44% of Danish households and don’t have a car. The weekly grocery run can be quite annoying if non-motorized, especially if you end up buying something larger you didn’t plan. Carrying it on handlebars can be hassle, but throw it on a Sidecar and you’re not even thinking about it.

4. Ice hockey gear – us, hockey players, are known for having a crap-ton of armor. Without a car, it’s almost impossible to transport. But luckily a sidecar can easily handle one large bag, just make sure to strap it properly.

3. Two sidecars – or rather the material for 2 more sidecars. I must say I was a bit nervous about loading the 2,7 meter long steel pipes and wooden planks on the Sidecar Bike. But the 4 km ride turned out to be smooth as a baby’s behind.

2. Six frame sets – instead of taking the van, I thought of seeing how well the Sidecar Bike can handle a longer ride – 14,5 km one way to be precise. The climbs were a bit slow, and I admit that I got a bit pissed after chasing a group of roadies for a few kilometers without being able to catch them..

1. My lovely fiancée – this one was more for fun than anything, but it does work. You can see her filming the ride on the following video:

From heavy to super long to super high, our Sidecar Bike has not fallen short with any cargo we’ve thrown at it. It has been far more valuable and versatile than we first imagined. As we produce all Sidecar Bikes in-house, it can be customized for practically any special cargo, but what would you use it for?

Our Sidecar Bike: http://kpcyclery.com/product/the-sidecar-bike-by-kp-cykler/