According to a myth, the Apple company, well-known and beloved around the world, was founded on the 1st of April, 1976 by Steve, Steve and Ronald in the garage of Steve Jobs' parents house in Los Altos nearby San Fransisco.
HIBIKE's company foundation was more than just similar. It was a few years later, in May 1994 in Christian Baer's students apartment in Frankfurt. The idea was to import suspension forks from the USA and make the own bikes better and faster. After a short period of time Rainer Nowacki, a bicycle parts expert, has joined Christian. Rainer is still with the company and is well-known in Germany for his YouTube videos "Rainer's Bike-Talk".
The product range was extended fast, the first advertisement in Germany's BIKE magazine was run and the room apartment, that had been extended by a garage, had become too small for the business activities.
First Showroom: Grandma's Garage
The original idea of just importing goods and re-selling them by mail did not work as the customers had the desire to see the products in person. The student apartment was not big enough for this purpose, but Christian Baer's grandmother has provided her double garage as the new company location. This new "residence" had a "showroom" - it had exactly 4m², sandwiched between two writing desks, the shipping desk, two display cabinets and the storage. The staff, increased to three persons, has been attended by more customers each and every day. On Saturdays the garden of Christian's grandmother was populated by lines of customers, who could not await to see and pick up the new fancy bike parts. The latest and freshest bike parts could only be purchased at HIBIKE, no other company in Germany was selling these goods!
HIBIKE in Westerbachstr. 2
The first HIBIKE logo in 1994
Rainer with a YETI ARC LT
|
The founders still think of a certain anecdote from time to time which makes them smile:
The owner of a bike shop in Frankfurt visited HIBIKE with a mean looking thug to bully the new competition in his area. Fortunately Boncuk was in as well. Boncuk, Rainer's dog, 60kg of muscles and teeth, "smiled" at the unfriendly visitors and sent them stumbling backwards and never coming back again.
Relocation to Westerbachstr. 2 – 80m²
Workshop and sales room in Westerbachstr. 2
Building wheels, shipping department and storage
Old HIBIKE logo
|
1996, the foundation year of the Baer KG, was the year of another inevitable relocation. The first office in Kronberg was rented. The new office had about 80m² and was finally big enough to present and store more goods than previously.
The catalogue sending was approached with new zest. In HIBIKE's foundation year the catalogue were just printed Excel sheets which were inserted into the parcels. The whole business approach became more and more professional, the staff became bigger, so the office had to become bigger as well in 1999. The business rooms have been extended by another floor in the same building, 2002 the back office has been relocated to the building across the street.
First dynamic online shop in the bike industry
In 2002 modern technology has found its way into the company. The IT engineer and nowadays co-owner Werner Ott has joined HIBIKE. With his expert knowledge he has developed the first dynamic online shop in the whole German bike industry and maybe Europe and has published it in the WorldWideWeb. The previous webshop was a static site, the customer could take a look at the items, but had to order them by phone. Before the static webshop the product presentation was made via BTX, a technique that can only be found in the teletex of your TV.
Relocation to Westerbachstr. 9 – 800m² sales room
Due to these innovative accomplishments the company grew faster each and every day. The first apprenticeship could be offered in 2003. In 2007 HIBIKE had to relocate again. A block of three buildings in Westerbachstr. 9 in Kronberg was the perfect place for the company's business activities and have enough space for further expansion. At the beginning the back office, the shipping department, the storage and the sales rooms were based in the same building. After a short period of time the back office had to move to another building, the online sales have increased and the shipping department, the incoming goods department and the storage needed more room to operate.
Kona Kilauea custom build
In March of 1998
Contemporary sales room
|
HIBIKE nowadays
In winter of 2012 the last free building of the block, the biggest one, has been activated for HIBIKE's needs. With more than 4000m², this building is nowadays the place of shipping, storaging and incoming goods.
For the purposes of ordering and purchasing goods there are more than 60 people working at HIBIKE to satisfy the customers' needs. HIBIKE is still run by the owners. One of the most important building blocks is the apptenticeship, HIBIKE offers apprenticeships in different professions. More than 120 000 parcels are shipped every year worldwide, the consultation is being performed in multiple languages. HIBIKE is still driven by bike enthusiasts who are more than passionate about cycling - it's our life! We take pride in knowing almost everything about bikes - professional expertise is our priority. The customers shouldn't get any product from us, but the ideal one.
Present-day HIBIKE staff
Today's HIBIKE Storage
|
Besides lots of dependable partners, who have accompanied us for many many years like Germany's cycling network "DIMB" we support and promote projects, teams and institutions such as Team IK-Pictures Racing, Germany's most successful youth downhill racing team, who we are proud to be the main sponsor of.
Who knew, 20 years ago, in the students apartment?
HIBIKE – One Love. Bikes!
