Wabi Cycles: Building Bikes in South Park
Eric Richardson
[Flickr]
Richard Snook stands with one of his bikes in Wabi Cycles' South Park headquarters.
DOWNTOWN LOS ANGELES — Fixed gear bicycle maker Wabi Cycles may be a new company, but founder Richard Snook is no newcomer to the bike game. He's been a cyclist since 1972, and has been involved in building bike components since the mid-1980s.
Over that time, Snook has developed a strong sense for what works and what does not. Selling direct to cyclists allows Snook to make sure the bikes he's selling contain parts that he believes in. "There's nothing on the bike that I have to apologize for," he said yesterday at a Grand Opening celebration held in the company's South Park loft.
Snook and his brother Garry started Performance Bicycle as a mail-order company in the 1980s. He handled product development for the firm, which has since expanded into one of the nation's largest mail-order and retail bicycle companies.
After leaving Performance, Snook was looking to do something new. He knew he wanted to design his own bikes, but didn't want to be just another brand selling carbon fiber road bikes. "There's 4000 companies doing that," he said.
Wabi, which opened for business on April 30, sells two models of bicycle, a steel-frame model that sells for $650 and a scandium framed bike for $800. Snook designed the frames, which are manufactured in Asia, and chose all the components. The bikes are available through the company's website, and Snook plans to keep it that way, just selling direct and not through shops.
The company's South Park location was chosen because it's only three blocks from where Snook lives with his wife and daughter.
Early sales have been good, Snook said, with most customers ordering from the east coast.
While the company is built to sell online, Snook is happy to have Downtowners interested in his bikes stop by the shop.
Wabi Cycles / 1200 S. Hope #405 / 888.732.7030
Susana Benavidez on August 12, 2009, at 12:59PM – #1
Way to go Richard! I'm happy to know that South Park has business owners like you: honest, knowledgeable, and helpful. Congratulations Richard! and welcome to the neighborhood. :)
Will Campbell on August 12, 2009, at 03:52PM – #2
Wabi's products are a bit out of my price range, but there's something awesome about a bike maker putting roots downtown.
Walter Melton on August 12, 2009, at 08:18PM – #3
Fabulous. Good Luck Richard. A bike manufacturing company in downtown LA is awesome. It will further the goal of Downtown LA going green and increase the fitness of everyone along the way.
ubrayj02 on August 13, 2009, at 08:50AM – #4
It looks like Snook has the right idea, and who knows? In a few years perhaps those beautiful steel frames can be handmade in the U.S.? I know that an inflationary depression was been predicted for the U.S. - which would lower the value of our currency and make local production a viable option again.
Ankur on August 13, 2009, at 11:13AM – #5
I'd like to see some closeups of his welding skills, but his bikes do look awesome.
Bike building is an Art!
Di on August 19, 2009, at 11:25AM – #6
I had an opportunity to ride a Wabi Cycle owned by a friend of mine about a week ago and I loved it. It's an awesome ride with really great road manners and I'd consider buying one if they weren't manufactured in Taiwan. No one can tag this bike as GREEN until it's manufactured locally. Sorry, I'll stick with frame builders who manufactured there cycles in the USA. Build them in LA and I'll buy one.
Richard on August 23, 2009, at 11:53AM – #7
Thanks to all of the folks above for responding to the article on Wabi Cycles. The response to our being downtown has been terrific and very much appreciated. As you can imagine, it's been a bit scary to open in this economic environment, but hey, we did it. I wanted to respond to Di's comment above specifically, about manufacturing the bikes here in LA. Currently that option is an impossibility. The only parts that could really be made here are the frame and fork, and to do that would add at least $500 to the final cost, maybe $1000. Currently, really no components are made in the US. Tooling would be in the millions for all of the parts, etc., etc. As for the Green part- yes, it would be very cool to make the bikes here, but all of the parts would still need to be imported (as they are for ALL brands), and I believe a case could be made that if you buy a bike (Wabi or any other) and actually use it instead of a car, we are still way ahead. Would be glad to discuss further with Di if they want to. And I do appreciate their nice comments :-)