Kogswell Cycles
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
 | |
| Company type | Private |
|---|---|
| Industry | Bicycles |
| Founded | Minnesota, 2001 |
| Headquarters | El Dorado Hills, California , USA |
Kogswell Cycles, Inc. was a small bicycle frame company with its headquarters in El Dorado Hills, California. Kogswell frames were designed in the United States and manufactured in Taiwan. Kogswell frames often ran counter to mainstream bicycle industry trends. According to Biking.com, Kogswell "focuses on creating bicycle frames that lean more towards utilitarian design rather than speed and rough roading."[1]
Customers purchased Kogswell framesets directly from the company, or through a small network of authorized dealers throughout the United States.
Kogswell Cycles has not produced any products since it moved its headquarters to California in 2009.
Company founder Matthew Grimm did not want the frames painted. He told his Taiwanese manufacturers to ship them bare: "I want my customers to choose their own colors. I don't want to impose one on them." The problem was that shipping a steel frame in a container, over several months and several thousand miles, the frames would rust without paint to protect them. "Fine," Grimm said, "paint them this color." It was a creamy yellow that came to be called Kustard, and it became a hit among enthusiasts.
Kogswell Owners Group (KOG)
While Kogswell did not produce custom bicycle frames to the specific requirements of individual customers, Grimm and Kogswell Cycles actively solicited design input from members of the Kogswell Owners Group,[2] an interactive community of people who own one or more Kogswells or are considering purchasing one. Design decisions regarding available frame sizes, wheel sizes, and other specifications were often discussed extensively within this forum prior to corporate decisions being made. The group was hosted on the Yahoo Groups website but as of 2019 it had become inactive. In 2020 the group data is scheduled to be deleted.
