Welcome, my dear friend! My name is Andrew, and I will be your guide today. Storm Bicycle Company is what happens when a small team of passionate bike people find themselves in the middle of a pandemic, unable to get bikes from the usual brands. Our bike shop, Hurricane Cycles, was struggling because of the Covid-19 supply chain problems. Instead of just closing and giving up like so many other shops have done, we decided to take matters into our own hands.
The idea for Storm Bicycle Company was born in March of 2021 while sitting in my office one day. I called the shop manager in and explained my crazy idea. "I want to create our own brand of bikes to compete with the big brands," I said. "But I want to provide these bikes at prices to match the online dealers while offering the ultimate customer service experience of a top-flight bike shop. OH! and I want the world's best warranty to go with it!" I'm sure you can imagine his face upon first hearing these wild dreams.
Things were a bit weird at first. We had no idea where to start! I spent hours on the phone with some friends in the industry just trying to learn as much as possible. Things were difficult. Our budget for this was so small that we simply couldn't meet the required minimums of the large-scale contract manufacturers.
Most of the factories I reached out to flat out told me no. I was asking for such low numbers because of our tiny budget, it seemed like no one wanted to deal with me. After a month of trying, I finally found a factory willing to work with my needs. I first bought one of their factory samples and decided that this factory would be a good partner for Storm.
After riding that first sample, we immediately started working on the Category 1 prototype. My first ever Storm bike arrived a few months later, and it felt like Christmas as a kid! I could only afford one, so I couldn't send one out to all the guys I wanted to ride it. We took the bike apart and analyzed every detail from the paint, components, assembly, packaging, and anything else that had to do with selling this bike. Our number one priority was to create the best possible value for an affordable entry-level mountain bike. After a few months of testing, I put all of our concerns together and presented them to the factory. They agreed to these changes, and we ordered our first production run of bikes. The Storm brand was officially born!
Now that we have the brand up and running and you are reading this on our website, things are moving along nicely. As I write this, we are working on three new models of bikes with plans to keep expanding as demand increases. We are headquartered in Crossville, TN, and plan to set up full-scale distribution right close to our original Hurricane Cycles location. The story has only just begun, and the future is very bright. Are you ready to make a statement? #RideStorm
-Andrew