I have been designing, building, and selling bicycles at my shop in Davis, CA for almost 35 years. I build Tango custom bikes. I sell ibis bikes, and have since 1987 when Scot Nicol asked me to design the first ibis tandems. As a Bicycle Engineer, I have stubbornly applied the power of engineering to build better bikes. I have succeeded as measured by the satisfaction of my customers.
Customer satisfaction and customer service are overused terms in many shops and by many companies. Not here, and not at ibis cycles which is why I sell them.
Customer satisfaction and customer service are overused terms in many shops and by many companies. Not here, and not at ibis cycles which is why I sell them.
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Bike building has never been my primary occupation.
This has allowed me a great deal of freedom to experiment and innovate, and to choose clients and projects that interested me.
My primary occupation at the time I developed Tango was designing bridges for the State of California.
That influenced my approach to design.
Ninety percent of engineering is understanding the critical loads applied to a structure.
In bikes, the critical design load is governed by deflections which cause instability and drive train inefficiencies.
This has allowed me a great deal of freedom to experiment and innovate, and to choose clients and projects that interested me.
My primary occupation at the time I developed Tango was designing bridges for the State of California.
That influenced my approach to design.
Ninety percent of engineering is understanding the critical loads applied to a structure.
In bikes, the critical design load is governed by deflections which cause instability and drive train inefficiencies.
Why do I like and sell ibis bikes?
There are lots of good bikes out there to choose from.
Quite simply, I like ibis because of the people.
The bikes are a reflection of the people who made them.
The bikes are what these three guys - Scot, Hans, and Tom - want to build.
They build bikes they want to ride.
They are smart, creative, and knowledgeable guys who ride bikes every day and love bike riding more than just about anything else in life.
They choose to come to work every day and design bikes that are the bikes they want to ride.
There are lots of good bikes out there to choose from.
Quite simply, I like ibis because of the people.
The bikes are a reflection of the people who made them.
The bikes are what these three guys - Scot, Hans, and Tom - want to build.
They build bikes they want to ride.
They are smart, creative, and knowledgeable guys who ride bikes every day and love bike riding more than just about anything else in life.
They choose to come to work every day and design bikes that are the bikes they want to ride.
I have been building Tangos in one form or another for 35 years now.
Looking back over those years, it is interesting to see how many different things I have built and how much fun it has been.
Over the years many things have changed, but some things haven't changed about the stuff I build.
The attention to detail has been a consistant theme through the last 35 years.
Attention to the detail about the customer.
Attention to the detail of fitting the bike to the rider.
Attention to the details about what the customer wants and needs in their bike.
Looking back over those years, it is interesting to see how many different things I have built and how much fun it has been.
Over the years many things have changed, but some things haven't changed about the stuff I build.
The attention to detail has been a consistant theme through the last 35 years.
Attention to the detail about the customer.
Attention to the detail of fitting the bike to the rider.
Attention to the details about what the customer wants and needs in their bike.
I have designed, built, and sold a lot of bikes over the years, but it has never been just about selling bikes.
I have met some of my best friends along the way by selling them a bike.
Some of them even have some interesting things to say about me and my work.
John Schubert - World's formost expert on things bike related "What sets Rick Jorgensen apart from other bicycled designers is his deep understanding of a bicycle frame as a structure, and his willingness to design whatever works best to meet structural requirements."
I have met some of my best friends along the way by selling them a bike.
Some of them even have some interesting things to say about me and my work.
John Schubert - World's formost expert on things bike related "What sets Rick Jorgensen apart from other bicycled designers is his deep understanding of a bicycle frame as a structure, and his willingness to design whatever works best to meet structural requirements."
The first Ibis collaboration with Rick Jorgensen was in the mid-eighties when we were very involved in making tandems.
Rick, an engineer by trade, was designing the most high performance and technically advanced tandems we had ever seen.
Rick's production of Tango Tandems was pretty small, he did everything himself.
Ibis had a number of builders, we were very involved in tandems so we struck a deal.
Rick designed the Ibis Uptube tandem for us.
It was a smashing success.
I still have one and ride it regularly.
Rick, an engineer by trade, was designing the most high performance and technically advanced tandems we had ever seen.
Rick's production of Tango Tandems was pretty small, he did everything himself.
Ibis had a number of builders, we were very involved in tandems so we struck a deal.
Rick designed the Ibis Uptube tandem for us.
It was a smashing success.
I still have one and ride it regularly.
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