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Red Bear Products to bring Euro & Aussie Carbon Rims to the US

Kuroshiro Action

NEWS – FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE –

Tim Krueger Announces Red Bear Products, A Wheelgoods Distributor for Kuroshiro and Bouwmeester Composites to North America

September 13th, 2015

Tim Krueger announces his second new company this year, Red Bear Products.  Red Bear Products will be a distributor of bicycle wheelgoods, concentrating on industry-leading technology, hard-to-find brands, high-quality handbuilds and excellent service to retailers.

Red Bear Products will start at Interbike by distributing Kuroshiro carbon fiber rims from Italy and Bouwmeester Composites carbon fiber enduro wheels from Australia.

“I didn’t set out to build a distribution company” explains Krueger. “But a lot of small, innovative companies need more than just distribution, they need solid technical representation. After talking with Kuroshiro and Bouwmeester about their challenges with large distributors, we decided to build a distribution company that focuses on the highly technical nature of wheels, and properly speaks for these leading-edge companies.”

Kuroshiro-Enso-685-and-747

KUROSHIRO

Kuroshiro, from Ravenna, Italy is launching the Enso 6105 rim at Interbike, a 105mm-wide carbon fiber fat bike rim that weighs only 525 grams.  A companion to their Enso 685 launched last year at 85mm wide, this single-wall carbon fiber rim can be run tubeless without any tape, since the nipples seal the rim.

Kuroshiro-Enso-685-wheelset

“Kuroshiro rims are built by Alchemist Bikes in Italy” said Krueger. “This is much more than being able to say Made in Italy though. They are produced under extreme heat and pressure in an autoclave, which is a process almost never used in the bicycle industry due to the high machinery cost, but it builds a much better product than the more typical bladder molding.”

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Kuroshiro offers 4 rims models, the Enso 685 (85mm wide fat bike), the Enso 6105 (105mm wide fat bike), Enso 950 (50mm wide 29+ rim) and the Enso 747 (47mm wide 27+ rim).  All are offered in 32 holes, and can be sold as rims-only, or built into complete wheels by Red Bear Products.

Bouwmeester Rim Cut

BOUWMEESTER

Bouwmeester Composites from Adelaide, Australia has been producing the Tammar v4.8 for about a year, and is ready to bring their motocross-inspired single-wall laminate wheelset to the US. The Tammar v.4.8 is the result of almost a hundred iterations of design, consultations with laminate experts from aerospace, and in-house production methods not available at major carbon fiber rim makers.

Bouwmeester Rim Close Up

“Bouwmeester Tammar wheels boast a very unique single-wall design that is a very thick laminate to be extremely impact resistant,” said Krueger. “From the first time I rode them, I knew there was a market for these with the growing enduro market in the USA that is demanding extremely light, impact resistant, and wide rims. The Tammar wheels are better than anything else on the market in each requirement.”

“Tim at Red Bear Products has a wealth industry experience which is coupled with a passion and technical knowledge of wheels that isn’t easy to find” said Mello Bouwmeester, President of Bouwmeester Composites. “We feel this balance of skills and a focus on customer service is what is needed to effectively distribute highly technical products and offer support in the marketplace. We are excited to see Red Bear Products bring Bouwmeester Composites to the US.”

All products from both Kuroshiro and Bouwmeester are in stock in Minnesota immediately.  Kuroshiro Enso rims retail for $950 each for any of the sizes, and Bouwmeester Tammar v4.8 wheelsets retail for $2,850 with DT Swiss 240 hubs.

We’ll be testing a set of the new Kuroshiro Enso 6105 (105mm wide fat bike) wheelsets very soon! Stay tuned for more information as it becomes available.

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One Response to Red Bear Products to bring Euro & Aussie Carbon Rims to the US

  1. Lars September 15, 2015 at 11:26 pm #

    I went to their web site. They wanted $600 shipping for one of the 6105 Kuroshiro rims. Plus there was not contact information and no way to ask questions.

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