Company History

The Ridekick™ Story

Bicycling is surely the most beautiful way to get from here to there — no matter where “there” is. Except when it’s hot and humid outside. Or when you need to carry a lot of stuff. At moments like those, the bike usually stays in the garage.

Until now — a small, start-up company out of Colorado has created the solution — 

a personal electric-powered bike trailer called the Ridekick™.

Ridekick bridges the gap between an electric bike and a tow-behind trailer. However, it is neither an e-bike nor a trailer. It’s actually a new category all its own. It takes you beyond where bikes, alone, can go. Using a linkage system that attaches to the rear wheel axle of virtually any bike, and a simple throttle that easily hooks onto your handlebars, the Ridekick power trailer connects you to a power boost that also carries your belongings. And once you take a spin on a bike powered by Ridekick, you will be having so much fun, you will not want to get off.

The story of how Ridekick International began is unique and fun, much like the Ridekick power trailer itself. The Fort Collins, Colorado-based company, which was founded by Mark Wanger, started several years ago when Mark, a retired HP engineer, was intent on finding a way to make a difference in the world — starting with sustainable energy.

During a hot summer meeting full of smart, thoughtful people who wanted to decrease energy use, he looked around and it occurred to him that most of the participants had driven a car to the meeting. And why not? With the summer heat, biking would have caused an unprofessional amount of sweat. An electric bicycle could be an answer, but given the price, storage area requirement, and addition of another single-use device, that was unrealistic, too.

Shortly after that realization, Wanger watched the Tour de France. At one point, the pro-rider stats were shown — heart rate, miles per hour, and the watts generated — 320 watts, a little less than the 400 watts used by a cordless, hand-held drill. “If they could go 32 mph, creating 320 watts, how fast could a bike go with 400 watts pushing it?” thought Wanger.

That stroke of ingenuity led to a crude, drill-powered prototype bike engine, which led a neighbor to notice the experiment. The neighbor, John Bidwell, ended up showing Wanger a more advanced prototype he’d been working on, which led to a partnership that ultimately formed into a revolutionary new company.

Our Culture

Ridekick™ International is a community of people dedicated to creating high-quality, affordable, earth-friendly, and fun bicycle accessories. We strive to be a company of character, individually and collectively demonstrating integrity, diligence, honesty, respect, common sense, passion, perseverance, determination, and the highest standard of business ethics.

Our goals in creating earth-friendly accessories are to increase low environmental-impact vehicle use, decrease the cost of efficient, effective transportation for the user, and provide a fun way for people to find their beyond. We consider people and our environment our two greatest resources. Therefore, in addition to building a culture that respects our people, we also focus on programs to respect our environment. This includes participating in local sustainability efforts and proactively providing recycling options for Ridekick products.

Be sure to learn more about our product to see if our electric powered bike trailer is right for you! If you have any questions, you can check out our FAQ page or contact us! We want to help make your bike commute easier for you to help the planet.