ambassadors
When Alan Stulberg and Stefan Hertel, founded the company Revival Cycles back in 2008, they couldn’t have imagined their brainchild would take off this fast. Fast-forward to 2018, the company counts 22 passionate petrolheads who engineer and fabricate every two months a unique 2-wheeled - one of a kind - masterpiece. Besides the custom builds, they manufacture their own custom parts, have several patents pending, sell custom parts and apparel online and organize the ‘Handbuilt Show’, a yearly event in Austin Texas, representing the top scene in custom builds. Revival Cycles is driving in the fast lane, that’s for sure.
We sat down with Alan Stulberg, founder of the company to look back and talk about future plans.
Alan, how did the Revival rollercoaster take off in 2008?
Actually, I don’t have the typical builder history. I have a corporate background, but in 2008 I lost my job and started Revival Cycles, trying to convert my hobby into a living. Having worked alone for two years, Stefan joined me in 2010, first part-time, afterwards as my fulltime associate since 2013.
The custom bike scene isn’t new, but the last 5 years it really took a giant leap forward. What differentiates Revival Cycles from other builders in the scène?
We really try to transfer our vision into our builds. We aim for high-end customs and restorations, which is about 35 to 40% of our work. Besides the workshop, the Handbuilt show, our online and the retail store soak up our remaining time. The key differentiator is we see ourselves as artists, but in a pragmatic way. Besides the reengineering of the bike and refining the looks of it, we’re improving its performance and reliability, but most important our builds need to ride smooth.
Do you prefer a certain make or type of bike and client?
No, at the contrary. We embrace makes and clients from all over the world. We have clients in South-America, Asia and Europe and we’re not limited to a brand. As long our vision and creativity show off, we’re satisfied builders.
The Handbuilt show looks quite impressive with a massive scene of custom builds. How many visitors attend the show?
Back in 2013, during the MotoGP race weekend here in Austin, we wanted to organize something special. We knew Motorcycle fans would be in town all weekend. That’s when we decided to launch the Handbuilt Show. We repeated the event in 2014, but those were difficult years. The event grew organically the last 5 years, during the 2018 edition, we welcomed about 30.000 visitors during one weekend.
What’s the idea behind the Handbuilt Show?
We have different venues where we show really sophisticated custom builds. Artists show their work in galleries, we see the motorcycle builds as pieces of art. Therefore, we consider the Handbuilt show more as an art gallery.
Does your ambition end here?
No, it doesn’t. We started producing online video classes for custom DIY builders, organize multiple day bike rides and we connect with MC clubs. All with one idea in mind: growing the motorcycle culture through the grassroots of motorcycles. In fact, you might call us a cultural center for motorcyclists!
+++
