Szymon, founder and CEO of NS Bikes spends his whole childhood in London, killing it every day on a Raleigh Chopper.
Szymon, founder and CEO of NS Bikes spends his whole childhood in London, killing it every day on a Raleigh Chopper.
Back to Poland. Body armour and suspension was unheard of then, but already Szymon knows the best way to make good use of two wheels.
Szymon starts a band called Blenders. They become one of the most popular rock groups in Poland and in the course of 10 years they play over 700 live shows. Albums go gold and platinum.
Szymon usually takes his bike on tour, and on many occasions travels from one venue to another on his bike. Not an easy task bearing in mind that the the after parties usually end at 7 am.
In between shows, Szymon manages to sneak out and win some major national downhill races.
With no proper DH equipment available in Poland, Szymon has to import stuff from the USA. This gear helps him win more races, but also sparks an idea for a business.
Szymon decides to change his hobby into a business, and opens a bicycle imports company with his wife Anna. Today he admits that it was the most scary day of his life. They take off with a tiny booth at a Polish trade show.
7ANNA starts it's stable growth, acquiring new brands, new employees. Things start rolling in the right direction.
Not quite happy with the equipment available on the market, 7ANNA starts it's own brand. They call in Northshore Extreme. The first production contained a pick of some nice handlebars, stems and pedals.
Everyone in Poland seems to go crazy about Northshore. It is the only product at the market at that time to have the right combination of good quality, nice price and great image. The first official presentation at a bike festival is a great success.
Northshore is rebranded to become NS Bikes. The company signs it's first team riders, Waldo Kiebasinski and Greg Konwicki. Both work very closely with the company in the following years, helping with marketing and product development.
NS Bikes starts co-operating closely with a crazy street rider called Erenes. Three years later he joins the company to become Product Manager.
Erenes has ideas that lead the company to manufacture one of the most crazy hardtails ever made. Compatible with 24 and 26”, MTB or BMX hubs, pegs, rigid or double crown forks. Crazy... but everyone was talking about it.
NS becomes available in 3 European countries thanks to distributors in Germany, Holland and Sweden. More and more custom designed products are added to the line.
NS Trip 1: the whole team and their friends head out in a bus and travel the country. An amazing experience that all riders will remember for a long time. A second trip takes place 2 years later.
The 2006 Suburban frame. It sets out a new direction for product design at NS. Simple and beautiful with no unnecessary features.
For the first time NS has it's own booth at Eurobike - the most important international bike tradeshow. NS is now distributed in most European countries, as well as Japan and Australia.
The company moves into a new office and warehouse. Nothing really fancy but it's located on the edge of a forest with some really good trails nearby.
7ANNA starts NS Bikes sister brand - Octane One.
The first NS complete bikes become available - the Core and Metropolis. The launch of the bikes is supported by a unique interactive internet campaign.
Waldo retires from competition and takes the position of Art Director at NS.
NS picks up Swedish rider Martin Soderstrom. This super talented rider was already using NS gear for some time, and within one years of signing with NS goes to win just about every international contest.
The Majesty frame is launched. It's the lightest, strongest and most advanced hardtail on the market. It becomes the choice of many top riders around the world.
On many occasions, two or even three riders standing on a podium would be on the Majesty. Like at AKOD - where besides NS pro rider Bartek Obukowicz (on the photo), there were two other Majesty riders - Martin Soderstrom and Jan Toth.
With an incredible winning streak Martin and NS jump on the covers of mountain bike magazines around the world.
Prototypes of the first NS full suspension are shown at Eurobike. The company has been working on this frame for 2 years, but production will not start until 2011.
The assembly and painting of complete bikes is moved to Europe. The whole process was very complicated but it was worth it as the production is now easier to control.
Dirt Magazine publishes a 6 page story about Szymon and NS Bikes.
NS signs a two year contract with Sam Pilgrim who at the moment is one of the highest ranking freestyle mountain bike riders in the world.
Sam Pilgrims goes to win just about every major contest in 2011. His winning streak is simply unbelievable.
The NS Soda hits the market. This is a milestone moment for NS Bike and the premiere is accompanied by a video that tells the story of this project.
NS Bikes introduces the Fuzz frame, backed up by a new DH racing and R&D team
Sam Pilgrim wins the FMB World Tour for NS Bikes and is the first European to win the Champion title!
Premiere of Snabb complete bikes and frames. This was a start of the biggest bikes family in NS Bikes history.
Our first carbon bike was born - the Snabb E Carbon. Thereby we have „slayed” 3 bike frame materials: steel, aluminum and carbon fiber!
In 2017 we've established our first elite DH team competing in the UCI World Cup and other major downhill events around the world.
Big changes in our family - Sam Pilgrim leaves, Szymon Godziek joins. NS shows Fuzz 29" as one of the first production downhill bike on 29-inch wheels.