“Problem Solved”
This simple statement is one we’re quite fond of here at
Ride Engine, and as we evolve as a brand and expand our reach into different markets around the world, it’s one we’re finding more and more relevant in everything we do.
Ride Ending was founded on the notion of solving problems.
Coleman Buckley and his Santa Cruz kitesurfing friends took issue with modern harnesses and their many deficiencies. Buckley, fresh out of college, set out to solve these issues in a makeshift workshop set up in his garage. Through hard work, determination and collaboration with some of the best athletes in the business, the hard shell concept was born, and the problem with ill fitting, poorly performing kite-specific harnesses was solved.
Although the backstory is different, we look at the development of our lineup of wetsuits with the same “Problem Solved” perspective.
While surfing, kiting and testing inventions in what we fondly call Mother Nature’s greatest testing grounds (the mighty Pacific Ocean), Buckley and our Ride Engine collaborators needed just about every size, shape and thickness of wetsuit imaginable to stay warm and comfortable as conditions changed throughout the year.
The problem was, as down-to-earth young creatives with a passion for grass-roots ingenuity, there wasn’t really a wetsuit brand we could identify with or truly be stoked on. There were plenty of brands to choose from, but each had its own set of deficiencies and industry baggage, from the big-box marketing and cookie cutter feel of global big-names to the environmental disregard that many brands show in the materials and manufacturing processes they chose to use.
The core of the problem came down to this- If we’re going to spend hard earned money on a relatively expensive and extremely critical piece of equipment, we want two simple things: genuine quality in craftsmanship and a genuine connection to the brand we’re investing in and the values the brand represents. No brand lived up to those standards, so we decided to make Ride Engine wetsuits our next big project.