Who is Rimkunas?

(rim-coo-nas)

The Early Years...
Steve Rimkunas began his bicycle career in March of 1984 when he began work as a bicycle mechanic in one of the largest retail bicycle stores in the country. Within one year, he had proven his high potential in mechanics and management as he was promoted to crew chief in charge of over 25 assembly and repair mechanics. During this time he began working part time building wheelchair wheels for a small mail order company supplying wheelchair parts.

The College Years...
Steve worked his way through college at this bicycle store and received a degree in Civil Engineering with a concentration in structural design from the University of Delaware. During his junior year in college, he designed and built his first bicycle frame set. This included the design and construction of a frame tacking jig.

The Lost Years...
After graduating college, Steve continued to work at the bicycle shop and attempted to pursue frame building part-time. In an effort to increase his exposure in the bicycle industry, Steve attended the USCF Race Mechanic clinic in Colorado Springs, CO to receive his USCF Professional Race Mechanic License. During the 1992 race season, he worked as a professional race mechanic, wrenching at the US Pro Series races including the First Union Grand Prix in Atlanta and the US Championship CoreStates in Philadelphia. After spending the season away from the shop, Steve decided that being a race mechanic was a great experience but was not the direction he was interested in his career to go. He returned to retail mechanics and studied all the literature he could find about frame design and construction. He used this time to take various courses in machining, welding and cad. He also pursued wheelchair repair and became the official race mechanic for the North American Wheelchair Championship Race, held annually on Long Island. During the off season, he worked directly with the race promoter to rebuild used racing and sport related chairs to donate to disabled children across Long Island.

In 1995 Steve left the bicycle industry to expand his experience and used his degree to obtain a junior engineer position with a prominent construction firm. After only two months, Steve was promoted to Assistant to the Engineer in Charge for a multimillion-dollar highway reconstruction project. By the end of 1995 Steve was back in the bicycle industry when Ross/Barracuda Bicycles contacted him to work at their new bicycle factory.

The Factory Years...
Steve started at Ross/ Barracuda in their new bicycle testing facility where he became intimately familiar with the Shuz Tung Machinery. Here he was able to develop testing protocols and became very knowledgeable with the industry testing standards. Within months Steve was asked to work immediately below the president of Ross to act as general manager at the factory. By this time he new the workings of all the assembly machines, Holland Mechanics wheel machines, and Mach One wheel machines. Steve also worked directly with Shuz Tung to develop two new machines for fork preparations. During this time Steve was exposed to all matters of bicycle assembly including scheduling, warehousing, painting, production machinery, production processes and packaging.

The Prosperous Years...
In 1999, Steve entered the world of consulting engineering when he decided to pursue his New York State Professional Engineering license. This license requires four years of applicable design experience and to pass the state issued PE Exam. In 2004 Steve had received his license. During this time Steve worked directly with the owner of the engineering firm and moved quickly through the ranks, starting as a draftsman and working his way up to lead designer and project manager. As project manager, he oversaw the design and construction of large municipal projects including highway improvement, site improvement, and municipal swimming pools. It was at this firm that Steve realized the potential of his cad and 3d design abilities. His project management skills greatly improved due to the high financial value of the projects he was responsible for.

Today, Tomorrow & Beyond...
Currently devoting his time to launching Rimkunas Cycles and Designs, over the years, Steve has maintained a high level of involvement in bicycle design, fabrication and the industry as a whole. Aside from his engineering background and years of mechanical experience, he is certified by two separate bicycle fitting schools. His immediate plans are to combine his engineering, bicycle and wheelchair skills to lead Rimkunas Cycles and Designs into a prosperous future.

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