The History of Firebikes

For Firebikes owner, Sam Mckay, it’s all about his on-going love affair with bicycles.

In fact, Firebikes came as a result of his own wants and needs with an industry that had him on ignore, back in 1998. Since then Mckay has developed some of the most amazing bike designs the bicycle industry has seen—and pre-dating all the custom chopper reality TV shows. “The first bike I made was a bmx frame,” Mckay explained, “When I was in planning, it seemed like no one would build a bicycle frame for me. When I finally found someone to build it, it was nothing like what I had designed when it arrived.”

IT ALL STARTS WITH A SPARK

“A few years later I wanted a cruiser and a friend of mine, nicknamed the Morgitition (Darren Jones, a mortician), said to me, ‘build me one and I’ll buy it!’ Well, it was built, and I named it after him—the Morgitition is still selling great today. Because of Morgitition, Firebikes was born,” said Mckay,34.

Firebikes is located in Lumsden, Saskatchewan—a small town just 15- minutes outside of the major centre of Regina—with a population of around 1400. The Firebikes facility itself is about 700 sq. ft.

Despite the limited space, Mckay is able to roll the pipe required, build frames and assemble bicycles—he even has space to work on my 1928 Ford Roadster when he has time. However, he does have to store his completed frames at an offsite warehouse about 30-minutes away.

His staff consists of, like many entrepreneurs, himself—though his wife Rhea does the books for him and his kids help out too.

“My son Riley and daughter Brittany help me around the shop with various things. Hopefully they will learn to weld and design—so far they have both designed their own bicycles,” explained Mckay who has a diploma in business.

THE FIRE CATCHES

Although the limited size of his manufacturing facility and lack of a work force hasn’t stopped McKay’s bikes from catching the attention of both vendors and bicycle aficionados throughout the world—he hopes to expand as demand builds. And there’s an advantage to his current situation.

“I build these bikes by hand which allows me the opportunity to constantly improve on my product. Little tweaks and adjustments can make all the difference,” he said.

Despite that, making Firebikes successful is an ongoing endeavor.