February 2004 - KGB Release Party, Amsterdam, Netherlands

Feb 06, 2004

Written by Bart de Jong

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Kuoppa and Gomez Bikes did a release party in Amsterdam last weekend, Marti living in Finland and Viki living in Madrid it was a wise decision to do the release in the middle of that so with Amsterdam filled with Flatground riders it was busy at "the Bitterzoet" bar. Marti and Viki decided over a year ago to start their own company cause they wanted to be Real Business men! No, they wanted to show the world that they know everything about Flatland and that they "will change that flatlandworld forever", first part is true, Viki and Marti are amongst the best 10 flatlanders in this world but it takes more to change the world than riding bikes and design a frame.

Being in Taipei together to find a company to produce their KGB stuff was not easy, they dressed up like Mafia guys, drinking more than ever, talked a lot to "real business men" and found out that Taiwan is not doing everything you want: Long waiting lines, Lots of special tools to be made, Large Quanities, Quality controls, Anti dumping, Shipping problems etc etc. Yes there is a difference in RIDING a bike and DESIGNING a bike and so is there a difference in being a RIDER and being a BUSINESSMAN. It doesn't matter if you have to learn in life, if you are as talented as Gomez and Kuoppa you will learn fast and everything will be fine in the end. Marti had a speech ready for months and just 1 minute before the actual performance on stage he was so nervous that he threw away his paper and went on stage and did some improvisation...... More F-words and crap than you will ever hear at a release party of ANY brand but it was fun and we all laughed our asses off! Last words of Marti's speech: "Next year I've spoken to so many businessmen, my speech will be better!!!!!" PdJ