While in Rochester, Alec, Nick, and I dropped in on the guys at Kink BMX and Blackout Distribution to ask a few questions and check out how everything runs there. Jay Roe was kind enough to show us around a bit and introduce us to the family. Their warehouse, I should mention, is in the same building as Coalition and is right next door to the famous Forward warehouse.
-Words by Mark D.
-Photos by Nick
When did Kink get started and who were the people behind it?
Zack: I started it when I was 16 out of my room. Besides myself I had tons of input from friends.
What are these guys doing now?
Zack: Still being my friends.
Who works at Kink and Blackout now and what do they do?
Jay: Zack Phillips is the man behind Kink Bikes and Blackout Distribution
Chris Riesenberger runs the sales department for Blackout Distribution
Matt Antes is the Kink product designer and most everything else at Kink.
Jason Roe...I am the TM for Kink and shipping and receiving for Blackout Distribution.
The Warehouse
How long has Kink been in Rochester and has the riding scene in Rochester influenced Kink in any way?
Jay: Kink has been in Rochester since day one with a small stint in North Carolina. Rochester is in a weird area with a lot of companies in close range, such as FBM, Coalition, and now Sunday. I think Kink has held its ground locally here for a long time and it is definitely coming around again. Kids are starting to see what Kink is really about at a local level and they seem to be into it.
Did Blackout start as a way to distribute Kink products, or is it its own thing? How did they end up in the same warehouse?
Zack: Exactly, Blackout was just another name to distribute Kink. For a long time we have distributed Props and we were starting to distribute Odyssey along with a lot of generic stuff like brake cables and tubes, so we wanted to use a name other than Kink.
What brands does Blackout distribute?
Zack: We distribute over 20 brands now, such as Kink, Odyssey, Coalition, United, Shitluck, Tree, Square One, Hell on Earth, Sunday, Props, Dia-Tech, Kenda, Dia-Compe, FSA, Nokon, G-sport, Ride Videos, and a ton more. (You can see the full stock
online)
Does Blackout distribute to individuals or only to shops, etc?
Zack: We only sell to bike shops, we do not sell directly to any customers..
One of the aisles??
Who currently rides for Kink?
Jay: Right now the Kink team consists of Chris Doyle, Darryl Tocco, Dan Bogard, K.C. Badger and Sean Sexton. We are pumped on all of these guys, they all kill it and are a lot of fun to be around.
This is where all of the product images come from.
What goes on day-to-day at the headquarters?
Jay: Day to day routine in the warehouse consists of packing a lot of boxes full of bike parts and shipping them out around the country, throwing paint balls or computers out the window and maybe eating.
You have a sick ramp setup next door and a whole mess of skateparks in the city. Do you folks get out to ride these places a lot or are you too busy working and traveling?
Jay: We ride the skateparks here in Rochester almost everyday. X-Dreams is pretty fun, they have been refreshing the setup lately so that is always good. Other than that, we ride the warehouse that you mentioned from time to time. Street is fun in the summer. We really try to break out of Rochester as much as we can to ride different places.
The History Wall. A reminder of all of the cool things Kink has done.
Are there any groundbreaking designs on the drawing board for the Kink line that people might want to get excited about?
Jay: There are! We have a lot going on right now to make early spring a very exciting time for us. We will be releasing a stem, seat clamp, sprocket, bar ends, seat and K.C. Badger frame. Soon to follow the K.C. frame will be a Chris Doyle frame and a Team frame. We are really excited about what we have coming out. We’ll be posting pictures and information about everything real soon on the website.
A lot of companies have been producing their products in all sorts of whacky colors. As a distributor, are they selling, or is black still king?
Zack: In the last year colors and weights have been priority. Black still out sells color, but the gap between black and colors have been reduced greatly.
What is the best part about working at Kink and Blackout?
Jay: Everyone here rules, we all get along, it’s basically a bunch of friends working together and actually getting a lot done. It is awesome to be surrounded by BMX all day, everyday; I personally love it. The BMX industry is really interesting to me and I feel really fortunate to be a part of it.
Who would get the employee of the week award if there was one?
Jay: Matt probably would. The last few months have made for some staff changes/losses so he kind of got forced into taking the role of product designer, the IT department, and the art department. There are 4 people here at Kink Bikes and Blackout Distribution doing the work of about 7 or 8.
I guessed that the Empire Revision frame weighs 7.5 lbs, as per the contest posted last Friday on the Kink site. Do I get a shirt?
Jay: No...sorry. It weighs in at 8lbs, 3oz.
Last words, shout outs:
Hell on Earth belts!
