All of the parts, frames and bikes are developed by ourself and tested by our team riders.
Thomas Goering, www.ridebmx.com, march 2008: I started to ride BMX when I was 10—this was 1981. When I was 16 I learned something like Micro Mechanic, and bought a pair of Tioga Roll-On pegs, but the thread was destroyed real fast. My brother Wolfgang started a normal job around this time where he earned real money for the first time. Then we spent 800DM (around $600) and bought a small drilling machine. This was 1988. Then we ordered some alloy tubes...my mother was really surprised when the truck driver was ringing on the door and said here are a few big alloy tubes for Thomas Goering. In the beginning I cut each peg by myself, so each peg had a slightly different length. The idea was to stamp our company name on each peg, but for this I needed something small. After I talked with my friends, we had an idea to use the name of our city! If you abriviate Karlsruhe, it's K'he. We thought KHE sounded good in English, so the name was born.
THE NAME.
www.khe-bmx.com: We produced a t-shirt with the print " Kinky Huge Elephant" on it because everybody asks us what "KHE" means: KHE is just the short name of our city Karlsruhe. Karlsruhe ( KHE ) is a city with 300.000 inhabitants and a lot of big history. In 1817 the first bicycle was invented from "Freiherr von Drais" and it was called the "Draisine". The first car was built in Karlsruhe, too. It was in the year 1886 and Carl Benz (from Daimler & Benz) manufactured the first automobile.
Thomas Goring, www.ridebmx.com, march 2008: Our fist logo I drew by myself.
GRIND DISC.
www.khe-bmx.com: In 1990 we invented the Grinddisc in cooperation with Albert Retey. It abolished the bashguard frames.
BMX Plus! april 1991: Europeans are coming up with some rather trick freestyle components these days. KHE's Thomas Goring has his own line of products including footpegs, barend savers, twin-bolt seat clamps and an aluminium bolt-on protector called a grind disc.
www.khe-bmx.com: KHE released the first catalogue. The highlights: Fuss-Pegs, freecoaster hub and fork. Thomas Goering is on the cover.
KHE-FUB PEGS.
Thomas Goering, www.ridebmx.com, march 2008: Our Fuss-Pegs came with a steel nut (inside 26TPI and outside a M16 thread). These pegs were perfect for Miami Hoppers because you could screw them off and the wheel was still fixed with the steel nut. The special shape was perfect to learn grinds.
KHE-FREE-COASTER-HUB.
KHE FORK.
Thomas Goering, www.ridebmx.com, march 2008: Schlachtschiff fork with small stems under the tubes. At this time the front axles always broke and with our idea the pegs clamped into to dropouts and couldnt bend anymore. Each part of the fork could be replaced.
KHE GRINDDISC.
Thomas Goering, www.ridebmx.com, march 2008: The Grinddisc was used by Matt Hoffman and Eddie Roman back in the day and changed the Bashguard frame market. Haro used our idea and started to spec complete bikes with the Grinddisc.
KHE DOUBLE-CLAMP.
Thomas Goering, www.ridebmx.com, march 2008: First double bolt seat clamp...because in the past the seatpost diameter was 22.2mm and the frame always broke under the frame cut.
In 1993 Albert Retey designed our first frame, and it was called the Catweasle.
Thomas Goering, www.ridebmx.com, march 2008: When we tried to make our first frame (the Catweazle), we had no Taiwan connections. The biggest problem was getting good CroMo tubes in Germany because the big tube makers always asked how many 100meters you need for each diameter. Finally I got a company who made the inner safety tubes for rally cars because they were the same diameter as the top and down tubes. Then I got lucky and was able to buy from Motobecane (in France). They built a lot of BMX bikes in the 80s and had a lot of tubes still in stock. Finally we sent all the tubes to Russia because we had good connections there that would weld the frames, powder coat them, and send them back to Germany. Or sometimes we bought the alloy tubes from Germany and sent them to Russia—the only tubes you could get in Russia were on the black market and you never knew what kind of alloy you were getting. When the alloy pegs got sent back to Germany I had to pick them in my old Ford from the airport.
Ride BMX UK august 1994: KHE have had a freehub out for a couple of years now, but unfortunately various riders have experienced a couple of problems with the hubs after a few thousand miles use: it turns out that after extreme usage a couple of the weak points make themselves known and the hub malfunctions. KHE have erased the old problem with their brand new freehub, 'Albert's Rollvergnugen'. The new hub features tougher axles, sealed bearings, and design input by top Euro ground bloke Albert Retey featuring a whole new gut system improving things no end. So, if you want to rollback without the cranks pedaling backwards, then look no further.
The next two frames were the "Beater" and the "Premium Lagger".
PREMIUM LAGGER FRAME.
Premium Lagger frame designed by Jesse Puente. The Premium Lagger was a new generation of a flatland frame.
Beater frame designed by Jason Davies.
Thomas Goering, www.ridebmx.com, march 2008: At the time, it was one of the best all around frame geometries.
The biggest move in our 16 year long history was for sure the new "System Diatech" rotor. KHE and Dia Compe/Diatech developed this revolutionary new rotor system in the last four years which offers possibilities for new ideas and designs. Today, the internal system is made by VP components, one of the biggest headset makers, and Jagwire, the producer of the cables and the rotor. For 2002 frames we designed special new top and down tubes. These new CrMo CONE tubes make our bikes lighter and much stronger on the front of the bike, where it is needed.
KHE EQUILIBRIUM FRAME.
BUTLER LITE BAR.
Shaun Butler signature.
Our Pro bike models called the BUTLER Pro, MIDGET Pro and "The Equilibrium" (Jesse Puente's signature Pro model) On all our Pro bikes are equipped with the new "F-SET Pro" rotor system.
We introduced the new high-end part and bike line, focused on technique, strength and low weight.
KHE MAC TIRE.
We introduced the world´s first 20” folding tire, the KHE MAC tire which is also the lightest BMX tire on the market.
Thomas Goering, www.ridebmx.com, march 2008: We were the first to make the foldable freestyle tires. Of course, foldable tires are an old idea, but no one used them for freestyle before. It's great to see so many other companies following now to make the bikes lighter.
3-piece+stem design by Mark Pettersson. Raise: 212mm (stem bottom to griptube) with a slight backsweep 3.5°. Full Sanko 4130 Flatland Handlebar/Combo. Full Heat Treated, 6 Butted. CNC’d lightweight Stem part with 2 bolts. Colors: Cherry cream, pearlized white, pilot black, yellow. Complete weight: 660g.
TANTRA FRAME.
www.fatbmx.com, may 2006: The new Tantra frames arrived! It’s a special design by KHE flatland rider Wolfgang Sauter. The Tantra will also be available as a complete bike in 2007. Here are some details on the frame:
- 1-1/8“ internal headset or F-SET integrated rotor
- Euro Bottom Bracket
- Head tube angle 75.0°
- RC: 12“
- the 1-1/8” internal headset frame can be equipped with detangler rotor
- 100% Japanese SANKO 4130 CrMo
- TT length: 18.79“
- Weight: 1.98 kg | 4.36 lbs (non F-SET)
- Double Butted top-, down- and seattube, U-Pivots
- Heat Treated 3/8” Dropouts, Bottom Bracket and Headtube
Wolfgang is testing this frame now – after giving us feedback, the Tantra will be ready for production and sales. Also, this frame has a special geometry...
THE TANAKA FORK.
A special shaped flatland fork! Lightweight CrMo Flatland fork with special shape. Weight 798g/1.76lbs. 100% 4130 Sanko Japan Cromoly Conetubes. 10mm CNC dropouts (5mm thick). inner thread, alloy top bolt. With or without U-Pivots. Cromoly Shaft 175mm. 0mm extension. Brakecable cutting.
www.khe-bmx.com, june 2006: KHE was the first company which offered light weight Flatland forks. After the butted tubing technology allowed us to use Cromoly tubes without increasing weight compared to aluminium material we decided to change to Cromoly. The Tanaka fork also has cone tubes but flat pressed and welded inside the cnc machined dropouts. This way everything gets flat and helps a lot to spin around the pegs or grabbing the fork by hand.
RIP FRAME.
Bram Verhallens KHE signature frame.
TT: 18.8 - CS: 13.19 - HA: 74 - SA: 71.5 - 5mm thick dropouts ; 14MM slots - integrated headset (45/45) ; integrated seatpostclamp (25.4) - Euro BB - Weight: around 2.1 kg with seatclamp and headset (cups).
Bram Verhallens, www.global-flat.com, january 2006: Since a year or so i have been struggling to get this design right. Since around mid 05 i have been working to make this frame reality. RIP stands for Rest In Pieces. This ain´t supposed to be the frame that you spend your money on and replace it by some other frame. It´s supposed to be riddin till its broken in half. I really don´t wanna claim to be 100% OG with this frame! Frames with crossed and bended tubes already existed. Before you are goin to say so, I had my design way before the delta2 and psychopower showed up. So no I didn´t have the oppertunity to copy those! heheheh
PARIS FRAME.
Alex Jumelin´s KHE signature frame.
www.global-flat.com, may 2006: The frame is named after the capital of France: Paris. It's the first 100% heat treated CrMo frame made of 4130 Japan Sanko CrMo. The heat treatment and the solid classic geometry make the frame very strong. But at the same time it's one of the lightest bmx frames ever made: 1.55 kg = 3.41 lbs. CNC-holes in the seattube and bottom bracket. Top Tube Length: 18.78". Chainstay Length: 12.91". Head Tube Angle: 74.5°. Seat Tube Angle: 71°. The frame just arrived in the KHE headquarters and will now be tested by Alex.
GEISHA FREECOASTER.
We presented our new freecoaster, called the ”Geisha”.
STYLUS COMPLETE BIKE.
We introduced the lightest flatland complete bike (with a weight under 10kg / 22lbs) and the first entrance level flatland bike (“Stylus”) on the market with a freecoaster hub.
Designed by Bruce Crisman. Bruce puts in all his experience and ideas to make that hub the best and strongest Street Freecoaster ever. The most important difference to the Geisha Street Freecoaster is the axle: The KHE Reverse will feature a 1pc hollow CrMo axle instead of the stud system. 9T driver, sealed bearings, 14 mm hollow CrMo axle with allen key inside, 36H or 48H, Available as RSD or LSD in May 2007.
Thomas Goering: We introduced the first 14mm Street freecoaster. It started with the Geisha Street and proceeded with the Bruce Chrisman signature “Reverse” freecoaster with a solid axle.
Dave Freimuth: I love it. It's so smooth and rolls fast as hell. And the gap is perfect. I'm gonna give Bruce a big kiss next time i see him!
Bruce Crisman: The Reverse Hub has everything I've been looking for in a Freecoaster Hub. My capabilities for street riding have undoubtably increased thanks to the Reverse Hub.
Rich Hirsch: Feels perfect right out of the box.
Timm Wiegmann: The Medium Gap allows you to go fast on backward stuff and doesn´t feel that sketchy cranking forward at all. I've been riding Freecoasters for quite a while now - and the "Reverse" seems to be the best shot!
TRIPLE THREAT FRAME.
www.databmx.com, juin 2007: James Foster a dessiné le nouveau cadre de dirt le Triple Threat. Il sera décliné en vélo complet comme le cadre Bar-Bados de Phil Aller. Il y aura 2 bikes pour 2008 le Triple Threat LT qui remplace le goldie et le Triple Threat Pro qui remplace le method 2.
Thomas Goering, www.ridebmx.com, march 2008: KHE starts the year with a lot of new light KHEight parts, for example the plastic-glass fibre "Alchemy" pegs, the "Cirrus" bar or the "Cirrus" fork.
Thomas Goering, www.ridebmx.com, march 2008: Over the years, KHE gained a good reputation in the scene. For example, BMX companies like Mirraco (tires on high-end complete bikes), FIT (freecoaster on high-end complete bikes) or Federal (freecoaster) use KHE parts and technology for their products.
COPE.
Thomas Goering, www.ridebmx.com, march 2008: For 2008 KHE is proud to present a new brand for saftey gear, called COPE.
KHE LOYAL SEAT.
www.khe-bmx.com, february 2008: With a total weight of 190g/6.7oz (including the alloy seat post!), this gem weighs less than your average seat alone. Because most riders ride their seat at the same angle anyway, we figured that there’s no need for heavy seat guts anymore. By eliminating the seat guts, we were able to substantially lower the weight of the seat/seat post-combo. The retail price will be the same like a normal saddle costs alone.
Thomas Goering, www.ridebmx.com, march 2008: The design has been used in racing for more than 20 years, but it works perfectly for the street and dirt riders, too. Just about ever rider has the same seat angle, so having things adjustable makes them weigh more and cost more and just isn't necessary. The cost of the combo will be the same as a normal seat by itself. I think this part will become much stronger in the future, too.
ASTERN FREECOASTER HUB.
Thomas Goering, www.ridebmx.com, march 2008: There will also be a new freecoaster coming out called the Astern (also a Bruce Crisman signature). On the new one, you'll be able to change the pedal gap from the outside of the hub so you don't have to open the hub to adjust it. It is so precise that you can make the hub feel like a cassette. This is perfect for riders who don't like to ride with freecoasters because of the slack in the drivetrain. Riders will be able to try them out and get used to them, then change the gap to the size they want.
www.khe-bmx.com, 2011: KHEbikes introduced a new and innovative item. It was called “KHE Anchor Bar”, street bar, which is unique because it is a Bar-Stem Combo, which means that CrMo bar and stem are directly welded together.
TRIPLE THREAT DIRT FRAME.
www.khebikes.com, january 2009: The 2009 version of James Foster´s signature “Triple Threat” dirt frame is now available. The upgrades are: The weight went down to 1.81kg / 4lbs. KHE are using 20/20 heat treated Sanko tubes. All tubes like TT, DT, CS, SS are butted. The headtube is inside CNC machined to save extra weight. Seattube is butted and fluted on the clamping area. Material: 100% Japan Sanko CrMo, Headtube angle: 74,75°, Toptube angle: 21", Chainstays: 13,75", Weight: 1.81kg / 4 lbs, MidBB, Dropouts: 14 mm, lasercut, heat treated, Colors: rude charcoal, rude maroon, Extras: removable U-Brake Pivots, gyro tabs and cable hangers.
PARIS III.
www.khebikes.com, january 2009:Paris III the updated version of the lightweight Paris II complete bike arrived at the KHE warehouse. The frame TT changed to 18.2“ and the tubes became thicker to withstand whopper jumps. The bike has a Titanium Hindenburg crank now - the weight went down to 8.1kg / 17.8lbs.
KHE TITAN FLATLAND FRAME.
www.global-flat.com, January 2009: KHE has something very interesting for all the lightweight maniacs: A proto TI-frame with a flatland geometry ( TT: 18.8“, CS: 12.9“, HT: 74° ). "The geometry was kept as simple as possible to provide the maximum strength and a minimum of weight. The frame weighs only 980g/2.16lbs. We´ll build up a bike with all the lightweight parts we´ll find in our warehouse to see how far we can push the limits. How light can a serious bike become? You can check out the bike on the next Eurobike for sure."
SPECTER PARK FRAME.
The Specter park frame is available now. It's rather short which makes it more agile for rotation. Teamrider Daniel Dhers is riding the frame for a while and is absolutely happy with it. he technical information: -Material: 100% Japan Sanko CrMo -Headtube angle: 75,0° -Seattube angle: 71° -Toptube: 20,43" -Chainstays: 13,3" -Weight: 1.73 kg / 3.814 lbs -Bottom Bracket: MidBB -Dropouts: 14 mm, lasercut, heat treated -Colors: metallic grey, purple -Extras: removable U-Brake pivots, gyro tabs and cable hangers.
www.khe-bmx.com: KHE bikes introduced the lightest complete park bike called “KHE Specter PRO” with an incredible weight of only 8.35 kg (without pegs). This innovative step meant that “KHE Specter” was the lightest park bike on the market.
KHE A-DAMN FLATLAND FRAME.
www.khebikes.com, march, 2009: Adam Kun´s signature frame A-Damn is hardly tested y Adam. Some Specs: 100% Japanese SANKO 4130 CrMo + 100% HEAT TREATED + Dropouts: 10mm, lasercut, heat treated + Toptube: 18.9“ + BB: Euro + Angles: 74,5° + Weight: 1.52 kg / 3.351 lbs
Adam Kun, www.khebikes.com, march 27, 2009: Hello to all riders! A couple days ago, I received my new prototype frame from KHE. Its called: A-DAMN! Simply...I love it! I don´t wanted a revolutionary new frame, nothing new and special about the main tubes, all I wanted a clean, nice looking desing to make the frame comfortable to any tricks. I also pay attention to the weight, which is really important in today´s technical and spinning riding style. I hope You will like it too. Cheers!
www.khe-bmx.com: KHEbikes company was very happy that Daniel Dhers joined the team. Daniel Dhers is the X-games gold medalist in BMX Freestyle Park competition and he also got his own signature bike line called “KHEbikes Maceto”.
KHE ERLKONIG CRANK.
www.khe-bmx.com: Another big achievement was the introduction of the first fluted CrMo crank arms under the name “KHE Erlkonig Crank”. It is the first crank ever to feature fluted CrMo crank arms. Function and strength have been tested extensively in labs and by our riders. With improved squared shape, our exclusive crank arms are very stiff, solid, light and innovative.
www.khe-bmx.com: In year 2011, KHEbikes started to sell its bikes under different division. It divided its bikes into two groups, KHE Root Series and Signature Series.The Root Series are aimed for beginners and involve KHE Root 540, 360 and 180. Signature Series are aimed for professional riders. This involves Bruce Crisman´s KHE Schola (street), Daniel Dhers´ KHE Maceto (park), James Foster´s KHE Triple Threat (dirt) and Adam Kun´s KHE A-Damn (flatland).
Armin Batoumeni 1992 - 1998
Jamie Bestwick 1997 - .... Thomas Goering, www.ridebmx.com, march 2008: Jamie rode for KHE for nearly two years. After he won the Worlds, Woody Itson called me and he started to ride for GT.
Sebastien Bonnot 1998
Shaun Butler En février 2003, Shaun Butler signe chez la marque allemande KHE bikes. Son pro-model ainsi que des signature parts sont prévus, une selle, un guidon de dirt 2pieces, une fourche et un cadre. Un vélo complet devrait suivre, il s'appellera "Lamberblack" - Shaun Butler leaves the KHE team in september 2007.
Mike Canning 1992
Effraim Catlow 1995 - ....
Christophe Dassie 1998
Jason Davies 1996 - ....
Daniel Dhers TG, december 2008: Some last news of the year but a big one for KHE: We have some last news for you this year: We are happy to announce that we have a new team rider: It is no one less than the amazing Daniel Dhers. From now on, Daniel will ride KHEbikes frames and parts and will help to develop stuff. So you can expect some fresh products like a signature frame and parts in the near future.
Phil Dolan december 1991: I've got a sponsorship from KHE for all the stuff they do. Thomas came up to me at Alfreton in December. I mean he hadn't even seen me ride and he just came up to me and asked if I wanted to be sponsored. I said yeah, of course. They sent me a bit of paper and I signed it. I've got a contract and everything. Quite funny. It stipulates that I should ride in a KHE T-shirt at competitions and I get something like 50 marks if I win. It's alright, it's pretty cool. Being unemployed it's nice getting spare parts for free. - 1995
Stephan Geisler 1997 - july 2001, he didn't like to ride with the brake system but his contract said that he had to.
Chase Gouin co sponsored 1992
Kevin Guerdener from France january 2009
Alex Jumelin 1997 - 1998
Ulrich Kittel 1997 - 1998
Adam Kun
Martti Kuoppa december 1997 - ....
Alfredo Mancuso .... - thecomeupbmx.net, february 2009: Alfredo Mancuso is off KHE and currently getting stuff from Volume.
Harry Main www.khebikes.com, november 2008: Unfortunately, we have to announce that Harry Main from England will leave our team next month. For us it was always a pleasure to have him here. We are pleased that we were able to support such a talented young rider on his way to the top. We thank him for his technical input and creative ideas. Although we regret his departure, we wish Harry all the best for his future career. Harry´s signature bike „the Zenith“ will be still available.
Lee Musselwhite 1999 - ....
Jesse Puente designed the Premium Lagger 1996 - ....
Albert Retey 1992 - 1998
Marton Szilagyi 1997 - 1998
York Uno 1997 - 1998
Christian Wendland