We recently featured a summary of some of the best kite harnesses on the market for girls, however we kept a little secret from you that we found about not so long ago, a young man called Coleman Kinzie who creates completely custom harnesses under the name RIDE ENGINE.
What makes these harnesses different are that they have been completely custom made to fit you, with a moulding kit being sent to customers before the manufacturing process can begin. They are also made of carbon fibre which both spreads the load across the entire harness and allows it to stay low and in place instead of sliding up and becoming a push-up bra (which of course for us girls sounds like a dream).
Oh and did we mention that you can completely custom design your harness !! Yes we are serious, as every harness is hand made it is possible to send ENGINE your own custom designs as well as choosing all of the materials and fixings. We have even seen the word ‘glitter’ on the specifications list.
We are not going to give away all of his secrets, but we do think it is about time we had a little talk to Coleman and let him tell us a bit more.
KSm: Can you introduce yourself and tell us a little bit more about the man behind the RIDE ENGINE name?
CK: I was born in Germany but grew up in Northern California just north of San Francisco. I was lucky enough to have an early education that emphasized arts and crafts so making and designing has always felt pretty natural to me. Jump forward to three years ago and I had just graduated from Stanford University with a biology degree and no idea what I wanted to do. Lab work didn’t hold my interest the way learning about science had and I don’t like people enough to be a doctor.
I decided to move to Santa Cruz for a couple months to catch some waves while I figured out my next step in life. Pretty quickly I got into kite surfing and just became totally obsessed with it.
KSm: How did the inspiration and idea come about to start making harnesses?
CK: actually started out by making my own kites that had a zipper system that allowed them to fold so a 10m could become an 8m etc. Those worked pretty well but no company wanted to mass produce them so the idea was put on the back burner.
Anyhow I had always struggled with getting my harness comfortable while kiting and eventually just sort of assumed some level of uncomfort was inherent in the sport. Then one morning I was out riding and got the idea to make an inflatable harness that would expand into my back for a more snug fit. I already had a sewing setup from making kites so I ripped apart my dakine pyro, put a small kite-style bladder in it and put it back together. That worked well enough that I got interested and just started experimenting.
I realized that kite harnesses are based off windsurfing harnesses but on a windsurfer you are never getting thrown around by your harness like in kiting. Thus, a kite harness needs to be a lot more supportive and able to stay in place. Eventually I tried making hard shell harnesses and that just worked really well.
I gave some prototypes to my friends, people noticed them, and a trickle of emails asking about them started coming in. After 9 months I was starting to get orders every week so decided to try making it a business.
KSm: Clearly you have some practical and creative skills up your sleeve then?
CK: I just really like making stuff. Doesn’t matter if its shaping a surfboard, planting a garden, or cooking a meal. I just like the process of making ideas tangible. Because I love that stuff I have accumulated a lot of random skills over time. Nothing is that hard to figure out if you have a genuine interest in it.
KSm: How long did you spend refining your ideas until you decided or felt ready to start selling the harnesses?
CK: 8 months, which is a laughably short time for R&D. No time to figure out warranty stuff or really even get the design perfected. I didn’t feel ready to sell them but people were waving money at me though so I started by selling prototypes. Things started speeding up because each time I made one I could improve on it from the one I had made earlier in the week and so the research and development really got going once I was already selling them.
I wouldn’t recommend that practice to anyone because there is potential for major problems but I got lucky. I am still doing that though, I’d say the design gets an upgrade every three weeks or so.
KSm: How’s business going in terms of competing against the mass market producers?
CK: In terms of competing at scale its not even close, I am way too small to be considered a competitor. However, if you just look at professional riders I’d say I am giving the big companies something to worry about.
The most talented and recognizable names in kiting are now riding engines. They were getting their gear for free from Mystic, Dakine, Ion, etc and actually pay me for materials etc. because they like the equipment so much more. I think that says a lot.
In terms of competing at scale that’s just gonna take time, I don’t want to grow too quickly and lose control over quality.
KSm: …and what makes your harness something we should choose over the big brands?
CK: Because my harnesses are simply way better. Being comfortable and able to breathe easily while riding counts for a lot. The premium you pay to get an engine vs a regular harness is pretty small compared to what most people spend on their kites etc.
KSm: Does this significantly smaller size make it even more ideal for girls with our curves and “sticky outty bits” ? ;)
CK: The size definitely helps but what really makes the difference in the overall design and shape. Its important to have you harness stay low because if it rides up it makes it harder to breathe and also decreases how well you can control the depower on your kite. A harness that fits your hips and lower back isnt going to ride up so you can perform at your highest athletic level.
KSm: For us girls the most important thing along with comfort is style. Are we right in believing that we can design absolutely anything we like to go on the back of our harnesses?
CK: Pretty much. I haven’t had anyone yet come with something I couldn’t do.
KSm: What other girly touches could we add?
CK: Haha, I don’t know. I don’t really focus on “girly stuff”. I think women just want gear that works and isn’t just a shrunken down version of men’s equipment with some stupid pink flowers on it.
KSm: Have you made harnesses for anyone we might have heard of?
CK: Aaron Hadlow, Sam Light, Ian Alldredge, Patrick Rebstock, James Boulding, Andy Yates, Josh Mulcoy, Ben Wilson, Cynbad Brown, Claire Lutz, Gretta Kreusi, Jon Modica, Joby Cook, Hope LeVin, Teddy Lyons. Bunch of other really talented riders too but those are the names that I feel like people might of heard of.
KSm: So you have been a busy boy then, …what are you next plans?
CK: Figure out how to meet demand. I make everything in my garage at the moment so I need to get a real factory set up and hire someone to help me.
KSm: Do you think you will have time to squeeze in a couple of harnesses for us in the meantime?
CK: Of course!
KSm: Thank you so much. We’d better give you the chance to close out your interview with anything you would like to tell our readers.
CK: Nothing is real until you make it happen. Just start by doing it the quickest, cheapest, dirtiest way possible. Its in the process of experiencing and interacting with something that you learn if you actually have a good idea. Whatever it is, whether a skill you want to develop, a product you want to make, a person you want to meet- just stop planning for moment and go for it.
Don’t worry readers we will be keeping you updated with the production of our harnesses and any future updates from RIDE ENGINE. If you in the meantime decide to have a harness made we would love for you to send us images of you in your harness to show the world.