Four years ago, having recently recovered from cancer, Nelson man Frank Witowski built himself a carbon fibre e-bike in his garage.
He made such a fine job of designing and constructing the bike that others wanted one, too.
Now Frank's garage project has become a booming bike business that's going international.
Frank Witowski with 2021 Supreme Award for The David Awards Photo: Supplied / Frank Witowski
Although there were plenty of cool e-bikes available, they were too pricey, Frank thought, and he could construct an even better one.
It was a case of "when you can't find what you're looking for, might as well do it yourself", he tells Jesse Mulligan.
Designing the original carbon fibre bike was very difficult, Frank says, and it took a lot of time and a lot of technical conversations to make sure he didnt get it wrong.
He had no plans to start up a business but when friends saw his creation, they wanted one, too. HYBRD E-Bikes was born.
"I needed something to do anyway because at the time I recovered from cancer and I didn't really have a job. I took a year off and it was sort of hanging in the air 'what will I do next?'
"You can plan for things and then certain things just happen."
As a fabrication material, carbon is light, strong, powerful and expensive, Frank says.
In New Zealand, carbon fibre e-bikes normally start at $8,000 and when HYBRID launched in 2018, theirs sold for $4,950 (They now cost $5,600)
As there's no suitable manufacturing facility in New Zealand - and he can't afford to build his own - Frank imports carbon bike frames from China and the other parts from elsewhere in Asia.
Back in Nelson, his team constructs the e-bikes and customises them.
When a visiting UK entrepreneur bought two HYBRID bikes and then offered to partner up and build the business there, Frank says the hook-up was nothing less than a "marriage made in heaven".
"I've been very ambitious for a long time and the key was, how do I enter the market? It was good I didnt enter it earlier because I learned a lot about what to look out for because I didnt want it to be a failure."
HYBRID will first release 250 European-manufactured e-bikes into the UK market and Frank feels very confident they'll take off.
"I couldn't find [an equivalent of] what we're doing in the UK so I think we've got the same niche there as we've got here."
New Zealand customer reviews confirm the quality of HYBRID bikes and the strength of their business model, Frank says.
"Price, value and reliability - ticks all the boxes."
He is thankful that his cancer was spotted early enough to be successfully treated.
"That's behind, we're looking ahead, and we've got big plans for our little HYBRID company now."
