TIMELINE OF JOSEPH KUOSAC

How it all started…

2009

Feeling discomfort when riding on regular bikes, Founder Joe Kuo started exploring the concept of bike fitting (bike fit machine, bike frames, etc.)

Having a manufacturing engineering background, Joe decided to start his own brand, Joseph Kuosac, which focused primarily on bike fit and ergonomic designs. Joe opened a bike shop in Taiwan under the name of Joseph Kuosac, which he helped customers with bike fitting and customizations. From using JK’s bike fit machine, Joe was able to customize JK road and mountain bikes for his customers. Being a cycling enthusiast himself, Joe understands the importance of comfortability when cycling in long durations. Whether it is for casual or competitive cycling, Joe believed everyone should be riding comfortably in order to reach the best performance, which is why he designed for many heights/sizes, ranging from 145 to 220 cm. Though this was an extremely difficult task for small businesses since he had to prepare inventory for each size in such small amounts, Joe was determined with his goals and continued to pursue his ideas.

Intrigued by Birdy folding bike, Joe also started to create designs for Birdy customizations, but the business was relatively small because Birdy made changes to its bike very frequently.

Partnering with a well-known Japanese mini velo company, Joe started to perform OEM for the bike frame, but unfortunately the partnership did not happen due to manufacturing reasons. By then, Joe had already invested a lot of time and money into this production, which caused roughly a hundred thousand US dollars’ worth of inventory to be placed in storage. Joe did not want to give up, so he took inspiration from the existing inventory and made large-scale design adjustments, resulting to his own JK mini-velo, Fitto. Titled as Fitto, the unique aspect of Fitto is the large selection of sizes, ranging from XS to XL. With concepts of bike fit, these five sizes have distinctive designs to match one’s height and size.

Developing into the mini-velo market, Joe released the C38C carbon wheel set for sizes of 355, 369, 406, 451. Since then, the C38C label has gradually become a trademark of Joseph Kuosac.

With experience of working on Birdy customizations, Joe put his attention to Brompton, one of the most famous folding bikes in the world. Corresponding to Joe’s initial goals, he brought the concept of bike fit to Brompton. By the end of 2014, Joe released JK’s ergonomic handlebar, ranging from full-rise, mid-rise, and flat handlebar for Brompton, as well as the unique JK knob type hinge clamp set.

After receiving positive response from the Brompton community, Joe designed a carbon wheel set for Brompton, which led to the release of aC38C 349 carbon wheel set. Due to poor heat dissipation by carbon, it was almost impossible for the market to use full carbon for a 349-wheel set. However, this challenge did not stop Joe, making JK’s 349 carbon wheel set one of the only 349 carbon wheel set that is riding on true carbon.

Joe also sponsored many athletes to form JK Team for competing in Brompton World Championship. Using JK Brompton parts, one of the JK Team member, Yavor Mitev, was able to win second place at 2015 BWC.

The success of JK Team continues as the team was able to win second place for 2016 BWC Men’s Team Category.

JK’s STROZZAPRETI Tires received a huge amount of attention after the first place of 2017 BWC, Unai Alvarez Mosquera, happened to be using JK tires for the race. Photographs of the cyclist was taken on the stage, and many people started to purchase JK’s STROZZAPRETI tires.

After the success at BWC, Joe took this opportunity to design more Brompton parts, including JK knob type hinge clamp set light version, easy wheels, and VARIOCOG.

On May 26 of 2019, Founder Joe Kuo had passed away due to liver cancer. In November, Joseph Kuosac closed its bike shop at Linkou, Taipei, and moved to a new office at Neihu, Taipei. Following the legacy of Joe Kuo, his younger brother Howard Kuo took on the challenge to continue the brand Joseph Kuosac.

Since the pandemic, cycling has become a prioritized transportation because it offered social distancing and low cost when transporting. Being known for its conveniency, the rise in demand for Brompton has led to Brompton bicycles being sold out everywhere world-wide.

Fortunate to have success in the bike industry, JK has made a decision of working with various charity organizations to help those in need. Partnering with Dr. Susan Love Foundation, and starting charity bike tours in Taiwan, JK hopes to work with many more charity organizations in the next following years.

To celebrate the ten years of Joseph Kuosac, JK will be releasing its JK X collection, including the first ever limited edition JK X wheel set, and other bike accessories.