What Happened to KMX?

[Conrad_K]

The guy who sold me his KMX Typhoon said he bought it from Utah Trikes. Utah was the major (sole?) US importer for KMX. They also made some variants, like tandems with their own locally-built frames, accessories, etc. Utah's web site is still covered with KMX stuff, with "not available" next to most of it.

I found a mention somewhere that KMX had said was dropping American sales "to concentrate on the home market". Archive.org has some captures of the KMX web site, which said nothing about it. Apparently KMX was still on Facebook for a while before they vanished from there, too.

KMX was selling a buttload of trikes in more than one market before they folded their tents and silently stole away. I understand that "business difficulties" can happen to almost anyone, but usually there's some kind of announcement ranging from "thanks everyone and 'bye" to angry creditor lawsuits. As far as the web goes, KMX just vanished one day and nobody seemed particularly curious about it.

 

[Kingfisher101]

This is a U.K based site, perhaps ask a US based cycling site. They will hopefully know more than us.

 

[craigwend]

Doing a bit of Google to the founder of the company and companies house info...

https://find-and-update.company-information.service.gov.uk/company/04482975/filing-history

 

[classic33]

 

[DaddyPaddey]

Their premises were on the outskirts of Fareham in Hampshire, which is about six miles away [close to a secure establishment for people with mental issues]. The boss moved down to the West Country, leaving the unit still operating. This was pre covid so I don't know what has happened since, but will ask my son as he has a KMX

 

[Conrad_K]

Please do.

I don't know how big KMX was in the UK, but they were huge in the USA. Until they weren't.

 

[PaulM]

My recollection is that WizWheelz who own TerraTrike bought KMX. I believe shortly afterwards they also bought Greenspeed, then discontinued KMX trikes. As a result we don't have any KMX or Greenspeed dealers in the UK. The problem with trikes is the cost of shipping. ICE and HP Velotechnic ship their frames from Taiwan but have the sales volumes to make it economic. And most of their trikes fold which reduces the cost.

 

[Conrad_K]

Searching "terratrike bought greenspeed" coughed up a press release from WizWheels saying they owned TerraTrike, were a distributor for KMX, and had just bought Greenspeed.

It says WizWheelz is out of Michigan, USA, and that they acquired the distribution rights to KMX in 2019, which is about when Utah Trike stopped selling them, judging from dates on Utah's web site.

WizWheelz' web site is almost entirely useless. "Optimized for phone?" There's no mention of KMX at all.

Okay, that gives a general idea of what happened. Somehow WizWheelz became the exclusive US importer instead of Utah Trikes. WW already sold a much more expensive trike, and bought another trike company that also had a much more expensive product. They probably viewed every KMX sale as coming out of their pockets, which is why they aquired and then shut down imports. I've seen that happen multiple times in the computer industry.

Walking waaay out on a limb, I'd guess Utah Trikes was the largest chunk of KMX' sales, and when WW failed to continue that, KMX ran into cashflow problems and wound up shutting down.

Meanwhile, Utah is selling half a dozen other trike brands, but not TerraTrike or Greenspeed.

Thanks, Paul! I might have the details wrong, but that's close enough to scratch that particular itch.