THE BEGINNING

Redline was founded in November 1970 when Kastan, a motorcycle frame builder, partnered with professional flat-track motorcycle racer Mike Konle. The two men began designing and manufacturing swing-arms and lightweight motorcycle frames from a single-car garage in Northridge, California. Redline Racing Frames quickly gained a reputation as an innovator, equipping many professional racers of the era and forming a competitive factory racing team. Once established, the company relocated to commercial premises and embarked on a journey of rapid growth and success. 

It was by sheer chance that Linn Kastan first applied his vision for functional product design in the emerging BMX scene. In 1973, he designed and fabricated a bicycle frame as a Christmas gift for his son. Built from the same aircraft-grade 4130 Chromoly that Redline specified for its motorcycle frames, it was both strong and lightweight. Kastan was encouraged to show the frame to Shimano USA President Bob Hansing, who, in turn, referred Kastan to Jim Emerson, owner of Pedalers West, a bicycle shop in San Fernando that served as ground zero for the local BMX community. A productive discussion with Emerson that same afternoon led to the invention of the first Chromoly tubular bicycle fork. Kastan imagined the fork design during his drive back to Redline and handed the finished version to Emerson a day later. Read on …