BEHIND THE BRAND

NINJA MTB – REACHING FOR FULL POTENTIAL

Most of you out there may be wondering, what is a Ninja MTB? Heck, even we were unfamiliar with the brand beyond their Skills Clincs and MTB Coaching that one of our guys attended many years ago. Back then, we hadn’t heard of them either, but when he said, “I’d like to work on my cornering skills and there’s a clinic near me, if I go can I write a story for you guys?” As life-long students, we’re always open to learning more. Fast forward to our 2023 MTB Destination Tour stop in Klamath Falls, Oregon where we were approached by Richard LaChina in a pizza shop and we learned that Ninja had a face, and a headquarters in this unassuming town. Richard invited us to follow him to their HQ, which ran nearly 24-hours a day as the crew cranked out Made-in-USA ramps, shipped orders of MTB pads and some pretty cool bike stands too! Since then, we’ve grown to know Richard and Ninja MTB products a lot more, and are thoroughly stoked on what they’re doing. When we told him that we needed a 6-foot-tall ramp for a Loam Lander Airbag we recently took possession of, he said, we can do that! Let’s work together and make it happen. After a very busy 8 months we made the trip back down to Klamath Falls to visit Ninja MTB in their newly acquired HQ and factory, to pick up our own signature Lobo Launcher ramp and create this fun Behind the Brand video.

HOW NINJA MTB CAME TO BE

As we learned more about the Ninja MTB story, we couldn’t help but wonder how an aspiring downhill racer who was homeless and living out of a van, could start a business that now seems to be booming and involved in a very diverse set of product offerings. “Well, I realized that I wasn’t going to be able to race forever, so I started doing some coaching for other racers and recreational riders. As they grew and more people were interested in being coached, I realized this could be an opportunity to grow my business. So I started running bigger group clinics. As that expanded, I hired helpers and continued to grow from there. I recruited more instructors and we now have just about 200 instructors with classes in 47 States and do 2,000 events per year. We do everything from absolute beginner to professional level rider classes.”

It’s awesome to hear how you went from a racer trying to scratch together a few extra bucks to help pay for fuel and food between races into a nationwide brand offering clinics and coaching for so many riders. But, how does the rest of the stuff fall in?

“Well, the ramp business started because after we’d wrap up our jump clinics, people would tell us they didn’t have any trails nearby with jumps for them to practice on, and they wanted to keep developing their skills. They wanted to buy jump ramps and we found a partner to start building ramps for us initially. But we quickly realized that we needed to do it ourselves, so about two years ago we invested in that. We now have 8 full time employees with 3 or 4 part time people and several machines that are working hard and making ramps all day long.”

If you’re wondering how many ramps it is Ninja MTB makes, well, so are we…but its in the thousands, as they’re a preferred ramp brand at major retailers like Dick’s Sporting Goods.

So, we’ve got the evolution from racer to instructor to ramp manufacturer, but now, you’re also making some of our favorite knee pads on the market. No wait, don’t tell us, people were coming to your clinics and didn’t want to crash and get hurt?

“Haha, not exactly. We certainly had a bit of interest from attendees as well as from our big sporting good retailers who were selling our ramps, but the biggest reason we started making pads was that I always hated my pads! Over the twenty years I’ve been racing and riding, I bought every pad I could. I tested, abused and washed so many pads, that I finally felt ready to deliver a product that I wouldn’t hate! I wanted to create something that wasn’t uncomfortable, wasn’t too hot, could be washed easily, didn’t cost a ton and offered the safety we need on trail. After tons of testing, prototyping and revisions, we came out with two levels of pads – the Speed Kings and Hooligan lines – for those looking to either get a slimmer, lighter weight pad or something a bit burlier.”

Editor’s note: We have already reviewed the Ninja Speed King knee pads and have ranked them among our favorites of all time. If you’re in the market for a great mid-weight pad for 120-160mm rides, these things are sweet.

FROM RACING TO RAMPS

While it was awesome to meet and spend time with Richard and the entire Ninja crew, the real reason we came down was to pick up our Lobo Launcher 6-foot jump ramp. This ramp is now available on Ninja’s website and is a must-have for riders looking to practice tricks, get comfortable in the air or looking for a repeatable feature to hone their skills.

Whether you’re interested in the Lobo Launcher; one of their smaller beginner ramps; or even the wood bike storage rack solutions, you’ll know that these products are all made with care and precision in Klamath Falls, Oregon by a group of people who value the work and opportunities they have to create tools for fun.

To learn more about Ninja MTB Skills Clinics, Ramps and Protection Products, visit ridelikeaninja.com