Enik (bicycle manufacturer)

Enik ladies bike from the 1990s

Enik was a German bicycle manufacturer based in Wenden (North Rhine-Westphalia).

The company was in 1945 in Arnsberg first as a bicycle repair shop by E mil Nik read (hence the company name) after his return from captivity founded. Within ten years the company had 34 employees, up to 1955 100,000 bicycles were produced annually, in 1980 around 250,000 racing, trekking, city, youth and children's bicycles.

In the 1950s, Enik also manufactured mopeds: Sachs built-in motors were installed in modified and reinforced women's bike frames. For many years, Enik advertised the hand-soldered frames of their bikes. After completion, the solderers hammered a symbol into the frame, which could be used to check at any time who had soldered the respective frame.

The in-house frame production was discontinued in the early 1990s, since then Enik had the frames made to order in low-wage countries. However, the wheels were still all painted, equipped and assembled in Wenden. Enik became particularly famous for one of the first really child-friendly children's bikes, the "Pumuckl", which featured brake handles and impact protection, among other things, for children's hands.

Enik was also the first manufacturer to offer hydraulic brakes for bicycles, which were designed in collaboration with Magura .

In addition to classic racing bikes from Columbus tubes (some under-chrome plated) and Tange, the company also produced wheels for track cycling .

In 1971 Emil Niklas' son Anton Niklas took over the company, which from then on was also involved in racing and supported the amateur team of North Rhine-Westphalia. On May 1, 2007, insolvency proceedings were opened due to insolvency and over-indebtedness. Liquidation followed. Two former executive employees bought parts of the production from the bankruptcy estate and opened a new bicycle factory under the name "N&W Cycle GmbH" in the neighboring municipality of Wenden, Friesenhagen.

Individual evidence

1. ↑ ^{a b} Ralf Schröder: Lexicon cycling . Die Werkstatt, Göttingen 2003, ISBN 3-89533-473-1 , p. 124 .