As Co-Owners of SkiByk, Chris Schuler and Alfie Fernandez bring their unique experiences to the SkiByk and to the sport of SkiBiking.
As a long-time winter sports enthusiast Chris Schuler has a keen understanding of snow sports equipment developed through years of Skiing, Snowboarding and Ski Biking. Skiing since he was 12 and Snowboarding since 1984, Chris has ridden through the changes that both industries have seen. Chris started his winter career as an 18 year old kid fresh out of Hawaii…moving to a Ski Area in Washington State. He worked his way up to management, eventually opened the first Snowboarding only Rental Shop in 1987.
Working closely with the Ski Area and local Snowboard Shops and Manufacturers, Chris helped to develop the Northwest Snowboarding Series, which produced many of the world’s top snowboarding riders through the ‘90’s. As an active Hardbooter in the world of Snowboarding Chris was focused on snowboards that could truly carve and continues to ride hardboots today. In 2009 Chris was introduced to a SkiBob at Steamboat, Colorado…this experience led him to purchase his first SkiBike in the spring of 2010 a Geary SkiBike. Over the next 5 winters Chris rode his Geary, making changes to the SkiBike that would help make this bike become more of a carver. In the fall of 2016, Chris was introduced to a newly designed Ski Bike and his eventual business partner Alfie Fernandez.
Riding a bicycle, dirt bike and cars has been a passion for Alfie Fernandez since he was a kid. He has ridden everything with wheels from BMX to Mountain Bikes . When Alfie is not out SkiByking in the winter or Mountain Biking in the summer you will find him in his garage wrenching on his cars and bikes.
His passion for all things that go downhill, and building and working on cool stuff made his venture into the world of SkiBikes a natural opportunity. The first time Alfie saw a SkiBike was a homebuilt version one of his Mountain Biking friends had made. After a few laps at the local Ski Hill…Alfie knew he had to build his own and with lots of tinkering time and effort …plus a few skinned knuckles...he built his first ski bike.
Based on the way his initial home-built SkiBike rode and the responses Alfie received from Skiers and Snowboarders when at the Ski Area…Alfie decided to take his hobby and see if it could be a business opportunity. After many trips overseas and many visits to different manufacturing facilities…he decided to enter into an agreement with China’s second largest Mountain Bike manufacturing company to build a new prototype. Through the summer of 2015 Alfie worked with manufacturing to develop the original SB100 SkiByk. He spent the winter of 2015-16 riding and testing the SkiByk.
A fortuitous facebook post connected Chris and Alfie in the fall of 2016, after riding the original SB100 SkiByk at Sierra-At-Tahoe… Chris and Alfie decided to start a company and SkiByk, LLC was formed…Chris’s understanding of turn dynamics and his focus on building a SkiByk from the snow up and not the frame down combined with Alfie's knowledge of frame geometry and design capabilities culminated in the SB100 All-Mountain SkiByk, through prototyping, on the hill testing and constant feedback we at SkiByk are confident that we have produced a SkiBike for the masses. The SB100 is lightweight, yet durable…nimble, yet solid underfoot…rippy, yet carves like a Ginzu knife…the perfect ride. The SB100 All-Mountain – The SB100 All-Mountain SkiByk – the #1 selling Ski Bike sold in North America since 2017...7 seasons in a row!
Enjoy the Ride,
SkiByk