"Engineering isn’t so much a career as a calling for me. Growing up I spent my time designing and building everything from radio control gliders, yachts, and surfboards to telescopes. While studying Mechanical Engineering at the University of Auckland I was introduced to mountain biking, and with a background in BMX it wasn’t long before I was representing New Zealand in downhill, exploring our back country, and questioning the latest thinking in mountain bike design."

"After a chance meeting with Rob in the forest in early 2015, and a five minute ride on his Zerode bike, I knew the future of mountain biking. I can still close my eyes and remember that first run - along Under Billy across the road into Sesame Street and down to the shuttle - the bike was silent, it floated and for five minutes I was a faster and smoother rider. The addiction of suddenly being better at something I love doing was real and it was the hardest thing to give Rob back his prototype."

Based in the Netherlands, Hugo is responsible for Zerode's activities in Europe. Mountain biking has been Hugo's passion since the early nineties. "A lot of great things come together in our sport: physical exercise, riding technique, being together with friends, beautiful nature, cool equipment and adrenaline. The difference between mountain bikes of today and those of the nineties is huge and the developments have contributed enormously to what you can do with a bike and how much fun you have on it."

Lewis hails from Wellington, where there's a super cool mix of urban space and steep techy trails all set in a small area. This cool mix had a big influence on Lewis and his outlook on riding, work and being able tio take up any challenge put in front of him. He's an absolute shredder, incredible mechanic/photographer/problem solver and all-round integral part of our team.

Tom is another jack-of-all-trades and a master at all of them. Currently doing a few months riding in Whistler, Tom takes acre of all things bike building, workshop and maintenance at our HQ. Tom also has his own bike brand - Vibe Bikes - old school custom build bikes that look cool outside the pub!

Living just up the road from Rotorua, Phil bought a Taniwha a few years ago, and was so stoked on how it transformed his riding, he made it his mission to harrass the Zerode team to let him work for the company. They gave in eventually and he's now a happy man. Phil came to us from the mountain bike tourism industry, having founded and operated New Zealand's premier multi-day tour operator - New Zealand Mountain Biking.

Pascal, team member of the European team, is a biker from the very beginning of mountain biking for whom the sport plays an important role in life too. Not only has he been riding for so long, he also has many years of experience as a mechanic. Always aware of the latest developments and driven to understand every technical detail. No wonder. He's an engineer.

We once approached Jorrit because he has such a great riding style. Less than a week after he received his bike, things turned out to be brewing and an employment contract was signed. Jorrit is jack of all trades in the European team, mainly active in creating cool builds.