Thomas Göring

At this time, the BMX 2000 was the logical next step and "TG" opted for the black model with yellow plastic wheels. Together with his friends, he built a small track in the Rheinstrandsiedlung neighbourhood in the west of Karlsruhe and they learned their first jumps and rode small races. He took part in his first real race in 1982 in Magstadt and Rainer Schadowski's personal training track in Karlsruhe-Knielingen became his training ground.

Thomas was very ambitious in the races. The track in Grötzingen near Karlsruhe, which opened in 1985, offered completely new training opportunities and in the same year he made it to the final of the Herbstpokal in Rödermark, earning the right to compete with the number 8 on the plate in 1986. But at the same time, he was drawn towards freestyle, a sport that was just starting to appear in the magazines at the time. It was a long way to the races, whereas freestyle could be practised anywhere. He got to know the Karlsruhe freestylers Christian Wendland, Kirsten Maier, Albert Retey and Jerôme Fuchs. They always rode at Karlsruhe Castle, and he was also fond of the quarterpipe on Schadowski's track. Together they founded a show team and quickly got gigs in and around Karlsruhe, at shop openings and neighbourhood festivals.

In the spring of 1987, they travelled to their first contest together in Cologne's Jugendpark, and from then on Thomas dedicated himself entirely to flatland. They got to know the German freestyle scene, and their training ground in Karlsruhe's "Amisiedlung" soon became a place of pilgrimage for flatlanders from all over the country. Between the PX markets and the oversized street cruisers of the stationed US armed forces, they felt like the heroes from the magazines.

However, freestyle was in a difficult state: the sport was developing fast, new tricks were doing the rounds every day, but the bikes and parts seemed to have come to a standstill in their development. There were thin-walled frames with dubious "freestyle" features and forks whose dropouts could barely withstand the stresses of flatlanders on their pegs. And these pegs, usually made of cheap aluminium and bolted directly onto the axles, didn't even survive the first assembly in the worst cases.

Thomas Göring was training as a precision mechanic at the time and had to deal with quality materials on the job. When his brother joined the German postal service, they used their first salary to buy a small lathe and Thomas machined his first pair of pegs in the bedroom of his basement flat. Made to his own specifications, they were almost luxuriously large by the standards of the time and had a concave profile for better grip. A revelation! So it's no wonder that Thomas' mates wanted some too, and in 1988 Thomas travelled to the contest in Cologne with a cigar box full of pegs, which he sold like hot cakes. Then came a name and a logo: KHE Bikes was born - the first real "rider-owned" BMX company in Germany.

Thomas enjoyed the work. While the first batch of pegs was still handmade and the length depended on the raw material he had at hand, version two of the "Do" peg was a real product in 1989: equipped with two different threads for freewheel and coaster hubs, the characteristic concave design and manufactured and durable aluminium, KHE took over the peg market in Germany. Friends Albert and Christian became the first team and test riders and Thomas set about designing new parts, which still mainly had to compensate for the inadequacies of parts at the time. A double-deck seat clamp because the frames always broke at the seat tube, huge washers to reinforce the dropouts of the time, inclined stems because the die-cast parts of the time could not withstand the loads. Anything that could be turned or milled from aluminium was Thomas' concern, because at the time he had no access to high-quality steel and no way of processing it.

But he needed steel, because he wanted to build a frame. Thomas went in search of chromoly tubes and knocked on Mannesmann's door, but they only wanted to sell the strange dimensions needed for BMX frames per kilometre - something that was hardly an option for a small company like KHE. He stumbled across a stock of tubes from the bankrupt French bike manufacturer Motobecane The prototype of this frame was constructed in Albert Retey's basement from PVC tubes using a hairdryer and hot glue. With this prototype and the tubes from France, Albert and Thomas travelled to Minsk in Russia, where the first KHE frames were welded.

In 1993, the time had come: the first KHE "Catweazle" frames were delivered and Thomas came a big step closer to his dream of a complete KHE bike. Over the next few years, the company developed rapidly: KHE took over the wholesale of Heavy Tools and the fitting of their BMX bikes, they established contacts in Taiwan and were able to significantly increase both the quality of the products and the production capacity. The first complete bikes came onto the market. The sporting goods manufacturer Puma came on board as a co-sponsor and KHE maintained a large team full of well-known riders who travelled all over Europe and the world to shows and competitions.

And Thomas continuously pushed the development of BMX parts further: he developed freecoaster hubs, began to use multi-butted tubes, developed flatland frames made of aluminium, a new type of rotor system hidden in the steering wheel of the frames and foldable Kevlaer tyres for ramp, dirt and street that were significantly lighter than the tyres of their time.

Unfortunately, it was this size and the traditional supply chain of manufacturers, wholesalers and retailers that almost broke the company's neck in 2015. All it took was one unpaid large order and KHE was unable to release the goods and consequently could no longer deliver them. The company, or rather KHE's affiliated wholesaler TG Supplies GmbH, had to file for insolvency. Thomas and Wolfgang decided to take a very radical step at the time: they broke with the structures of the time and began selling products directly to riders via the Internet. What was seen as an affront to dealers and wholesalers at the time is now common practice and, in retrospect, saved the company.

And so KHE Bikes continues to sell BMX bikes and parts worldwide via the webshop from the warehouse in Dettenheim near Karlsruhe, where bikes are pre-assembled and Thomas continues to diligently design products. KHE endeavours to serve a market that is criminally neglected from TG's point of view: every single part of the bikes can be reordered and is usually in stock. High-quality parts at favourable prices, without high-priced branding, to make BMX riding affordable for children and newcomers.

As a BMXer from the very beginning, Thomas Göring consistently stuck to his vision and created Germany's first pure, rider-owned BMX company in 1988. From a basement apartment full of aluminium shavings, KHE has developed into one of the largest BMX companies in the world and continues to drive the market forward with innovative ideas. For this commitment, Thomas "TG" Göring was inducted into the German BMX Hall of Fame in 2026.