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Guardian Bikes manufactures children’s bicycles at a 320,000-square-foot factory in Seymour, Indiana, which serves as both its headquarters and primary production facility. The company was founded in 2015 by Brian Riley and Kyle Jansen after Riley, while a student at Cal Poly, developed the patented SureStop brake system, which applies balanced front and rear braking from a single lever to reduce the risk of a rider flipping over the handlebars. The founders were inspired in part by a childhood memory of Riley’s grandfather being injured in a bicycle accident caused by uneven braking, and the company gained wider attention in 2016 after a Shark Tank appearance resulted in an investment from Mark Cuban. At the Seymour factory, Guardian bikes are built from locally sourced Indiana steel tubing that is laser cut, robotically welded into frames, powder coated, and hand-finished with decals before final assembly and inspection. The facility employs more than 400 workers in roles including welding, laser cutting, and quality control, and Guardian has said the domestic operation was set up specifically to keep manufacturing and quality oversight in-house rather than importing frames from overseas, as is common in the children’s bicycle industry. Guardian produces balance bikes, kids’ bikes in multiple wheel sizes, and, more recently, adult bikes, along with accessories such as helmets and locks.
