Jurgen Beneke Owner/Operator
Making my products in the USA was always important to me. Starting DaHANGER in 2013 with two Kickstarter campaigns was a dream come true. All of my hooks and hangers were created to solve my own problems of storing more bikes in an attractive way.
I am for sure my own best customer :)
At age five I started commuting to Kindergarten and spent most of the days riding my bike.
In 1984 I raced my first road race and joined the local cycling club in my hometown Freiburg in the black forest. (Germany)
The following years I raced road, cyclo-cross and mountain bikes and was able to turned my passion into a job by racing professionally for over 10 years.
Who is Jurgen? Click here
Being able to quit my job as a tool&die maker was a dream come true
but the passion for designing and building things stayed during my years on the road.
After my racing career fizzled out in 2000, I started renovating homes and making furniture.
Working in New York City apartment buildings taught me how to make the most
out of small spaces and that the best designs are often the ones with more than one function.
Bikes were everywhere.
I had collected over 20 bikes and some of them were true collector items that just didn't belong in a basement.
I needed to find a better way to organize, show off and store all my different bikes, but when I was looking for a cool contemporary bike wall mount I couldn't find anything that would work for all my bikes.
That is when I decided to build the first DaHÄNGER.
Prototyping in wood and building the first DaHÄNGERs:
I made the first model in the winter of 2013 and it took over three weeks to finish.
Everybody who saw it loved it and wanted one, but there was no way for me to make them at a reasonable price.
So I literally put the idea of making DaHÄNGER's for clients on the shelf and got back into renovating apartments.
Almost a year later while organizing my shop I held a DaHÄNGER in my hand and thought about my early days as a tool&die maker
and there it was, the answer: "PLASTICS".
"using a little bit of fossil fuel (plastics) to get people to ride more bikes and leave their cars at home, is a step in the right direction”
I truly believe life is better when you ride a bike.
The daily stress melts away and you can think clearly.
I want to make it easier for everyone to store their bicycles in style at home and have a daily bike ride be the highlight of their day.