CLASSIC story

Classic born in Hawaii Express 1999

CLASSIC – born in Hawaii Express, Estonia, 1999

CLASSIC is a bicycle brand born right here in Estonia at Hawaii Express, developed over the past 20 years by our own team members – Technical Director Enn Rohtla and one of Hawaii's founders, Kaijo Kuusing. Every Hawaii Express employee plays a part in the success story of our bicycle brand – by assembling bikes, sharing insights gained from helping customers with their choices and maintenance, and contributing ideas on how to keep improving CLASSIC bikes. Estonian cycling enthusiasts are also part of the creation of CLASSIC bikes – their preferences and direct feedback help pave the way for future model generations.

Great companion

Hawaii Express produces CLASSIC bikes to be a reliable partner for busy professionals who spend their days in the saddle, an inspiring and durable companion for adventurers and fitness enthusiasts, and a unique mode of transport – even a stylish accessory – for urban riders.

Reliable bike at an affordable price

The CLASSIC range includes around 60 different models, designed with the needs and preferences of both adults and children in mind, and tailored to local road and weather conditions. Built from carefully selected components, these bikes offer maximum durability at an affordable price. By drawing on the knowledge and experience we've gained over 25 years in the cycling world, Hawaii Express is able to offer significantly better solutions than major bike manufacturers – at a lower price.

CLASSIC story, since 1999

The idea of creating our own bike brand arose in the late 1990s when Hawaii Express had already gained a reputation as a reliable expert in the cycling community. We were not satisfied with the model selection and pricing policies of major bike manufacturers. We started looking for ways to produce our own bikes, with technical solutions, designs and imagery that we could shape ourselves. Since 1999, CLASSIC bikes have been produced 100% as custom orders for Hawaii Express. We work every day to find technological solutions and components for the development of CLASSIC bikes that have proven to be of high quality and reliable, improve rideability and offer a genuine riding experience. We constantly monitor global cycling trends, looking around at trade fairs, in the woods and on the asphalt to offer bikes with the construction, design and technology that meet tomorrow's expectations and work in practice. We are flexible, fast and efficient.

Name story

We decided to give the bike brand a name that would be simple and memorable, universal, appealing to both urban cyclists and athletes in Estonia and elsewhere. The new bike brand was immediately well received, because the price-quality ratio was right, the model selection was appropriate, and Hawaii Express as its creator and recommender was trustworthy.

Not just in Estonia

CLASSIC bikes have also been riding in Latvia and Lithuania for the past 20 years. We believe that with functional and affordable bikes it is possible to compete everywhere.

CLASSIC – 100% Hawaii Express custom work

We assemble CLASSIC models from the best components available in the cycling world, mostly using Shimano gears and derailleurs from Japan. Each bike model is custom made to Hawaii Express's technical description and design, under the careful supervision and testing of our team members.

Before the bike reaches the store for sale, we:

  • monitor developments, trends, sales statistics and competitors' activities in the cycling world to see what new might be needed, what solutions are available, what we can do differently and better
  • draw up a complete technical drawing, specifications and preliminary design concept for each model and frame size, together with the desired painting solutions and colour codes
  • ask for quotations from different factories, negotiate production conditions
  • take into account factory feedback on possibilities or necessary modifications based on the design
  • produce model samples at the factory and bring them home for testing
  • test prototypes in Estonia
  • make necessary modifications to the designs after testing
  • approve models for mass production
  • are 100% present when bikes are being produced and manage every stage of the work
  • pre-set the production line and each stage of the work and the machines according to the specific requirements for assembling our bikes, familiarise the people doing the work with the necessary details
  • check the bikes being assembled on the production line every day on site, their packaging and dispatch

The production cycle lasts about a year in total. From creation to testing and ordering takes half a year, from the finally approved production-ready model to ordering and assembling on the production line all the hundred or so different components destined for all our bikes takes at least another four months, and production lasts a month and a half. 300-800 CLASSIC bikes are produced in one day, with up to six models being worked on simultaneously on 1-2 production lines. The bikes are packed and shipped across several oceans to Estonia in 40-50 days, after which they are stored in our Tallinn central warehouse. From there, the bikes are transported by our transport to the shops, where they are assembled, adjusted and thoroughly checked again before reaching the sales floor. As an additional quality mark, we offer a -50% discount on the first service until the end of the year of purchase.

We make one CLASSIC model as long as it is good and meets expectations, slightly tweaking the technique and appearance each year. On average, the life of a model or model family is 3-5 seasons, with 5-10 new CLASSIC models added to the range each year, and the same number removed or changed. We are able to produce bikes in any model and colour scheme from 50 units upwards, but if necessary, it is also possible to produce special bikes and bikes with a personal design as custom orders.

In general, the CLASSIC bike range remains within 50-60 models. All the main bike types are represented, from balance bikes to children's, youth, mountain and city bikes, fully equipped and without, maintenance-free internal hub and more traditional external gearshifts, as well as special bikes such as folding bikes, fat bikes, BMX. Each model has cheaper steel frame and lighter and better alloy frame and alloy fork or suspension variants.

Production and quality

Over the past 20 years, we have produced CLASSIC bikes in five different Asian countries.

In the search for factories, we take into account both quality and price, local and European Union policy. We started in high-tech Taiwan, then moved to cheaper China. When Estonia joined the European Union, around 65% customs duties were added to the country of origin and we had to change the country of production and the factory several times in order to achieve a reasonable end price.

It is done well in Asia! In China, we produced CLASSIC racing bikes in one of the world's most famous factories on the same line where TREK, GT, FUJI and other top brands were made. Next, we produced CLASSIC bikes in the same factory where SPECIALIZED, CUBE, a dozen German and Dutch, as well as more well-known Swedish and Finnish bike brands came off the line next to our bikes.

All our bikes are manufactured in factories that meet the highest ISO certificates and the strictest European Union safety and environmental standards.

Did you know - fun facts

  • CLASSIC is the preferred bike brand in Estonia. Every year, 8,000 CLASSIC bikes are bought. In 22 years, a total of over 135,000 CLASSIC bikes have found their owners!
  • The average CLASSIC bike costs less than 300 euros. Model prices range from 99 to 499 euros.
  • The most awarded CLASSIC bike has been the Team mountain bike model, which brought a double victory for Estonian men in the Paris-Dakar bike rally in 2006.

  • The fastest CLASSIC bike has been Rein Taaramäe's youth road bike model Speed 3.6, which he rode before turning professional. Tanel Kangert has also been riding CLASSIC bikes in his youth.

  • The lightest metal CLASSIC mountain bike frame was made of scandium 15 years ago and weighed 1280 grams.

  • The lightest new age CLASSIC 29" carbon mountain bike frame weighed 1390 grams and the whole bike 9.8 kilograms.
  • The lightest CLASSIC bike today is a balance bike, made of aircraft aluminium and weighing only 1.9 kilograms.

  • The hardest working CLASSIC bike is a special model made for Eesti Post. It is used to deliver our daily mail all over Estonia. The average annual mileage of a postman is 6000km, in any weather and in winter with studded tyres, carrying 40kg mailbags.

  • The muddiest CLASSIC model is FÄTT, a bog, land and snowmobile, a universal rental bike.

  • The most travelled and battered CLASSIC bike is the Legend, an ordinary mass-produced four-hundred-euro mountain bike, which the fearless men of Uhhuduuri used five times on their journeys through the continents of Asia, Africa and South America, familiar from television and books.

  • With the same bike, the CLASSIC Legend, Estonians and Latvians rushed from Helsinki to the Arctic Circle in January 2001 to visit Santa Claus, covering 900km in a week on Finland's freezing winter roads.

  • The most consecrated CLASSIC model has been the Tule Toojad, three-wheeled tandems, which played a major role in bringing the fire of the Song and Dance Festival. The 2014 TuleTulemine started on 15 June in Tartu, and the 1000-kilometre journey took 20 days on bicycles through the counties to Tallinn for the Dance Festival performance.

  • The most unique freak and true collectioner's item CLASSIC has been the Monster Stereo Družba one-off with a wide sofa seat, which was used by two people side by side to complete the Tartu Rattamaraton.

  • The most shape-shifting and ethereal CLASSIC model has been Funk, which over the years has been glued all over with fur, bubble wrap, kraft paper, straw and hay, Kalev sweets, sauna leaves and more for the Vändra marathon raffle prize.

  • The most melodic and song-loving CLASSIC model has also been Funk, which Liis Lemsalu and Maia Vahtramäe loved to spend their balmy summer days with in their youth.

  • The rockiest CLASSIC model has been Chopper, which actors and rock stars loved to pose with in the early years of the century.

  • The most electrified CLASSIC model has been the E-CLASSIC, the 2013 electric bike, which even then one of the more progressive Estonian city governments bought 10 of for its officials' work trips.
  • The most power-hungry and privileged CLASSIC bikes have been the blue-painted and yellow-starred special models that rolled under the seats of European Union President Romano Prodi and Estonian Prime Minister Mart Laar in Pärnu in 2001 for 16.9km, exploring the headless Lenin and other sights of the summer capital.

  • The longest-running CLASSIC model is the single-speed simple Deluxe. It is essentially the same today as it was in 1999.

  • The most handmade CLASSIC is the newest Elegance model family of 2019, with countless beautiful dots handmade all over the bike with tiny fingers and natural baskets hand-woven from real wicker on the handlebars.

  • Culture is in constant motion and development, as is the healthy lifestyle person. In 2011, Estonia's well-known artists contributed to a cultural project promoting cycling. The inspiration came from the Classic Funk, which belongs to the retro-trendy series.

  • 2022 season we made 7 new CLASSIC models
  • We are growing and developing rapidly ;)