You might say that bikes have been a major part of my life. My father had bike shops in Argentina and also in Bayonne, New Jersey where I grew up. I started my retail bit in Florida with a $5,000 investment. I paid my dues for a few years, and with determination had an 8 bike-store chain to show for it. During that time I went through all the latest trends, bmx, road bikes, triathlon bikes and mtn bikes. Soon after I developed my first line of bikes (that were manufactured in Italy), called D'arienzo and had the pleasure of sponsoring some of the top triathletes of that time. Some you might know: Harold Robinson who was rated third in the world, and Djan Madruga who came in second in the world rating, Louis Murphy who won at Hilton Head! I also had the pleasure of sponsoring Lance Amstrong at his last professional triathlon race, in which he won the world short course championship.

Those were "the good ol' days"  as they say, but "what goes up must come down" and I came down hard. I was burning out. It was during this down time that I started to work on my chopper designs.  I sold my last bike shop in Miami beach and headed west  (looking something like the Beverly Hillbillies with everything loaded in my truck). I landed in Huntington beach. Unlike the Beverly Hillbillies, I wasn't living in a mansion, but in the back of a wharehouse with my first production of bikes called Rott Industries (named after a Rottweiler dog). There I was in sunny California with these strange bikes that were so cool but really hard to sell since they were so different from anything in the market.

During that time I became friends with a guy in Canada by the name of Liam Hayes who happens to be a great graphic artist and a guy who loves bikes. Later, at a trade show I met this dude by the name of Seth Grossman. He loved my bikes and arranged to have his grandfather lay out the cash to start our own endeavour called Phat Cycles. We started production of Phat Cyles and we had good success marketing and selling these wild bikes with Liam's graphics and marketing skills, but unfortunately the business was not being run right and with no future I soon terminated my relationship with Phat Cycles taking Liam with me. During my time with Phat Cycles, I made another important connection, befriending an amazing business man and bicycle factory manager by the name of Orien Huang, who like myself and Liam, loves bikes! He has been absolutely instrumental in building this company, and my debt of thanks goes out to him. This year, the three of us started 3G BIKES! ...and we're excited!

I really have to thank a few people that made this possible; People who believe in me, my concepts and my designs. Although some are mentioned above, their names bear repeating. These people are Orien Huang and Ming Chan who have invested much money and a lot of time and sweat into 3G. They live in Taiwan and have a trading company called Foxspeed. I'd like to thank Huida, a factory in China who also believe in me and who fed me and took care of me when I decided to literally put EVERYTHING into this company. One of the most important people that is responsible for the "look" of our bikes (paint and decals), and our company (from website to brochures, logos, merchandise etc.) is my business partner Liam Hayes who has seen some hard times along with me.

So this is me and the people who make up 3G BIKES.
We all have one love in common and that is our love for bikes!

KEEP ON CRUISING AND CHOPPING!

Regards
Gary Silva


P.S.  Remember when we die, we leave all the material things behind.
The only thing we take with us are the good experiences in life!

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And now a little bit about Liam Hayes.

Liam runs his own clothing and screen printing business in Vancouver, BC, Canada. He has been designing professionally since 1994 and strives to be the hardest working man next to Mr. Silva... who presently holds that title fast. Liam is an avid BMX'er and bike fanatic who brings added enthusiasm and style to the company. You can see more of Liam's work at www.GrumpyClothing.com

"Have fun! That's what it's all about. So get out and RIDE!"

Thanks
Liam