The Team

Ernesto Cuicapuza

Curious and adventurous, I left Peru when I was 20 years old. My first stop was Astrachan (Russia) where I got a scholarship for studies in Naval Architecture Engineering.

 

The situation of radical change in Russia during the 1990s brought me to Germany in 1994 where I met my wife Nicole. Shortly after we got married, our daughter Mailina was born and three years later our son Jairo. We decided to stay in Germany and I finished my studies in engineering at the FH Mannheim. As a mechanical engineer, I was working for 13 years in the sector of nuclear technology.

 

As a student I started to develop a particular interest in racing bikes. Since 2007, I have been investing a lot of time in building new mountain bikes and in restoring racing bikes of high quality with steel frames.

 

Not only was I fascinated by the handicraft itself but also by the exceptional properties of racing bikes and the athletic challenge that comes with it. With some of these bikes I successfully and regularly participate in sports events:

- Triathlon (Olympic distance) in Ladenburg, Heidelberg and Viernheim

- Half-Ironman in Kraichgau in 2010

- Annual bike-riding ritual of father and son (on racing bikes with luggage):

  • 2014: Bike tour from Heidelberg to Saint Marie de la Mer, 1070 km in 7 riding days
  • 2015: Bike tour from Heidelberg to Pisa, 1480 km in 11 riding days
  • 2016: Bike tour from Heidelberg to Den Haag, 870 km in 6 riding days
  • 2017: Bike tour from Heidelberg to Luzern, 370 km in 4 riding days

 

Jairo Cuicapuza

For as long as I can remember I have been riding a bicycle. In the beginning, it served me as a mere means of transport. Then I got inspired by my father and started cycling. Over the years, I have been developing a deeper relation to „my trusty bike“.

 

Sports and handicraft have always been my passion. In the context of a one-year-project, being a student in 12th grade of a Rudolf Steiner School in Germany, I decided to design, then build, and finally present a wooden bicycle.

 

I have planned and designed over a long period of time until I finally created the model De La Hoja (Spanish for „of the leaf“) – the prototype of today’s QiruBike!