Based out of North Vancouver, Akta MTB are a small team producing some high end riding gear heavily influenced by what they ride.
Pete sat down for a quick chat with Akta MTB main man Travis Bilton to see where the brand came from and wat their plans are going forward.
What was the inspiration behind Akta?
I ran my own small apparel brand years ago, Lavan Apparel. Since then, I’ve kind of always dreamed of restarting my own company.
For years, a few friends and I joked about starting it up again. The more we talked about it we started to see an opportunity. We all had ideas on how we’d like to do things differently if we had our own company. We ended up deciding to start from scratch and build an entirely new brand, and that’s how Akta came to be.
Who’s involved in Akta and what do they do?
We’ve got a small but dialled team, so we each wear lots of hats. A buddy I grew up riding with, Jesse Brandt, is a co-founder and the numbers guy. He’s a spreadsheet wizard and takes care of the operations side of things.
Another long time homie, Ace Hayden, is our team manager. Our team is a crucial part of our company and we’re stoked on the group Ace has put together. It’s important for us to work with like minded, passionate riders, and not just someone with a bunch of instagram followers.
Forrest Riesco is taking care of our website and photography when he’s not racing world cups.
We’ve got Ben Wallace helping out on the business side of things. He’s currently in his last year of University so soon enough we’ll be able to exploit all his freshly learned business smarts. Product testing, marketing and general business ideas are all a collaborative task for us.
What is your background in the cycling industry?
I’ve been in the MTB industry since I was in high school; I started out as a shop grom and then shop employee. While going to college and running, Lavan, I always had part time jobs at bike shops. The timing was quite perfect for when I shut down Lavan. I had just finished college and an opportunity came up to design Race Face’s soft goods line.
I designed for them for a number of years, then a quick employment for a brand in Europe, before returning back to Race Face and at this time more involved with Fox Factory. After a few more years there, it seemed like the timing was right to take the leap and start Akta.
How did you settle on the name Akta?
Deciding on a name was definitely the hardest step in our branding development. I had pages of names in a sketchbook. It probably took a solid month before deciding on Akta. Funny enough, it was the first name I had listed. I liked the simplicity, how the letters looked together visually, and how it didn’t have any apparent meaning. When looking for inspiration, I found I was always drawn to brand names that weren’t an obvious word. I like that it piques curiosity, maybe there’s a story built into a name, maybe there isn’t?
How did you narrow down the range that Akta currently offers?
We wanted our first range to cover the essentials. A rider could buy each of our products and basically be good to go. Our first line is a solid foundation for us to grow from. It’s easier than ever to throw a logo on a t-shirt and get a sublimated jersey made and call yourself a brand, but that’s not what we are about.
How much does where you live affect the end product?
I think where we live plays a big part in how we approach designing our product. The North Shore of Vancouver is quite hard on gear, so we’ve taken a slightly overbuilt approach. We’ve definitely put an emphasis on durability. A typical “trail” ride on the shore could easily be something people would have been riding DH bikes on not that long ago. We wanted a product that would hold up to this style of riding but still perform when we needed to pedal along the way.
Favourite moments in the Akta journey so far?
It’s probably a tie between getting to ride in our first prototypes, and finally launching the brand to the world. Getting out on the trails wearing something that you’ve put so much time and effort into is one of the best feelings, I don’t think that’ll ever get old. Then getting to finally launch the brand was such a milestone, that alone felt like a victory and something the whole team got to share together,
Any disasters?
We’ve been pretty fortunate so far, knock on wood. My past experiences have really helped us reduce any disasters. We’ve experienced the usual set backs like development and production delays, but we’ve anticipated those.
Where next for Akta?
Time to get the brand out to the people! Currently in discussions with dealers and distributors for the ’23 season. We’ve got some video projects in the works for the end of the year if the weather holds out. Then it’s onto planning out next year; team projects, marketing campaigns, events, and developing new products. Looking to be a busy year already.
