Essex Wheels and Engineering was set up in 2007 by James Rogers and is based a few miles north of Chelmsford, Essex.

The immediate driver for setting up the business was to build bike chassis for grasstrack and speedway racing and bespoke bike wheels.

In his younger days, James has raced both grass track and speedway.  Short of money, he started to build his own bikes to race. Then he found he wanted to make his own wheels.  He went to a master wheelbuilder with whom he worked for a year to learn the art and the engineering of wheel building.  This background has stood him in good stead for designing  bike chassis/oufits and for providing a full wheel building service. To date he has built over 20 custom solo and sidecar outfits and averages more than 250 wheels per year.

The racing experience is backed up with both practical and academic engingeering knowledge.  James served his apprenticeship with an aluminium high pressured die casting firm. He then moved to a precision engineering company where over the next 11 years  he honed his welding, milling, grinding and turning skills.  He also  studied for a Higher National Diploma in Engineering at Colchester Institute.

James' love affair with grass track and speedway racing continues not only in the building but in the sponsoring of team Harvey Hogg (grasstrack) and Glen Phillips (speedway and solo grasstrack).