Global Engineering Leadership
Led multidisciplinary engineering organizations across the Americas, India, and Brazil.
No padded shorts. No hunched posture. No need to suffer for the ride. Just comfort that performs.
I love everything cycling gives us—freedom, speed, adventure, and an excuse to take the long way home. I just never understood why discomfort had to be part of the deal.
That’s why I founded Pickens Cycles: to create premium trikes engineered around the rider, bringing together all-day comfort, confident performance, lasting quality, and easy transport.
Because the best ride isn’t the one you endure. It’s the one you can’t wait to do again.
— Ryan Pickens, Founder
15+ Years
In Automotive Product Development & Engineering
From electrification and connected mobility to safety-critical systems, I’ve spent more than 15 years leading teams that turn complex engineering challenges into production-ready products.
Electrification & Advanced Systems
Experience spanning EV powertrains, battery systems, functional safety, connectivity, and high-power electronics.
Concept to Production
Guided products from early concept through production, pairing technical rigor with commercial accountability and customer focus.
Teams & Culture
Built high-performing teams around ownership, curiosity, clear thinking, and measurable results.
That same engineering discipline now guides how every Pickens Cycles trike is designed, developed, and validated.
THE FOUNDING IDEA
Why I Started Pickens Cycles
Cycling should be about freedom and adventure—not the compromises riders have been taught to accept.
I have a habit of asking, “Why is it like that?”
In automotive product development, that question has led to vehicle teardowns, innovation workshops, and the development of next-generation systems.
Eventually, it followed me into cycling.
I saw tradeoffs riders had been told were simply part of the experience: awkward entry and exit, discomfort treated as the price of performance, and products that were harder to transport than they needed to be.
So I asked a better question: What if cycling were engineered around the rider from the start?
Find the friction. Engineer it out.
That idea became the operating principle behind Pickens Cycles.
We question assumptions. Prototype relentlessly. Validate in the real world. And listen closely to the people who actually ride.
The goal isn’t novelty for its own sake. It’s a trike that feels more comfortable, more capable, and easier to live with—because every detail has earned its place.
Better rides begin with fewer compromises.
Designed around the rider. Developed in Greenville, South Carolina.
THE BOTTOM LINE
I Knew the Trike I Wanted. So I Set Out to Build It.
Pickens Cycles brings together more than 15 years of automotive product development, a rider’s eye for unnecessary compromise, and a stubborn belief that comfort and performance belong on the same machine.
The method is straightforward: question every assumption, prototype the promising ideas, test them in the real world, and improve whatever still feels merely ‘good enough.’
We’re just getting started—which, for an engineer, is when things get interesting.
OUR MANTRA
FIND THE FRICTION. ENGINEER IT OUT.
Comfort isn’t a concession. Simplicity isn’t an accident. And ‘good enough’ isn’t the brief.
Pickens
Cycles
Rooted in Greenville
Pickens Cycles is based in Greenville, South Carolina—where the Swamp Rabbit Trail, winding backroads, and Blue Ridge foothills give us plenty of reasons to ride. It’s where we develop ideas, meet riders, and invite people to experience a more comfortable, capable way to cycle.