As history goes, the first jockstrap was invented in 1874 by C. F. Bennett of a Chicago sporting goods company, Sharp & Smith, to provide comfort and support for bicycle jockeys working the cobblestone streets of Boston. In 1897 Bennett's newly formed Bike Web Company patented and began producing the Bike Jockey Strap. The Bike Web Company later became known as the Bike Company. The name Jockey Strap was eventually shortened to become the jock strap or jockstrap.
In 2002, top athletic uniform manufacturer, Russell Athletic took over Bike. Conglomerate Berkshire Hathaway Inc. acquired Russell Corporation for $600 million in early 2006. Berkshire, led by the billionaire Warren Buffett, believed Russell would be a good fit with their Fruit of the Loom brand, who in 2016 decided to cease production of all Bike jockstraps. RIP.
Bike was the leading manufacturer of jockstraps and athletic supporters and claims to have produced over 350 million of them.
The iconic Bike #10 Jockstrap: We can't talk about Bike without talking about the one that started it all. The 7110 jockstrap was the very first model - a masculine jockstrap with a full 3 inch wide waistband and woven pouch, one that would be produced for over a hundred years later with little alteration.* After it's launch, It was quickly copied a few years later by Flarico with their F110 jockstrap and then again again by other companies, but most guys will swear nothing fits as good or wears as well as a Bike #10.
*Although originally manufactured in the USA, in their later years Bike went offshore to China to have them manufactured. Although they maintained the same quality and sizing, many guys claim they were never the same with the most obvious change being the fit. The Chinese manufactured Bike #10s were reported to fit much smaller and tighter and the pouch material never softened like the originals.
Although most of our Bike jockstraps are long gone from our website, you can still visit our product pages to see them for yourselves.
Some of our Bike Jockstraps:
