Atherton Bikes Celebrates its 5th Birthday
Photography and Words by Dan Griffiths & Gill Harris.
Four new products, Five World Cup wins and a World Title... not bad for the first five years in business!
Atherton Bikes are five years old today! The start-up venture has never made a secret of their big ambitions; nevertheless, the speed with which they have achieved some of those goals has caused the industry to take notice, especially after an astounding 2023, which saw Women's and Men's Elite victories on the World Cup circuit and that electrifying Gold, Silver for Charlie Hatton and Andi Kolb at Fort William World Champs. We look back on that roller coaster five years and celebrate a small British success story as they gear up for the next stage in their journey.
Launch day... a closely guarded secret.
The Atherton Bikes company shares a birthday with co-founder and visionary Dan, who built his first bike aged around ten.
June 2019, Rachel takes the fledgling company's first World Cup win aboard the prototype AM.200 – still a full 29er and unavailable outside of the race team at this stage … "Winning at Fort William on our own bike was something that I hardly dared dream of … but I dreamt of it every day!" - Rachel Atherton.
July 2019, Rach digs deep to take another World Cup victory (her 39th) on board the AM.200 on a savage track in Vallnord, Andorra.
August 2019, Millie Johnset makes it a hat-trick for the brand as she wins the Junior Women's World Cup in Val di Sole - Mille's first World Cup win.
Feb 2020, the AM.150 and AM.200 are available to buy for our first fifty customers… several of whom have bought second or even third bikes from us since then - "that's the best endorsement there is "- Gee Atherton. The AM.200 here in its original 29 format.
Dec 2020, Crowdcube raise. Overfunds in 24 hours - "a measure of the brand's popularity and the support and belief that have helped us so much along the way" - Dan Brown.
July 2022, the launch of Mullet AM.200M. The culmination of three season's feedback from some of the most legendary downhill racers, preference for "the mullet" is unanimous… and customers agree.
October 2022, the launch of the AM.130. "A trail bike you can officially take to the Bike Park. It's the kind of bike you can hop on, pedal off into the woods, and whatever trail you end up on, it'll probably deliver a good time." - Mike Kazimer, Pinkbike.
Dec 2022, Enduro Mag best trail bike. “The comfortable pedalling position ensures top climbing performance despite the soft rubber compound. Downhill, the bike inspires huge amounts of confidence, combining intuitive handling, excellent composure and superb manoeuvrability. The AM150 is undoubtedly the best trail bike of 2022!” - Enduro Mag.
April 2023, the launch of AM.170 - Dan Atherton’s favourite bike ever! Designed by Dan in the Dyfi, the 170 quickly took the industry by storm. "For riding DH tracks, Morzine steeps and a blend of natural enduro trails, I struggle to think of any other bike I’d rather ride” - Mick Kirkman, MBR.
June 2023, Rachel becomes the world’s fastest mum with her 40th World Cup win at Lenzerheide - then nips back to the pits to feed baby Arna - the “confidence-inspiring” ride of the AM.200M coming to the fore.
June 2023, Andi Kolb puts in "the run of his life” to take the World Cup victory in Leogang in front of an ecstatic home crowd. It's his first World Cup win and the first Men’s Elite gold for the brand.
Aug 2023, "A World Champs victory has always been the ambition, but to take Gold and Silver so early in the company’s journey was mind-blowing. Ridiculously proud of the team and to be the first British bike Manufacturers to take the World Champs win.“ - Dan Brown.
Dec 2023, AM.170 win’s Singletrack Most Desirable Bike Award as voted for by the readers – this one says a lot about how far we have come in so short a time.
“Looking back at the sheer amount of work that has gone into these last 5 years is staggering. Our learning curve has been steep, and we’re hugely grateful to everyone who has helped us over the last 5 years, from partners like Renishaw, Angel and Crowdcube investors and customers; that support has meant everything. I’m super proud that we’ve made the bikes that make these wonderful moments possible and of the part that we’re playing in bringing employment to Machynlleth, this community welcomed us with open arms so it’s fantastic to be able to put something back – especially in the current economic climate. We are 100% ready for the next stage in our journey.” - Dan Brown.
Coming soon: the team are working hard on a new Aluminium product for release early this year.
Atherton New HQ - The new facility will allow the company to build and scale in line with its ambitions
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The one thing they seem to be missing is a demo-circus.... Even at Dyfi i'm often surprised at their lack of 'presence' in terms of "demo a bike for the day" type stuff... they may actually do it... but i'm not aware of it.
www.pinkbike.com/news/robot-bike-co-r160-custom-review-2016.html
Their product lineup had been 200, 130, 200M, 150, 170, none of which are the 160 of the former robot bike co.
The whole unique way of building the frames was production ready alongside the suspension design. The most difficult work was absolutely already done.
This isn’t taking away from them making it a success and developing the product line which is of course an aspect of its own.
Atherton did relocate production from Monmouthshire to Machynlleth, and whilst Atherton bikes are still not a large scale manufacturer, they've significantly increased the capability and product range up from 2 bikes.
What they've done to build the brand, and a selection of bikes that have proved themselves again and again in word cups and the 1-2 at the world champs, and review equally well in the hands of mere mortals over 5 years is a stunning achievement which this press release is all about.
Edit to my previous post: I did forget that RBC announced a 130 a few months before they started to wind up, but the 160 has never appeared in the Atherton line up
That being said I wish Atherton's success so one day I can get this bike for reasonable amount of money, ot maybe other big brands pick up this tech, surly Trek or SPesh can make something like this with 100s of millions they have for R&D
Yours, Shittyknee McDuffleg.
Uncool, but better than a backpack or dying of thirst, but not as good as two mounting holes built into the frame by the manufacturer
Surprised no "spy shots" around of them as they are rolling round openly at dyfi.
Renishaw machines use a laser sintering process anyway.
Aluminum additive printed parts always look shite (due to thermal conductivity of aluminium).
Atherton bikes are good because of the design not because of how they are made.
Moving away from 3d printing for this model is a smart commercial move and makes complete sense IMHO.
how does it sound? It sounds like they made this from the ground up, which is obviously not true. So I am only questioning why A is erasing Robot's legacy. They should give it a credit, but then it won't be as epic I guess