There’s something hypnotic about watching swarf and chips form around a cutter while it goes about its job of shaping metal into something purposeful. Or even the process of laying up multiple pieces of carbon to form a recognizable shape that eventually emerges from a mold greater than the sum of its parts. And there’s an unspoken respect for the people who know how to turn something raw into something with purpose. Especially when that purpose it to go out and get ridden. Blue collar knowledge is worth its weight in gold.
Living in the shadow of the giants lie some smaller, but not necessarily inferior, companies that manufacture in-house. Some are boutique, some are pretty quiet and let the products do the talking, and others push the boundaries with new ideas and details that could go unseen to the untrained eye, but that make the products perform so damn well. Europe houses a hive of brands that do exactly this and manufacture in house. Actually, it's such a hive that as during the creation of this list we discovered ten-fold more brands that could grace it. So in our first look at these lesser known brands, here are 10 German companies that manufacture in house and that caught our eye.
NEWMENBased out of Wiggensbach, Germany, Newmen are component manufacturers with an attention to detail and testing that leave others with a lot to be desired. Newman’s history stems from similarly well engineered brands with Michael Grätz at the helm, who was previously at Liteville and Syntace.
Wheels, stems, bars and seat posts all come out from this brand, often with a slightly different view of how to make a product perform at its best.
Their rims have a profile that angles the sidewalls out, rather than the norm of vertical, to better align them with incoming forces from impacts. Their wheels also include washers between the nipples and rim to distribute the spoke force evenly around the spoke hole and also align the nipple and spoke directly to the hub flange.
Stems are often overlooked as to how much engineering goes into them. But I can tell you from experience that they have more development in them than meets the eye. Way more. Newmen’s stems are engineered to within an inch of their life and with weights as low as 69 grams it shows.
They manufacture using aluminum and carbon fiber composites, and also complete copious amounts of in-house testing to validate their designs and products. They’re also very open about
their testing methods and show in detail what they do to their components to make sure they’re up to scratch and also perform with a designed amount of flex. It’s nice to see behind the curtain like this, and it evokes confidence in their products.
They also think completely outside of the box with ideas such as fabric spokes and tiny stickers to convert your Torque Cap RockShox forks to a standard end cap system to improve ease of use.
Newmen's website.
HOPPHopp are a very niche brand from Oranienburg, Germany, close to Berlin. Their niche is carbon parts, and if you’re wanting to take your bike upgrading up a notch then look no further.
With rapid development speed, they offer replacement small parts for suspension, drivetrains and frames made from short fiber composites. And when we say small parts, we mean suspension adjuster and mech hanger small. In most cases their parts weigh in at half the weight of the standard parts.
They’ve been around for long enough to now offer complete derailleurs for SRAM and Shimano that replace all the knuckles and cage with their own composite parts. And frankly they’re sodding beautiful, reminiscent of Lamborghini’s Forged Carbon parts.
As is usually the case with bike upgrades, the diminishing returns on parts like this are there. If you’re into counting grams then these parts should definitely help on your bike’s weight spreadsheet. I imagine you’re using a spreadsheet if you’re this serious about it?
Hopp's website.
INTENDSecretly, Intend wins the award for coolest owner’s name. Cornelius Kapfinger’s German brand is a gem that, like Newmen, take a few steps to the side for a different perspective when developing their products.
With components ranging from suspension to headsets, it really shows their ability to apply technical thought to differing situations. And they aren’t afraid to show their working out either, with in depth tech features on most of their components showing CAD drawings, stress plots and graphs galore. If you like geeking out then it’s definitely
worth a peruse. Who doesn’t love a cross section?
Perhaps now most known for their upside-down Edge, Infinity and Hero forks, they also make a wild looking air shock, headsets to improve stiffness issues encountered with single crown forks, beautifully machined two clamp bolt stems with subtle shapes in the machining to relieve stress in concentration zones, and brake rotors that are designed to increase the braking surface area while simultaneously reducing heat build-up and increase rotor stiffness.
It’s fantastic to read about all the decisions and factors involved in product development and the Intend products definitely stand out when you see them in the wild.
Intend's website.
TRICKSTUFFThe steeps of Champéry demand brakes that will not faulter at all. And my favourite brakes recently got dethroned at a product launch with the Trickstuff Maximas. Yes, they do cost as much as a black-market kidney, but my lord were they powerful and a pleasure to pull on. It’s not just subjective either, with recent lab tests rating their average braking torque and deceleration times substantially better than the rest of the competition.
Continuing the theme, their products are machining works of art and span not just brakes but headset parts, eccentric bottom brackets and even hydraulic gyros. There’s often a resemblance to some of the Intend components and that’s due to Intend’s Cornelius Kapfinger being a former employee.
While the high price of such highly engineered components can often put them out of reach for the general riding public, one product that Trickstuff sells offers a measured boost in performance for a snip of the price. Their brake pads come in all shapes, sizes and compounds and offer sizeable chunks of performance in average braking torque and deceleration times for their Power+ pads versus standard pads.
Trickstuff's website.
77DESIGNZ“Bike Components and Engineering.” There’s no beating around the bush in Germany and 77designz offer exactly what they say. Bash guards, chain guides and chain rings were once their mainstay. But a recent collaboration with WeAreOne saw them engineering a stem and bar system that takes a shim around the bar to evenly distribute the clamping force from their stem.
Amongst their products lie small parts like derailleur pulleys, seat clamps and fenders. But it’s with the other side of the business that things get really interesting.
77designz are also an engineering consultancy who offer services from start to finish of product development. Kinematic design, CAD modelling and FEA simulation are all in their portfolio of skills. I guess they did so much for other brands that they started to wonder if they could just do a bike themselves. The answer was yes, and they set out to develop and manufacture a frame for themselves. They documented the whole process with videos showing their successes and failures of designing and making a high-pivot enduro bike. This naturally evolved into the brand Kavenz, which they will sell the bike under.
Again, it’s a treat to have a peak behind the curtain of development and see how it’s done, the decisions and mistakes that lead to the final product.
77designz's website.
VECNUMVecnum engineer and manufacture dropper seat posts out of the Ällgäu region of Germany. Sat right in front of the Alps, it’s a good job they do this as there are some of the steepest fire roads I’ve ever climbed lurking in those German forests.
Heralding from aerospace manufacturing, they began as a one man show with their moveLOC post. Vecnum now make a variety of posts for use in enduro to XC with accompanying levers and even seat post clamps to ensure properly functioning droppers in your frame.
The biggest drop game now stretches over 200mm and Vecnum offer posts with 212mm of cable actuated drop at staggeringly low weights. And if you’re confused about which post your frame should take there’s even a step by step guide to find exactly the right post for you and your bike.
Don’t think that you’ll be left high and dry after you’ve purchased one - they’ll service them for you, too, and take care issues if you encounter any.
Vecnum's website.
SCHMOLKEOver the past couple of years, I’ve found the UK hill climb scene weirdly fascinating. Stumbling upon it via Bike Radar Diaries I ended up watching episodes of how they train, race and build their bikes for a very niche racing category. One brand kept popping up in their bike builds for its insanely low weight components. That brand was Schmolke from Konstanz, Germany.
Schmolke’s speciality is carbon fiber composite parts and using the least amount of carbon fibers to do the job. The manufacture road and MTB components with everything from wheels to road frames.
Saddles as light as 62g, bars at 62g and seat posts at 91g all adorn their catalogue of very expensive parts. But the weight figures show how much engineering went into achieving these parts and should help you sleep a little better at night hiding the fact you’ve secretly spent your partner’s life savings on making your bike lighter.
It’s hard to imagine components lighter than these, most of which come with strict weight limits. No superfluous material finds a home here, and if you really want to take things up a notch they even sell carbon fiber screws.
Not to just be parts for weighing, it’s clear that they can be ridden hard after witnessing the hill climb videos and individual bike builds from guys pushing the boundary of exotic spec lists while still riding the bikes. Carbon fiber composites are still regarded by some as a black art, but these Germans seem to be getting on just fine with the magical fibers.
Schmolke's website.
TUNETune celebrated their 30th anniversary in 2019, and for each and every one of those years they’ve focussed on making lightweight components. They reside in Buggingen, Germany, on the edge of the Black Forest, and so have a brilliant testing grounds right out the front door. Started by Uli Fahl, who first travelled by bike into the Alps for climbing, he found his bikes too heavy, sapping the energy needed to scale the peaks. Bit by bit he experimented with reducing the weight of the components of his bike and slowly he started to interest others. Fahl eventually quit his day job and started Tune. After getting burnt by a supplier in the mid-90s, Tune then brought almost everything back to being manufactured in house.
Sebastian Linser is now managing the company, a long-time employee of Tune and pupil of Fahl. They continue to strive for utmost quality and precision constantly monitoring and adjusting the CNC machines depending on factors like temperature and air pressure. Attention to detail is up there.
Their parts catalogue is comprised of full wheels, hubs, bars, stems, headsets, saddles, seat posts, axles and all manner of small items for around your bike. It spans materials like high end aluminum alloys, titanium and carbon fiber, which they lay up and cure themselves in their own oven.
Tune shows a very cool story from one man’s side passion to make his own bike lighter to today where they have a wealth of components on offer and all proudly crafted in Germany. Also, if you fancy an unconventional salt and pepper shaker then look no further.
Tune's website.
BIKE AHEAD, BEAST & LIGHTWEIGHTWith the wealth of clever chaps in the cycling industry in Germany there is some overlap with brands in what they offer. Three brands that may appear similar at a glance are Bike Ahead, Beast and Lightweight. But looking a little deeper shows their differences.
Bike Ahead's biturboRS wheels are one piece and pretty striking in design.
Bike Ahead, Beast and Lightweight cover a similar component range of wheels, controls and accessories, each manufacturing in Germany and using carbon fiber composites to push the boundary of component weight. Lightweight do have the exception of offering a road frame.
Bike Ahead's most striking offering might be their one-piece biturboRS wheels. 1,249g for a pair of 29” XC wheels is astounding and goes towards showcasing their skills in development and manufacturing. Developing a one-piece wheel is not easy, but they do have the advantage of manufacturing in-house giving them quicker feedback loops and control over quality.
The six spoke wheels have an inner rim width of 27mm, unique hubs to cover the entire range of axle and brake standards and even an integrated spoke magnet for use with cycling computers.
Bike Ahead's website.
Beast's manufacturing is all done in-house in Dresden, Germany.
Beast hail from Dresden and also design, engineer and manufacturer in house. They show a knowledge and application of manufacturing techniques such as Resin Transfer Moulding and Vacuum Assisted Process, which was developed by Airbus and helps reduce air bubbles and voids in the composite structure.
A bar and stem combination from Beast can be as little as 241g. While some companies would impose a strict rider weight limit on components that light, Beast do not have a weight limit affixed to these featherweight components. In fact, most of their components are rated at ASTM class 3 and above.
Beast are also multiple time award winners for their their bars, stems, saddles and wheels, which goes to show, along with their lack of weight limits, how well engineered their components are.
Beast's website.
Lightweight cater more to the road segment, but their parts often find a home on mountain bikes.
Lightweight, based out of Friedrichshafen, have been making components from the very early 90s. Before that the two founders were making composite parts for cars and lightweight horse drawn carts. World Champion titles and Tour de France appearances followed their first disc wheel effort and word spread quickly about these garage made racing wheels.
Appearances in all road racing events carried on for many years until in 2013 when they launched their first in-house developed road frame to the market.
While Lightweight’s focus may be on the road segment their parts often crossover to the MTB world on some of the lightest and most exotic builds. With appearances in the Olympics it shows that their components are worthy of the top tier racing requirements.
Lightweight's website.
While not a comprehensive list, we endeavoured to show the lesser known German brands out there making cool parts. But we know there will be some we overlooked, so let us know your suggestions in the comments. We're keen to discover more brands doing it in-house.
Look at skateboarding, or BMX back in the day. All that shit looks way cooler.
Then I realized the set I wanted was $6000.
Then I didn't get them.
Depending on ow you define as manufactured "in-house in German", some of the other brands would rightfully have to not be on this list either.
But I think, this is not what counts. All of these brands stand for small companies with great spirit and great products, which stand out compared to stuff from the well known "big players".
*Pun intended...
I know that Vecnum ans Intend buy some tubes in Taiwan because they can't get the desired quality in Germany. But they still cnc parts in Germany and the assembly happens in Germany too.
Apart from that and the Newmen products (apart from the hubs) I'm not aware that any brand in this list does not manufacture in Germanny.
Actually, it does not really matter, from which country on this planet you source the parts from.
Sure, some people like stuff "Made in Germany, USA, Italy, ...), but does it really matter?
To me it does not matter. I know I produce my stuff together with friends, in our own facilities. I would not say, that my Taiwanese friends are any less worth to me than my friends in Germany. So why not product in Taiwan with my friends there? Producing our products in Germany would just not work for me. At least not efficiently enough to be able to feed 9 people at Bikeyoke.
There is nothing bad with sourcing from Taiwan or Asia.
However, it sure does matter from who (means from what kind of company) you source the parts from.
Not too long ago, I got very upset at one of the company's owners (who's company also sources from Asia), when he openly wrote about "Taiwanese people" doing shitty jobs for us rich "western" people. and how he critizised companies who were producing in Taiwan. That was very offending to read and I indeed got really mad about how short-sighted and undifferentiated this was to write out publicly.
It is completely up to you, who you are choosing to make business with. It does not matter, where this person comes from, or whether this person is "white", or "black" or "yellow" or from Asia or Europe, or Africa, Amercia, wherever...
It depends on how the company works and how they treat employees, environment and last but not pleast how is the quality and pricing.
You can not say, that people from Asia generally are just working hardly in dirty sweatshops and earn little money. Many of the companies I´ve visited are proud of what they are doing, wearing shirts and caps and shorts of their customers with pride and love what they are doing.
Of course you can also find negative examples. But it is still up to you as a company owner, who you are working with. It's your decision, and no one else's.
Ive got a vecnum nivo 212mm dropper in the usa. Had it shipped via canada post forwarding. It is lighter weight, longer travel, lighter action and more durable than any other post. Theres no need for bleeding, you can pick it up by the seat without drawing air in. And trumping rockahox once more, it works in sub zero temps. One of the best bike products ive ever come across.
So please don't think customers here are necessarily looking down upon Asian products. There is just a worry that the ethics are more messed up than what you'd have with something produced in their Western homeland (which clearly isn't 100% clean either). And then of course definitely don't think people are pro-Western and against Asian. I clearly sense that North American Pinkbike visitors are getting more excited by North American products. And on the other hand (being from The Netherlands) I may have a preference for European products (which includes consumer grade stuff from Tacx and Polisport too) but I don't value something made in the USA higher than something made in Taiwan. So yeah, the main thing is just that. Not "west vs. east", just local produce in terms of the same continent or the same economic zone.
the only exception to that is if the transport of the goods has an overarching net positive effect on our planets health, ie commuter bicycles or renewable energy generators, just for example; i would not lump recreational mtb's that people drive tor ride and shuttle with as a environmental benefit though.
Perfectly explained of the both of you and I fully agree.
I just know from own experience, that some people sometimes still look down on Asian production, just because they have not seen it or know how life there is or can be. Especially Taiwan is very underrated in terms of living standards.
I also completely agree to support local business and economy especially when it comes to food and I am also starting to think completely different about clothing that I personally wear. The majority of the textile industry is very very disturbing in terms of enviromental care. Very disturbing!
I guess, what I essentially wanted to say with my text above is, that it is perfecly fine to support local business, industry and economy. Just please don´t pretend to do it for the "wrong" reasons. Don´t do it for made up reasons, that don´t exist.
If one wants to be proud of his country and support local busines, then it´s more than cool, but don't pretend to buy or produce local just because you want to be the great saviour, who protects the poor Asian people from being exploited. And that was the essence of this publication I was referring to earlier, which I was so angry about.
The reasoning isn't just behind the "working conditions" that may be experienced although that is part of it. Being a manufacturing company yourself, I understand you likely realize it, but many don't know where their product comes from or how it gets to a company like yourself to be produced for the end user
Environmental: less CO2 produced by logistical transportation; Easier to control factory environmental policy
Less logistical risk of pandemic, war or variation of energy and fuel costs.
Easier to make custom / returns and replace of broken parts.
If production is local innovation also is local so your community gains in productivity (witch will improve your level of living). If you produce at Asia knowledge will be at Asia not Germany, so Germany will lag respectively to Asia. If you live at Asia that's is OK but if you live at Germany that's "less than ideal".
It's easier to make products according to the specificity of your place: Trails in Portugal are different from trails in USA. That's easier to do if the factory is next to the trails...
And also is cool to have a factory like Carbon Team or Triangles in your country.
Brakestuff (discs)
Pinion (gearbox)
Rohloff (gearbox hub)
Connex / Wippermann (chains)
German Answer (shocks / forks)
AX Lightness (parts and frames)
Ortlieb (bags)
Knipex (pliers)
Frames:
Kavenz
Crossworx Cycles
Portus
Urwahn Bikes
many many more
knee and elbow pads:
Ortema
Lupine lighting also does everything in house.
Never realized German A produces in house. They may get more attention again now that linkage front suspension got hip.
BrakeforceOne (brakes, duh)
Pirope (spokes/wheels)
Then I saw the golden "Maxima" cover being mounted with 3 different screws and torx mixed with hex on one brake??
*Design For Manufacture and Assembly
MCFK. www.mcfk.de/en
Pinkbike I'd love to see a group test of the lightest handlebars from schmolke, tune, mcfk. purely to know how much flex such a light handlebar has... but also if they snap...
Germany is second to none when it comes to marketing.
I can recommend a great insta channel that covers bike parts and frames which are made in Europe: @the.european.bike.project.
As much as I know, Newmen only makes the hubs in Germany, the rest comes from far far away. The 77Designz bar is made in Canada, which is nice too.
I was looking for something like this for long and I'm super stoked to finally have one!
@JohanG Right. Getting an Onyx hub in Germany would have cost me a solid 100 bucks more.
I was actually writing with the guys at Kappstein for about have a year before that because they didn't have Sram XD freehubs yet and I really wanted to know if and when I could expect their release. They were very kind and transparent answering my countless inquiries
After finally getting one, I was a little upset when it failed on the second ride but had a new one sent to me right away. Support was really quick and the new hub is holding up well so far...
So far the only thing that works for it is learning to ride with not much check braking and training grip strength.
The rest is called “post purchase rationalization syndrome”
Sure, "better" bars don't "cure" arm pump, but the wrong bar can definitely cause fatigue unnecessarily.
Need I say more
Gorgeous products from these companies
ugh, I’m getting old.
www.newmen-components.de/de
Liteville
RAAW
Nicolai
UNIQUE handmade cycles
Actofive
Kavenz
Crossworx Cycles
Portus
Urwahn
Probably user error no wonder they didn't warranty.
Very nice build and a great ride. I always wonder why there are so few around.
Would be sad, because the product itself is good.
Employees: “Nice”
Components: Magura
Tires: Continental, Schwalbe
Etc.
the brands that make things good, durable and tested = Syntace, Newmen ...
the brands that do stupidly light and unreliable things = Schmolke, Tune ...
Brands that try to be like Syntace, but still fail in detail as an amateur company = Intend, Trickstuff ... just seeing in reviews as always happens a little problem, a new leak, something that always messes up, do not reach the reliability of a big
Brands that want to come up with solutions to problems that don't exist = Rohloff, Pinion, etc.