American Classic
American Classic make some of the lightest, strongest and
most cleanly designed parts in the world. The company was founded
by Bill Shook, a former U.S. National Team racer who went back
to school and got a Master's degree in engineering after retiring
from racing. Most people approach component design by looking
at existing products and trying to add incremental improvements.
Bill, the engineer, starts with a totally clean slate, with
the result being radically re-thought but imminently logical
new designs. Bill, the racer, then takes over and puts each
part to the test. Only parts that satisfy both Bill's make it
to market. |
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 CaneCreek
This small American firm is dedicated to making innovative
cycling components for purists and racers. Many of their components,
such as their wheelsets and shocks, are considered among the
finest on the market and are found on many of the world's most
expensive bicycles. |
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Ritchey
Tom Ritchey is one of the original mountain bike innovators,
as well as being on the forefront of road bike design. He's
been designing bicycle frames and components for World and Olympic
champions for over 25 years. But despite being the big cheese
of a major international company, he still welds many of the
frames that bear his name and puts in over 10,000 miles a year
on his bike. We have to say that we like his style and we also
like his components. Ritchey's components are all thoughtfully
designed from the perspective of a cyclist and built from the
finest materials at the world's leading manufacturers. |
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Rolf® Prima
If you were to list the people who have had the greatest
impact on bicycle wheel design, Rolf Dietrich would have to
be at the top of that list. Rolf Dietrich's beautiful wheel
designs have not only elevated the science of wheel design,
but the art of it as well. His breakthrough paired spoke wheels
have been used by past and present Tour de France champions
and professional racers around the world. Rolf Dietrich patent
licensees include Trek/Bontrager, Shimano and Dahon. |
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 Sapim
Sapim produces the world's finest race spokes. They are
the spoke supplier to the majority of the world's top professional
riders. Lance Armstrong, Jan Ullrich, and Marco Pantani, have
ridden Sapim spokes to win the last six Tours de France. And
Nicolos Vouilloz has racked up just a few Downhill World Championships
on Sapim spokes. Need we say more? |
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 Schwalbe
Already the top after-market tire manufacturer in Europe,
Schwalbe is going global and going strong. Coupling advanced
technology with German engineering, Schwalbe tires are a virtual
smorgasbord of the latest tire technologies. |
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 SDG
SDG is a premier manufacturer of high end MTB saddles. They
produce some of the most successful and widely copied MTB saddles
in the history of mountain biking: the Bel Air and the Grand
Prix. SDG's revolutionary I-Beam™ rail design promises
to shatter the existing rail paradigm and bring us into an era
of lighter and stronger saddles. |
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SRAM
An upstart American firm that through moxie and determination
is now in the bicycle big leagues. SRAM is Shimano's only real
competitor and we'd have to say that they are more than holding
their own. SRAM make all sorts of bicycle components - everything
from drivetrains to brakes to internal hub gears, and we use
a little bit of everything. A few years back, SRAM bought Sachs,
the venerable German manufacturer of internal gear hubs. So
when you combine American ingenuity and innovation with German
precision manufacturing, you get some pretty revolutionary products.
SRAM are experts in working with lightweight carbon-composite
plastics and we love their carbon brake levers and derailleurs.
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Suntour
Most people don't realize that important technical milestones
in derailleur design, like indexed shifting and the slant parallelogram
rear derailleur were invented by Suntour. Or that just a few
decades ago, it was Suntour that was the leading Japanese drivetrain
supplier by virtue of its technical superiority in derailleurs.
Well times change and Suntour's technical leadership has now
shifted to suspension and metallurgy but they remain committed
to drivetrain technology. We've partnered with Suntour on a
variety of custom components for our bicycles and we can attest
to their continuing technical excellence. |
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TruVativ
A driving force (along with Race Face and Chris King) behind
the ISIS spline standard that has now become the industry standard.
Truvativ is a leader in cranksets. We use Truvativ cranksets
on many of our high-end bikes.
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