 |
| Photo credit - Moonhead Media |
Dan, Gee and Rachel announce the launch of Atherton Bikes!
Dan, Gee and
Rachel Atherton are excited to announce the launch of their new bike brand,
Atherton Bikes. The siblings will partner with renowned suspension designer
Dave Weagle and utilise ground-breaking additive manufacturing technologies
combined with carbon fibre tubing to “create our ultimate range of bikes.”
Dragons’ Den entrepreneur Piers Linney will join as a co-founder of the newly
formed company with the introductory Atherton Bikes range scheduled for sale in
2019.
The Atherton
Bikes brand has been a lifetime in the making with Dan building his first bike
in 1992 when he was just 10 years old. But in recent times the family’s dream
of pushing bike development as hard as they push their riding has become
irresistible.
Dan Atherton
said “It’s always been a dream of mine for us to ride for our own bike company.
We’ve ridden for some great brands and we’re proud of the part we’ve played in
the development of DH bikes from the Commensal to the Trek Session and trail
bikes like the GT Sanction. We’ve always really enjoyed the process, from
working with the designers on the early stages through to testing and refining
prototypes on the World Cup circuit. But because of the way that the
sponsorship system works we’d soon be starting over with a new brand.
I’m
enormously grateful for all the opportunities that system afforded us – we all
are, but for us it’s always been about pushing the boundaries of the sport.
Back in 2003 we started Atherton Racing so that we could to do things the
way we wanted, from building our own tracks, to producing edits like the
Atherton Project and events like Red Bull Hardline. Now feels like the right
time to put our hearts and soul into a range of bikes designed and built
our way.”
Gee continues
“We will start with what we know best, focusing on high level product designed
to be ridden aggressively! For 2019 we’ll race our own prototype bike and we’re
planning to bring that DH bike to market, along with a range of trail bikes.
We’re working with some amazing guys formerly of Robot Bike Co., and they’ll be
an essential part of our start up, they are as passionate about the technology
and its potential to disrupt the industry and shake-up the large corporates as
we are.”
The Athertons
met Ed Haythornthwaite, one of Robot’s founders, when he was Dan’s World Cup
mechanic in 2006 and their ongoing friendship was the catalyst for this
venture. Ed’s understanding of what works on a bike and his passion for
improving a rider’s experience underpins the development of the entire range.
Ed’s
co-founders, Ben Farmer and Andy Hawkins both come from an aerospace and
Formula 1 background. They are experts in composites and additive manufacturing
(metal 3D printing) which allows for full customisation of every bike frame.
Gee said “The
additive manufacturing process is so responsive that we’ve been able to test
and adapt a series of prototypes that ride like the finished bike; this
constant cycle of innovation means that we can get our race bikes dialled much
more quickly and that every purchase of a production bike will be at the very
forefront of this development.”
Rachel
said “The dream has always been to race our own bikes, and the
additive manufactured bikes are so exciting and ground breaking
- the ultimate bike! Through our entire career we’ve been proud to
represent our country and support the next generation of bike
riders, so the fact that we can deliver our new brand through a UK based
company is just incredible and the icing on the cake for us!
We all
believe that having the right bike for you and the stage you are at with your
riding can transform your experience. Our big goal is to see kids,
all mountain explorers, bike park shredders, racers and e-bikers enjoying our
bikes – just saying that sounds mind blowing!
This is a
genuine start-up business that we are building from the ground up, it’s going
to be a huge undertaking to bring our bikes to market, even with Piers on board
to help us. Our learning curve is steep but the dream of bringing Atherton
Bikes & our love for riding to everyone is about to be very real!
Piers Linney
said “As a rider myself I’m extremely excited to be working with the Athertons
to deliver a new product range that meshes my enjoyment of MTB with my passion
for new technologies. Exciting times ahead.”
More
announcements on our race team, line-up and key partnerships in the coming
weeks, follow Atherton Racing and Atherton Bikes on social media for all the
latest.
Website: https://www.athertonbikes.com
 |
| Photo credit - Moonhead Media |
