Shimano commits $10 million to trail building projects

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Shimano Trail Born Fund is a new initiative aimed at increasing and sustaining mountain bike trails and trail access around the world.

TRAIL BORN

SHIMANO is proud to announce its new Trail Born Fund, aimed at helping increase and sustain mountain bike trails and trail access around the world. Delivering an unprecedented level of industry support, Shimano will donate $10 million USD, over the next 10 years, to support and facilitate trail projects and trail advocacy organizations.

Working closely with these trusted partners, Shimano will ensure truly meaningful and sustainable gains are made — both on a local and global scale — and is excited to support the hard work of dedicated and passionate trail builders.

Building and maintaining great trails is expensive. Really expensive. Cost typically ranges from $10,000 to $45,000 per mile, which includes everything from permitting and impact studies to tools, materials, and labor. But Shimano believes the return on investment is priceless. Supporting trail building and trail advocacy helps protect and expand trail access. And that means more places for all of us to ride—and more opportunities for new riders, like kids, to discover this amazing sport.

TRAIL BORN in Action

The Trail Born Fund will first focus on select areas in North America, Europe and Oceania and will further expand across these regions through 2025. By 2026, Trail Born aims to effect change across the mountain bike riding world, with the addition of Asia, Africa, and Central and South America. In all cases, support will be earmarked for legal and sustainable trails, and funds will be allocated only after a thorough review of the advocacy organizations and proposed projects.

Shimano will also help promote these chosen projects, telling the stories of the people and places behind these critical efforts. We’ll also aid in the identification and acquisition of additional funding from other sources such as private donations and government grant programs.

Expanding SHIMANO’s MTB Legacy

With the 1983 launch of DEORE XT M700 – the world’s first MTB-specific component group – Shimano helped give life to the emerging sport of mountain biking. We’ve been there from the very beginning, recognizing that this growing discipline was different from anything the cycling world had seen before. For Shimano that meant delivering the right gear necessary to help evolve and enhance this new and exciting form of two-wheeled adventure.

In the ensuing decades, Shimano’s commitment to progressive product development and precision engineering of discipline-specific components has consistently set the standard for performance, durability, comfort, and control.

During this time, Shimano also quickly realized that unlike road riding, where the required terrain exists by default, mountain biking requires collective collaboration to create and maintain unique and desirable places to ride. Indeed, the roots of mountain biking are trails and without a strong root system the proverbial tree will come crashing down.

Shimano has done much to help bolster the sport, supporting countless trail advocacy and trail building efforts through the years. And now, with Trail Born Fund, we’re taking things a step further.

Because just like you, we’re riders, too.

shimano.com

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Orange Switch 6er. Stif Squatcher. Schwalbe Magic Mary Purple Addix front. Maxxis DHR II 3C MaxxTerra rear. Coil fan. Ebikes are not evil. I have been a writer for nigh on 20 years, a photographer for 25 years and a mountain biker for 30 years. I have written countless magazine and website features and route guides for the UK mountain bike press, most notably for the esteemed and highly regarded Singletrackworld. Although I am a Lancastrian, I freely admit that West Yorkshire is my favourite place to ride. Rarely a week goes by without me riding and exploring the South Pennines.

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Home › Forums › Shimano commits $10 million to trail building projects

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  • Shimano commits $10 million to trail building projects
  • robingrant
    Full Member

    This is great news, and a bigger commitment to trails than any other brand has made to date, but – we have done the math.

    Shimano are planning to spend that $10m over 10 years, and it’s to be spent globally. If you do the calculations on how that might be distributed, either based on the UK’s share of the IMF’s 2024 global GDP forecasts, or based on Shimano’s predicted bicycle component sales per region in 2024, looking at Europe’s share of that and how that might by spilt based on the UK’s share of the IMF’s 2024 GDP forecasts for Europe, and then convert to UK£, you end up with a figure of somewhere between £25-65k a year for the UK.

    Even if you then assume that, as we’re a mountain biking nation we might be one of the “select areas” in Europe, and therefore in the UK, we may get a bigger share than our GDP would imply, the amount isn’t likely to change by an order of magnitude – we’re looking at maybe £100k a year max? (which would be over an eighth of what Shimano are spending globally).

    So a significant amount of money, but not what you might have taken away from the headlines.

    Please don’t think trail advocacy groups and your local trail association are flush with cash. We need your help desperately – please help the UK MTB Trail Alliance to protect your trails →

    https://www.gofundme.com/f/help-us-to-protect-your-trails

    Posted 3 months ago
    DickBarton
    Full Member

    Despite 1 million per year – assuming that is how they’ll split it, globally doesn’t sound much, it is 1 million more going towards trails than there was.

    Hopefully, it will go to trail associations or trailbuilding groups and have no input or sway from the forestry – I can’t see the forestry helping spend it in the best way possible.

    It might be well used if set up for the funding to cover training and providing tools to groups. The kind of things that help get a group started and established. It wouldn’t necessarily then need to be a hand out to each trailbuilding group or association, but could be offered as something to book and attend training sessions, etc.

    I think it is good news, but also aware, spread globally, that isn’t going to help every single group, or trail association or trail…but it will hopefully help some things.

    Posted 3 months ago
    chrismac
    Full Member

    How much of that will be spent in the U.K.  it would be great to see new trails or some freshened up

    Posted 3 months ago
    DickBarton
    Full Member

    The amount might help get part of a new trail, but unlikely to be new trails…I guess this was part of the point @robingrant was making – it is a huge amount of money, but when spread around, it could be a very small amount per project it supports.

    I still think it is better than zero additional funding though, so thanks Shimano for putting this in.

    Posted 3 months ago
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