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The secret is FINALLY out... The Athertons launch their own bike brand and plan to race it in 2019.
Read the full transcript of this interview here - https://singletrackworld.com/2019/01/atherton-bikes-announced-new-home-atherton-racing/
News just in that the Athertons have launched their own high-tech mountain bike company. Atherton Bikes will produce titanium lugged, carbon tubed downhill bikes to race on and to sell.
In what is possibly going to be the biggest story of the year, Rachel, Gee and Dan Atherton have announced a new bike company based in the UK, Atherton Bikes. The high-tech company will focus on building cutting-edge bikes for downhill here in the UK which will be raced during the 2019 World Cup.
Atherton Bikes won’t only be for elite riders though as the trio plans to bring their self-developed bikes to the market sometime this year.
Below is the official press release which discusses Atherton Bikes links to ‘Dragons’ Den entrepreneur Piers Linney, and Ed Haythornthwaite formerly of Robot Bike Co.
The official press release is here: https://singletrackworld.com/2019/01/atherton-bikes-announced-new-home-atherton-racing/
(This is an update to the first version of this video with improved quality sound.)
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0:00
big big exciting day what is the big
0:02
news can
0:03
we no more a secret it is the day we
0:06
announced the launch of Aon
0:12
bikes hey everyone Andy here from single
0:14
track magazine and I'm here with the
0:16
adans because uh you've got some pretty
0:18
big news yeah we have got big news yeah
0:22
what is the big news can
0:23
we no more a secret I'm quite glad uh
0:27
I'm quite glad of that this is a pretty
0:28
huge story it's are you excited Aon
0:31
bikes yeah yeah we are excited I mean
0:33
like you say it was there's been a lot
0:35
of speculation we've all been kind of
0:37
everyone's been trying to guess what
0:38
we're doing and you know we've been
0:39
working hard over the offseason trying
0:41
to trying to get this up and running but
0:43
you know to have the chance to to start
0:45
our own bike company and and and launch
0:47
the that we're racing World Cups on our
0:50
own bikes is yeah it's it's pretty
0:52
incredible I mean it's always
0:53
nerve-wracking to race but to have a
0:55
bike with your name on it as you hit you
0:57
know the the World Cup circuit I mean
0:59
how are you going to feel you think
1:00
well this is pretty surreal uh it's kind
1:02
of the first you know saying it saying
1:05
it out loud and saying a and bikes and
1:08
yeah you know it's it's pretty crazy and
1:10
uh it's kind of it yeah it feels a bit
1:13
surreal and I think we all uh just you
1:16
know for us racing and riding on on our
1:18
own bikes has always been a dream so you
1:21
know for it finally to be happening it's
1:23
pretty mad I mean the big question is uh
1:25
why now I mean why have you decided to
1:27
start your own company now cuz I mean
1:29
Adon race was back in 2003 was it yeah
1:32
and uh and you know you've been on the
1:34
World Cup circuit for a while you've
1:35
developed bikes for other teams so you
1:37
know why this year the nature of how you
1:40
work with uh when you're racing World
1:43
Cups and you're sponsored by a bike
1:44
company you know you partner up with a
1:46
company you you start developing that
1:48
bike with them you know you you kind of
1:50
work really hard to to say what you want
1:53
what you don't like what needs to be
1:55
done so you get that race bike as as
1:57
refined as possible and then you know
1:59
you race that bik for as long as the
2:01
term with a sponsorship is going and
2:03
then you know if you move sponsors it
2:06
starts again so like you say we've done
2:08
it quite a lot we've done it quite a few
2:09
times we've all raced World Cups for a
2:11
long time so we're very good at knowing
2:13
what we wanted and you know it's always
2:15
been on the back burner us just talking
2:17
about how nice it would be to to be
2:19
doing this but developing a bike that we
2:21
were doing ourselves and you know we've
2:23
got to the point where we were lucky
2:25
enough to be in the situation where we
2:26
could do that and you know we had
2:28
options and and partners and these
2:30
opportunities to do it and you know for
2:32
us it was a no-brainer I mean we've been
2:34
so lucky to work with with some amazing
2:36
companies and you know have the
2:38
opportunity to develop bikes and this
2:40
kind of just felt like the natural Next
2:42
Step really Dan uh how did the company
2:45
develop and who are you working with for
2:47
this for Aon
2:49
bikes um I guess the partnership kind of
2:53
started with Ed really um back when we
2:57
rode for giant 2006 I think it was
3:00
um and it was actually Ed's first race
3:02
and Dan Brown's first race as well and
3:05
um it was a national track called Rog
3:09
which is actually where the bike park is
3:10
now right next to that so kind of a a
3:13
meeting of all three worlds and uh yeah
3:16
over the years you know me and Ed kept
3:18
talking and we always kind of dreamed of
3:20
of building something together and I
3:22
think Ed kind of went off his own way
3:25
and and and formed a company called
3:27
robot with um with B and Andy and a few
3:31
other guys that he'd been to University
3:33
with and uh you know they were so kind
3:37
of almost geeky in their approach to it
3:41
you know their just their kind of
3:45
attention to detail on every single
3:47
aspect of the bike was was amazing and
3:50
for us to see that and see where i' had
3:52
taken that brand was was pretty
3:53
inspiring you know and I think over the
3:56
years they they've definitely approached
3:58
it as Engineers rather than anything
4:01
else and so yeah I think the brand did
4:05
well but I think we could we kind of
4:08
thought you know maybe we could we could
4:10
put a different slant on it and and come
4:12
at it from a bit more of a marketing
4:13
angle and a bit more of a race angle and
4:15
like G said you work with big companies
4:18
for so long and you develop stuff with
4:21
them and we thought you know could we
4:23
potentially do that for ourselves so uh
4:27
we know Ed's involved so we know uh
4:29
additive manufacturing and you know
4:31
those processes carbon fiber bonded to
4:33
Titanium that we know all that's
4:34
involved with the bike but who else is
4:36
involved in bringing Adon bikes to
4:38
Market well the engineers were a big
4:40
part of it you know Ed and his guys they
4:42
were they were a real key part and and
4:45
they were they were a key process in
4:46
getting the bike up and running but to
4:48
get the whole company up and running we
4:49
needed the rest of the guys involved you
4:51
know the guys at Athlon racing weren't
4:53
enough to do that and so we partnered up
4:55
with Pier Lin who's been a massive help
4:58
and he's been really strong is this the
5:00
guy from Dragon's Den is it this is the
5:02
guy from Dragon's Den yeah so he knows
5:03
his he knows his stuff and also is uh a
5:06
real fan of the mountain bike world and
5:08
and rides himself so it's been great
5:10
having him in involved and he's done a
5:11
lot for us um also Dave Weagle uh the
5:14
bike's running the DW link which has
5:17
been a massive attraction for us you
5:19
know it's from the from the first pedal
5:21
of it you really feel how that link
5:22
works it's a really impressive bit of
5:24
design and you know it's it's one of the
5:26
reasons why we can come to this with a
5:29
relatively short period of time to
5:31
develop the bike and and be confident
5:32
that it's going to be ready for the
5:33
World Cup circuit so we've touched on
5:35
the fact that the Aon downhill bikes use
5:37
uh an additive um manufacturing process
5:41
but Dan could you explain what that is
5:42
to people who aren't quite sure what it
5:44
is well additive manufacturing is
5:47
basically more commonly known as 3D
5:49
printing um and it's basically high-end
5:53
printing but with a titanium
5:56
powder um done all in an in Clos system
6:00
in a machine um so basically the
6:03
additive manufacturing process produces
6:06
a base plate of lugs um they're all
6:08
built on a on kind of one block and then
6:11
the guys take those out they clean them
6:13
up and then they bond a carbon tube into
6:17
a double lap Shear joint and um using a
6:21
high-end glue and then that's kind of
6:24
all assembled as a bike basically um
6:27
it's quite hard you know getting getting
6:29
the right tubes in the right place and
6:31
been able to slot them all in but you
6:33
know Ed is Ed and those guys they've got
6:36
so much experience with this you know
6:38
from from from Aerospace to you know
6:41
Formula 1 they've got a huge wealth of
6:43
knowledge and you know those guys are
6:46
definitely the guys to have on board
6:48
with this with Ed involved in the
6:50
additive manufacturing process I guess
6:52
there's going to be stock sizes of each
6:53
bike but will there also be custom
6:55
options
6:56
too yeah there'll definitely be custom
6:59
options on the highend um frames that
7:01
we're doing but you know part of the
7:03
reason with starting our own brand and
7:06
coming at it from a World Cup
7:08
perspective is that we've got those
7:10
benchmarks in the bag you know what G
7:12
rides for his winning bike what ra rides
7:15
for her winning bike and so the the
7:17
public have got a benchmark almost to
7:20
work from because you know you give them
7:22
a blank canvas and that's pretty
7:24
daunting thing to try and come up with
7:26
your own bike so they can change the
7:28
parameters a little bit of of of what
7:30
these guys ride but yeah ultimately that
7:33
will be available on the on the highend
7:34
stuff yeah and I think you know the
7:37
thing about Aon bikes is that it is this
7:40
kind of cut and Edge technology it's
7:42
it's it's customization you know so
7:45
theoretically someone can come and order
7:48
exactly the bike they want you know the
7:50
size the geometry all these things that
7:53
are unique to that person um and that's
7:56
where we want to go with it you know
7:57
that's what we want to offer people
7:59
Rachel could you tell me a little bit of
8:01
how the bike rides other than it's
8:03
amazing it's the best thing ever can we
8:04
have some details about how the bike
8:06
actually rides well I mean it's not when
8:11
I first got on it um I couldn't believe
8:14
how how good it is you know you
8:17
obviously I'm going to say that but it
8:19
was it blew my mind the first thing I
8:21
did was pedal down like a flat kind of
8:24
Rocky straight into the kind of down
8:27
track and and I couldn't believe how
8:28
well it pedal accelerated so quickly so
8:31
efficiently just you know got up to
8:33
speed and and it was I was like oh my
8:36
God you know it was amazing and it's
8:37
such a fun bike it really it makes you
8:39
feel like confident and I think we all
8:41
kind of have the same feedback it's such
8:43
a fun bike to ride it makes you feel
8:45
like you can go faster faster faster you
8:48
know you're going as fast as you can and
8:50
and yet it wants more it wants to be
8:51
pushed harder and harder and it feels
8:53
incredible it's it's such a planted such
8:55
a grounded bike and you know that's the
8:57
first few rides and I was really really
8:59
Blown Away by it so G can you give me
9:02
any specifics about the otherton
9:04
downhill bike yeah well it's a prototype
9:06
you know that's the main thing it's it's
9:08
it's one of the first bikes we've made
9:10
it's literally the kind of the the mule
9:12
we've created we've we've been working
9:14
with the guys for quite a long time
9:15
saying this is what we want this is what
9:17
we don't want this is what we like to
9:19
ride and and this is the kind of this is
9:21
the outcome um and it's a pretty
9:23
impressive uh first ride really you know
9:25
for for a first prototype it's it's
9:27
doing the job pretty well you know we've
9:29
geared it around that kind of That World
9:31
Cup spec so you know quite a slack head
9:34
angle nice long back end um things that
9:37
you kind of you bounce around the car
9:40
park and the bike feels a bit sluggish
9:41
but when you're up to speed on a World
9:43
Cup track absolutely charging you know
9:45
you start to appreciate it yeah and like
9:47
R said it's a fun bike to ride and and
9:49
these are all the things that kind of
9:52
those those small specifics that a small
9:55
change here a small change there can
9:57
make the difference between a bike
9:58
feeling a bit twitch and a bit nervous
10:00
to suddenly the bike been full of life
10:02
giving you that confidence and and
10:04
really this is what that bike does so I
10:06
mean I know we can't show the full bike
10:08
here but the bike that I'm looking at
10:10
Nows good it looks really really good
10:12
but um will we see any like radical
10:14
changes from this to the bike you first
10:17
race this season or is it pretty much
10:19
going to look like this but like you say
10:20
just a few tweaks here and there it's a
10:23
29er it'll look like this and you know a
10:26
radical a radical change to us is like a
10:29
degree change on the head angle or like
10:32
10 mil on the back end or 5 mil on the
10:34
bottom bracket but I imagine you know to
10:36
the majority of people they're going to
10:37
look at it and it's going to look very
10:38
similar so you know I think that wasn't
10:41
always the case we could have got this
10:42
first prototype and it could have been
10:44
this ugly awkward Beast that needed a
10:47
lot of work done but you know even from
10:49
the first few rides out on it straight
10:51
away we could tell we were close to the
10:52
mark yeah I have to say like when it you
10:55
rolled it out to us I was like that's
10:57
not what I was expecting that it looks
10:59
very finished I got to say it looks
11:01
finished well I think if you tell
11:03
someone You' started a bike company and
11:05
you've made the first prototype bike
11:06
you're expecting you know bits of
11:08
scaffold bits of cell tape look for the
11:10
air fix
11:12
bits but like we said you know the guys
11:14
we've been working with have been doing
11:16
this for a long time you know this is
11:18
this is our first time doing this but
11:19
it's not theirs you know they've made
11:21
all the mistakes that you make they've
11:22
made all those errors that you start
11:24
when you start a buy company and you
11:26
know they've made them many times over
11:28
so you know they coming to this with
11:30
that vast wealth of knowledge that is
11:32
allowed us to get so close to the mark
11:34
on the first bike where are the Adon
11:37
downhill bikes going to be manufactured
11:39
uh all made in the UK you know on the on
11:41
the downhill bike that additive
11:44
manufacturing it needs to say stay close
11:46
to home you know it needs to stay with
11:48
the engineers we trust with that process
11:50
that we really know you know it's not
11:52
something you can just Outsource to
11:54
someone that's going to do it much
11:55
cheaper because you know the quality of
11:57
the product is so important to us and
11:59
and the technology behind it you know we
12:01
know the group of people doing it we
12:02
know the guys really well and and we
12:04
know that they are good at what they do
12:06
so you know keeping it in the UK is is
12:08
very important to us okay so we're all
12:10
excited we all want an Adon downhill
12:12
bike the same bike that you'll be racing
12:15
and probably winning on this year so
12:16
when can I give you my money yeah I mean
12:19
the idea is to to have the bikes ready
12:21
to come to Market uh as sometime this
12:24
year as soon as possible ideally um so
12:28
you know some point during the during
12:30
this the season we're going to have the
12:31
bikes available available for people to
12:33
buy and and to get on and ride so yeah
12:36
watch this space okay when I want to
12:38
order one where would I go to buy one
12:40
well we think that the customization and
12:42
you know the technology the whole thing
12:44
about the the athl bikes is is kind of
12:46
pushing it more um to directly to the
12:49
consumer so we're going to be selling
12:52
directly from the athl bikes website
12:53
which you know for us is a massive a
12:55
massive plus you know straight to
12:57
Consumer straight that one to one on
12:59
chat with the with the technicians with
13:01
the engineers really getting involved in
13:03
in the bike that you're buying and and
13:05
that's kind of you know a massive Plus
13:07
for us it's and actually that makes a
13:09
lot of sense I mean with such an
13:12
advanced bike and everything you don't
13:13
want any mixed messages so to come
13:15
straight to you guys get the correct
13:17
answers there and then it just it's just
13:19
better for the customer isn't it yeah
13:20
exactly and like G and Dan said you know
13:22
the the team around the bike you know a
13:25
and bikes is has got some amazing people
13:27
involved and the you basically buying
13:30
into that knowledge you know you you
13:32
those guys are available for for you to
13:34
talk to you you might get one of us on
13:36
the end of the phone if if if we're not
13:38
at a Race So You Know Anything could
13:40
happen when you ring that number that'
13:42
be pretty cool another added reason to
13:44
buy another B
13:46
not um so what about availability Dan uh
13:49
is it only are these bikes the Adon
13:51
bikes only going to be available in the
13:52
UK or can anyone in the world buy one no
13:56
absolutely not you know they'll be
13:58
available all over the world and I I
14:00
guess that's coming from the racing
14:02
angle again you know we we race all over
14:04
the world and you know there's talk of
14:06
doing some races in Chile and stuff and
14:08
some street races and trying to really
14:10
get this bike out there and get it into
14:12
the public eye well I think that's what
14:14
Drew us to starting our own brand in the
14:17
first place really you know we've got a
14:19
bike park opening this year and for me
14:22
it was really important to turn up at
14:24
the bike park and see people on our
14:26
frames you know that's that's the reason
14:28
that that I feel we we started a brand
14:31
really it's not about producing a
14:33
high-end brand that only a few select
14:36
people can afford you know I want to see
14:38
as many as I can on the uplift you know
14:39
because that's the bread and butter
14:41
that's where I feel the real industry is
14:44
is in the car parks of the bike park you
14:47
know that's where people talk about the
14:50
bike they talk about how they ride they
14:51
talk with their mates about you know
14:53
what happened that weekend and for me
14:55
that's that's mountain biking you know
14:57
that's what's real about it yeah and I'm
14:59
I'm sure a lot of people are going to be
15:01
talking about otherton bikes so uh yeah
15:03
I mean we can't wait to see it we can't
15:05
wait to see you guys racing and uh yeah
15:08
good luck congratulations and good luck
15:10
thank you and happy birthday as well
15:11
this is a great birthday gift for you I
15:21
forgot uh Dan could you explain a little
15:23
little bit about that I can
15:26
try do that yet
15:30
that's going in that's going in I can
15:33
indeed
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