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to push the Atherton brand that we basically spent 15 years building up. “We’d always talked about starting our own bike company, but Dan Atherton took it upon himself to go out to Asia and have a look at the factories and the setups out there. We’d been in factory teams and part of corporations like Trek, GT, Commencal and saw how they went about things. “So with quite a lot of experience off the back of that,
we were pretty sure we didn’t want to do it the same way that everyone else did. And we were fortunate to combine ourselves with the group of engineers with a great product and vision of what that product could become, and a business model, ultimately, that was different to everybody else.” That business model is a low-stock holding and made-
to-order operation, which could be argued as a wise move, particularly after the industry’s recent issues with stock. In 2019, the Atherton brand needed to prove not only that bonding frames was the right way to go, but that a bonded bike could be successful. And the best way to prove that? By winning some World Cups. “We took a couple of World Cup wins with Rachel in the first
year, which was just amazing. And that put the brand on the map, so we started to sell our kind of ‘beta’ product to really passionate followers. “Then the first 50 bikes went out in 2020, and we started
fundraising in 2021. We raised a lot of cash and set up a facility here in Machynlleth, which we outgrew and moved into a new facility also in Machynlleth nearly two years ago, and we’re already bursting at the seams of this one. “So growth has been good. Obviously, we’re probably two
years behind where we thought we would be, which is the COVID period that’s taken a major hit on our kind of trajectory, but hopefully now we’re getting back on track.” It took plenty of brands longer than six years to embrace the electric bike movement, but Atherton Bikes isn’t like other brands. Did they wait specifically for the new Avinox motors? Or were they already planning to manufacture an e-bike, but on their own terms? “We definitely had
Atherton racing kit
Bosch and Avinox on a level pegging for a while. I was fully convinced with the Avinox system from a ride feel, came and told
www.bikebiz.com Atherton Bikes’ new HQ
the guys, there’s just no way we can choose anything else. “And then, fortunately, they announced a round battery in their product roadmap, and that just sealed the deal. It made so much sense. There were a lot of things that came together.” Whilst from the outside it looked like perfect timing, the
reality is that Atherton Bikes were preparing to design an electric bike with either an external supplier of batteries to fit the round tubes or going against this design of round tubing altogether. Electric bike design isn’t just one of the many considerations brands have nowadays, though. Yes, this particular e-bike looks different to others, but it still comes with an Avinox-powered system, which in recent months has caused some controversy over power levels and whether there should be restrictions placed on that. Brown thinks that power output is not the issue people should focus on; instead, it’s about being courteous as riders. “I mean, there’s a time and a place for it, for sure, and it’s not
tearing up a fire road with pedestrians on it. And as mountain bikers access the countryside alongside other users, that doesn’t change regardless of power or anything. “I think we’re probably most dangerous going down a hill. But that doesn’t matter if you’ve got a high-powered motor for that or not, really. So, I don’t really see it any different to that. I mean, yes, they’re going uphill faster, and that is something that needs to be used with care. “But just in terms of outright power, I don’t often use the full turbo setting. I do enjoy putting it on occasionally for a blast. But we would like to advocate for making sure people dip in and out of settings, really, because they all have a place. “Historically, people would just stick it in Turbo and just
go for it and burn the battery, but now you have the trail and the ECO modes, which are so good that you don’t necessarily need to. What I’m trying to say is the modes are becoming more usable throughout.” ●
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