Want to know who made your bike? Which companies dominate the sector? Who owns a particular brand? Here’s a guide that shows most of the main companies in the sector with a few surprises.
This blog post is a copy of the page that sits permanently at the top in the links but I’ve made a few updates and wanted to put it on the front page again especially in the hope readers can make more suggestions and even corrections if things have changed.
Nationality is a subjective issue in a world of global brands and international trade. I’ve tried to list nationality by the parent company HQ, so whilst you might think of Oakley sunglasses as an American brand yet the business is owned by Luxottica, an Italian company from Milan. The same for French wheel manufacturer Mavic, whose head office is in the French Alps but controlled and owned by a company from Finland.
- If you’re viewing this page on a mobile device then the full table might not appear. Scroll down to the foot of the screen to toggle the mobile / normal site design switch.
| Name | Country | Other brands | Corporate Name | Owner / shareholders |
| Continental | Germany | – | Continental AG | Deutsche Börse, Schäffler AG / family |
| Michelin | France | – | Michelin SA | Euronext Stock Exchange |
| Hutchinson | France | Barry Controls, Marine/Aerospace | Total SA | Euronext Stock Exchange |
| Schwalbe | Germany | Ballon Bike | Ralf Bohle GmbH | Bohle family |
| Veloflex | Italy | – | Veloflex s.a.s | Gabriele Colleoni |
| Vittoria | Italy | Geax, Lion | Vittoria SpA | Private |
| Orbea | Spain | Fagor, Brandt electrical goods | Corporación Mondragón | Workers’ co-op |
| Fuji | USA | Kestrel, Oval Concepts, Terry | Advanced Sports International | Private |
| Cinelli | Italy | Columbus tubing, Bootleg | Gruppo SpA | Antonio Colombo |
| Ritchey | USA | – | Ritchey Design | Tom Ritchey |
| Reynolds | USA | Reynolds Composites | Maclean-Fogg Inc. | MacLean family |
| Cervélo | Netherlands | Focus, Univega, Gazzelle | Pon Holdings BV | Family-owned |
| Canyon | Germany | Coast | Canyon Bicycles GmbH | Roman Arnold |
| BMC | Switzerland | Stromer electric | BMC Trading AG | Andy Rihs |
| Felt | USA | – | Felt Racing, LLC | Jim Felt, Michael Müllmann & Duerhing family |
| Merckx | Belgium | – | Diepensteyn SA | Toye family |
| Ridley | Belgium | 4ZA wheels | N.V. Race Productions | Jochim Aerts, Belgian govt. |
| Finish Line | USA | White Lightening | Finish Line Technologies Inc. | Hank Krause |
| DT Swiss | Switzerland | – | DT Swiss AG | Frank Böckmann, Maurizio D’Alberto and Marco Zingg |
| Sapim | Belgium | Rigida rims | Famo NV | Moorkens family |
| Park Tools | USA | – | Park Tool Co | Eric Hawkins |
| Shimano | Japan | Pearl Izumi, Pro | Shimano Inc. | Tokyo Stock Exchange |
| Campagnolo | Italy | Fulcrum | Campagnolo SpA | Campagnolo family |
| SRAM | USA | Avid, Quarq, Truvativ, Zipp | SRAM LLC | Trilantic Capital Partners |
| Cannondale | Canada | Schwinn, GT, Mongoose, SUGOI, Charge | Dorel Group | Toronto Stock Exchange |
| Bianchi | Sweden | Cycles Peugeot, Gitane, Puch, Tec Tools | Cycle Europe AB | Grimaldi family |
| Pinarello | Italy | – | Cicli Pinarello S.p.A | Pinarello family |
| Mavic | Finland | Suunto, Atomic, Wilson, Salomon | Amer Sports | Helsinki Stock Exchange |
| Trek | USA | Bontrager, Gary Fisher, Klein, Viliger, Electra | Trek Bicycle Corp. | Private |
| Specialized | USA | Retül | Specialized Bicycle Components | Merida, Mike Sinyard |
| Merida | Taiwan | Specialized, Boardman etc | Merida Industry Co Ltd | Taiwan Stock Exchange |
| Scott | Switzerland | Yoko, Syncros |
Scott Sports AG | Beat Zaugg |
| Koga Miyata | Netherlands | Batavus, Lapierre, Van Nicholas, Mercier, Raleigh, Ghost |
Accell Group | Euronext Stock Exchange |
| Giro | USA | Bell, Easton, Blackburn | Easton Bell Sports | Race Face Performance |
| Nalini | Italy | MOA, Agu, Adidas cycling | MOA Sport SpA | Mantovani family |
| Assos | Switzerland | Assos of Switzerland SA | Maier family | |
| Rapha | UK | Rapha Racing Ltd | Simon Mottram, Active Private Equity | |
| Castelli | Italy | Sportful | Manifattura Valcismon SpA | Cremonese family |
| Sidi | Italy | Sidi Sport | Dino Signori | |
| Gaerne | Italy | Gaerne spa | Ernesto Gazzola | |
| Giant | Taiwan | certain Colnago frames under licence | Giant Manufacturing Co Ltd | Taiwan Stock Exchange |
| Oakley | Italy | Ray Ban, Persol, Chanel & Prada under license, Sunglass Hut | Luxxotica Group | Delfin, Giorgio Armani |
| Kuota | Italy | Xentis, Kross, Kaya, K-Factor | Sintema Sport | Private |
| FSA | Taiwan | TH Products, RPM, VisionTech | Tien Hsin Industries | Private |
| fi’zi:k | Italy | Selle Royal, Lookin, Royal Gel, Brooks, Crank Bros | Selle Royal SpA | Private |
| Zéfal | France | Stronglight | Zéfal SA | Private |
| CycleSport Magazine | UK | Cycling Weekly, Horse, Wallpaper |
Time Warner (IPC being sold) |
New York Stock Exchange |
| cyclingnews.com | UK | Pro Cycling, Bike Radar | Immediate Media |
Exponent Private Equity |
| Velonews.com | USA | Velo Magazine | Competitor Group (for sale) |
Calera Capital |
| L’Équipe | France | ASO (Tour de France, Paris-Nice, Dauphiné, Paris-Roubaix, Liège-Bastoge-Liège etc), Le Parisien, Paris Marathon, L’Etape du Tour |
Groupe Amaury | Amaury Family + others |
| Gazzetta Dello Sport | Italy | RCS (Giro, Milan-Sanremo, Il Lombardia etc), Corriere della Sera, Marca | RCS Media Group | Italian Stock Exchange |
| Wiggle.com | UK | DHB clothing | Wiggle Ltd | Bridgepoint Capital |
| ChainReactionCycles | UK | Vitus | Chain Reaction Cycles | Watson Family |
| CompetitiveCyclist | USA | Dogfunk, Whiskey Militia | Backcountry.com | Liberty Media |
If you want more detail on this subject, see previous items like “Who Made Your Bike” which looks at the factories in Asia who produce frames and more for the big brands. Or “Italy’s backward shoemakers” for a look at Sidi, Gaerne and other producers and their surprising proximity and why Sidi is called Sidi.
For readability, I think i would switch the country column with the corporate name column .. But that is just my 2 ct’s .. It’s always interesting to see how things tie together…
Don’t SRAM also own Rockshox if I remember rightly?
Halfords bought Boardman Bikes this summer. Halfords are a public company listed on the LSE. Seems like the frames may come from a couple of factories in the Far East (you say Merida).
Thanks for this. SRAMs numbers seem quite large compared to other market research I’ve seen. Would be great to see an update of the market size numbers and know what portion is retail vs. online. Of course SRAMs numbers focuses on gear – the segment they compete in. Would also like to see the size of the other three product segments and their sub-segments 1)bikes-road, mountain, etc., 2)accessories-computers, electronics, racks, cameras, lighting, etc. and 3)clothing- kits, helmets and shoes
Research firm Leisure Trends estimated 2013 US retail sales alone came in at $3.2 billion for the gear segment broken out in SRAMs numbers and the other three segments (http://www.bicycleretailer.com/studies-reports/2014/02/10/leisure-trends-december-closes-out-down-year-ibds#.VAeZ7xbgV8E.). Add to that number an estimate for non US sales and online sales and you could probably at least double Leisure Trends US retail number.
Good to know. I thought Cervélo was Canadian, Bianchi is Italian and Mavic is French.
Cervelo is based in Toronto, so it’s a Canadian company recently sold to the Dutch Pon Holdings group.
Yes, it a pretty misleading table as it suggests at first glance that the company in the first column is the parent and owns the “other brands” companies. In fact Cervelo is just one of the companies owned by Pon, in the last column.
The bike industry is a tangled, constantly shifting, web of who-owns-what-buying-from-someone-else. There’s no table that can sort it sensibly.
Give Inrrng some credit for at least trying to sort it out a little.
Trek may still own the Klein brand, but are not making or marketing Klein-badged bikes anymore. Even (Gary) Fisher has essentially been completely folded into Trek.
In Europe, Trek owns Diamant in addition to Villiger.
Afaik the Raleigh companies world wide were acquired by The Derby Cycle Corporation in 2001.
Derby Cycles Germany (biggest German bike manufacturer) has been acquired by Pon in 2011. Since then Raleigh is owned by Pon.
Nope, http://www.accell-group.com/en/contact/raleigh-uk/raleigh-uk.htm
I can support the “family” and avoid the money obsessed bandwagon spivs, thanks.
And what about the money obsessed families?
kaboom!
That’s my choice. End of.
No Colnago?
Merida is listed as the owner of Specialized (!), yet the latter is a US company. How does that work out?
Any knowledge about Gore Bikewear?
Presumably by Specialized being incorporated in USA and Merida owning a chunk of their shares.
A company’s nationality is determined by the country in which it is registered, not by who owns the shares.
In fact, taking that further, i think the list is probably wrong or at least inconsistent, as I’m pretty certain Oakley is incorporated in USA and Cervelo in Canada. Mavic SAS is definitely a French company. Their shares will have been acquired by companies from other countries.
Their ownership might now be foreign to their original countries byut the companies’ nationality hasn’t changed.
As an equity owner, Merida requires Specialized buy Merida product. Specialized likely provides “market inteligence” for Merida’s product development/roadmap.
This business arrangement works out as a great tax dodge because American revenue is expatriated under the guise of a high price paid per bike when it lands on U.S. soil. The American company always somehow manages to operate near break-even. All the revenue leaves the country. This business model is very common in the computer industry.
This is a cool report!
Back in March I shook the hand of the son of Mr. Casati, the man who started the company and built one of my favorite road bikes. Pretty cool to meet his son, who owns and runs the family business today in Monza.
I’m sure anyone who lovingly owns a custom/small fab. bicycle knows this thrill.
I think you’ve got the information on Easton-Bell Sports a little mixed up. First of all, only Easton-Bell’s (now calling itself BRG) “Easton Cycling” division was sold – that’s their wheels and components – and they’re holding onto Giro, Bell, and Blackburn (and selling off their baseball and hockey divisions as well). Furthermore, Easton Cycling was sold to Chris Tutton and not RaceFace. Now, Chris Tutton happens to own RaceFace as well, and it sounds like the two companies are sharing resources, but they’re being run as separate entities.
The list gets messy with these notes, do with them as you will.
Kinesis is not on your list. They build bikes for so many brands worldwide it’s impossible to keep track. Felt is a Kinesis customer.
Giant builds a whole bunch of Trek product and probably the odd Specialized model. Giant is a conventional Taiwanese OEM. They brand their own product where they did not/do not have an in-country OEM customer moving lots of product.
Re: Sapim and Rigida: Rigida rims are called ‘Ryde’ for a couple of years now.
Anyone know the relationship between Planet X and resurrected brands Viner and Holdsworth. Have they bought the names or bought the companies?
Planet x own Viner and Holdsworth .
Interesting discussion about Planet-X business in the latest Rouleur podcast and magazine (I have no association with them), minor content spoiler but P-X are/were looking into moving an Italian manufacturing plant en-masse into the UK to be able to build steel Holdsworth frames in the UK (P-X are based near Sheffield which was historically England’s steel town).
Not sure how much company was left to buy, but Planet-X/On One have bought all manner of companies/brands, with the US MTB names Titus (which they are selling) and Tomac, which seems to have hit the back burner.
I assume external links are acceptable here?
http://rouleur.cc/journal/podcasts/issue-49-podcast
http://www.on-one.co.uk/news/brant-blog/q/date/2013/09/18/hanging-with-the-tomacs
I think Dorel also bought Guru, the Canadian manufacturer of custom carbon frames and a very nice bike fit system.
Is colnago still owned by the family?
On a related issue Giovanni pinarello died in Treviso on Thursday night aged 92.
Boardman have bikes made by Axeman and Strongman, alloy and carbon but I can’t remember which does what. That’s in addition to Merida. Gore Bike Wear is still a private, family owned business, W L Gore and Associates, the founders name and his employees who own work for but also own the company. W L Gore created the GORE-TEX fabric and also make industrial, medical and electrical products. Born in the USA.
A bit late to post but I thought people might like this one. I recently bought an IAM kit (cause I like it) made by Swiss firm CUORE. On the tag on the inside said it said “Swiss Precision meets Italian Passion”. On the other side it says “Made in China”. I have renamed it “Swiss Precision meets Italian Passion but is overruled by economic reality”
I’m always curious to know who makes Specialized and Scott shoes, since they are nearly identical, and whether the same company makes shoes for anyone else.
Its a good list, on bicycle manufacturer one of the interesting things is who manufactures what. This goes into Taiwanese factories – some brands such as Giant actually manufacture themself whereas other everyday brands are still supplied – these suppliers are deliver to other brands. This leads to the ‘open mold’ discussion and also the cheap rip-offs which appear to come from the same mold.