So, what precisely is a completely European firm like DT Swiss doing in America? Once we had been invited to a launch occasion in Grand Junction, CO, we assumed the ability was a lately constructed one. It seems that DT has had a presence there since 1996.
The corporate could also be Swiss by and thru, however it established a North American headquarters after increasing into the OEM market within the Nineteen Nineties. Bike firms like Cannondale and Trek had been its major clients on the time, and DT wanted to arrange distribution close by. Grand Junction ended up turning into the situation by happenstance—an acquaintance had accessible warehouse house, and DT determined to provide it an opportunity.
It caught. Colorado gives straightforward distribution to each coasts in addition to a top-notch using terrain, each on and off-road. The warehouse belonging to another person has since morphed into DT’s multi-building complicated that homes manufacturing, service and distribution of its merchandise throughout North America. We had an opportunity to pattern the using, however spent extra time attending to know extra about what DT has occurring behind the scenes.
DT Swiss’ North American HQ in Grand Junction, Colorado
(Picture credit score: DT Swiss)
At its coronary heart, DT is a spoke firm. The identify DT is derived from the German phrase “Drahtwerke” and the French phrase “Trefileries,” each of which imply wireworks. The corporate can hint its origins to the 1600s, again when working with wire meant making chainmail to outfit the mercenary armies of central Europe.
This bigger wireworks entity started making bicycle parts within the interwar years, and the bicycle facet of the enterprise was consolidated and purchased out in 1994 to type DT Swiss in its present incarnation. From spokes, DT expanded into different areas: suspension, hubs, rims, and extra. It’s headquartered in Biel, Switzerland, which can also be dwelling to notable watchmakers like Rolex and Omega. Precision and reliability appear to be hallmarks of the area.
Most of DT’s wheel manufacturing occurs in Poland and Taiwan, the place the carbon and aluminum rims are manufactured. All the DT community works in conjunction to supply on-demand elements, scaling up and again as wanted. Within the U.S., DT has a devoted spoke manufacturing operation, and builds and assembles wheels in addition to shops and distributes merchandise.
At its coronary heart, DT is a spoke firm.
(Picture credit score: Tyler Boucher)
For many who haven’t seen this course of, making spokes occurs quick. Uncooked materials within the type of metal alloy arrives on the manufacturing facility on big spools. DT makes use of materials from the identical suppliers in any respect of its worldwide places. Wire goes straight from the spool right into a straightening course of that produces spoke blanks, reduce to size. The blanks then bear cold-forging by way of a hammering course of to scale back the diameter within the center when desired. Subsequent, the blanks get precision reduce, the spoke heads machine-formed and stamped (or bent, within the case of J-bend spokes), and the ends threaded. This occurs by the use of a rolling course of, which doesn’t really take away any materials from the spoke. All through the method, spokes are frequently checked for quite a lot of essential dimensions. All the factor is noisy and intensely enjoyable to look at. Bladed spokes utilized in aero wheels are produced in Switzerland using separate strategies (so far as I can inform, this implies huge smashing machines).
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One huge spool of future spokes
(Picture credit score: Tyler Boucher)
Along with manufacturing spokes, DT does a excessive quantity of wheel constructing in Grand Junction. Considerably surprisingly, the wheel constructing continues to be achieved virtually totally by hand.
Every wheel goes by a multi-step means of lacing, an preliminary tightening, a secondary tightening, a go to to a de-tensioning machine, after which a last truing earlier than being checked over and boxed up.
Extremely, each carbon wheel DT builds has each spoke’s rigidity measured and logged in a database. DT is aware of precisely who constructed every wheel going again for years, and if ever there’s a problem down the road, it will possibly pull the receipts.
The place does DT match into the market?
(Picture credit score: Eszter Horanyi)
DT Swiss merchandise actually aren’t identified for flashiness: the corporate doesn’t provide a lot in the best way of shiny colours a la Chris King or Trade 9. What it does do is make merchandise which can be extremely performance-oriented and reliable.
DT sponsors two up and coming ProTour (second division) street groups, Uno-X Mobility and Tudor Professional Biking, each of which have been steadily climbing the UCI rankings. On the mountain bike facet, it has much more presence, offering wheels for multi-time World Champion Loic Bruni of Specialised Gravity Racing in addition to for residing legend Nino Schurter of Scott-SRAM.
A big share of what DT Swiss makes goes into the OEM market: DT wheels are spec’d on numerous full bikes at present being bought. And the corporate may be finest identified for the sheer quantity of merchandise it produces. A whole bunch of various sorts of spokes, a number of totally different inner ratcheting mechanisms, and rim sizes that outfit every thing from cargo trikes to dust bounce bikes. If it’s a motorcycle wheel, chances are high that DT makes elements for it. DT’s fingerprints can be present in an unlimited swath of wheels at present being bought beneath different producers’ names. Excessive-end Specialised wheels, for instance, use DT Swiss hub our bodies and internals.
(Picture credit score: DT Swiss)
In the previous couple of years, the wheel market has seen some new improvements in spoke materials. Carbon spokes present up infrequently on new wheel releases, in addition to novel polymer filament spokes. And whereas these improvements can provide distinctive weight financial savings, they’ll’t compete with metal spokes for reliability and precision. Molded carbon spokes can’t be trued, for one, and polymer spokes, like those Berd makes use of, lose large quantities of rigidity over time.
The proof for metal’s ongoing dominance will be seen within the professional peloton: virtually each wheel being raced on the skilled degree makes use of metal spokes, a lot of them made by DT.
From my expertise of years spent working in bike retailers, I’m nicely acquainted with DT hubs. By way of high quality and reliability, the 240 hub has lengthy been the gold commonplace, and the 240s aren’t even DT’s highest-end providing—that’s the 180 hub. Seeing the spoke-making course of and listening to extra from DT straight (together with conversions with Switzerland) has solely confirmed my impression: DT Swiss is an organization on the prime of its recreation, not a lot with shiny new issues, however with the tried and trueness (pun meant) of historical past behind every thing it does.
