Trek Bicycle corporation Owns the Trek, Fisher, Diamant and Villiger bicycle brands, along with Bontrager apparel. The company retails a large range of bicycle types and models globally. Specialized also owns and markets the Globe Bikes brand. Specialized soared to fame after the launch of the stump jumper mountain bike, the first to be mass produced.Īlthough Merida owns a significant share in Specialized, the company founder, Mike Sinyard, retains control of the Specialized brand. Over the years, many Raleigh brand models have caught the attention of the public including the Raleigh Chopper, and the Grifter. Raleigh’s history as a bicycle manufacturer began in 1887. Since 2000, the Merida brand has increasingly been associated with better quality bicycles. The 1990s saw the firm establishment of Merida as a brand name in itself, although they became known for mass produced bikes. Merida Industry Company Ltd was one of a number of Taiwanese bicycle manufacturers that commenced business making cheaper bikes for other bicycle brands in the early 1970s.
The Kona Bicycle Company was founded in 1988 and produces elite MTBs, touring and racing bikes. Klein Bikes, named after Gary Klein, were bought out by Trek, but what is the future for the aluminum frame? It’s not clear whether Trek will ever resurrect the Klein bicycle brand. It builds bikes for other brands as well as manufacturing its own brand of Giant bikes. Giant claims to be the biggest of all the bicycle manufacturers. Giant started out as a manufacturer of other brands of bike.Īfter the company began manufacturing Schwinn bicycles, success launched them into a giant international brand. ASI continues to market and distribute Fuji Bicycles, Breezer Bikes, Kestrel Bicycles and SE Bikes. Like many bicycle brands, Fuji suffered through the 1990s, and the parent companies in Japan and America went bankrupt.ĭistribution rights for the brand were purchased by Advanced Sports Inc in 1998. Japan’s Fuji Bicycle brand was born in 1899. Gary Fisher is considered to be one of the founding fathers of mountain biking. After some tough years, the Cannondale company is now producing high quality bicycles and cycling gear.įelt Bike frames were first built in 1990 by Jim Felt, and now the Felt Bicycles Company distributes bikes internationally.įisher Bikes has until recently been a mountain bike specialist, but entered the road bike market in 2008. Joe Montgomery founded Cannondale Bicycles in a little shop above a pickle factory. Other CycleEurope brands include Crescent, DBS, Everton, Gitane, Kildemoes, Legnano, Micmo, Monark, Puch and Spectra. (CycleEurope is in turn owned by Grimaldi Industri. It now sits in the stable of bicycle brands owned by CycleEurope.
The Bianchi brand, like Schwinn, has a long and prestigious history. Apollo is a well known bicycle brand in Australia, which retails through bike shops.Īvanti was launched in New Zealand in 1985 and has since become one of the more popular bicycle brands in both Australia and New Zealand.īianchi markets itself on the long association with past and present cycling champions to position itself as a leader in innovation.