25 years of battling bunk - Dirk Zedler relentlessly uncovers defective products in the bicycle industry with expert reports and extensive laboratory tests. We were also allowed to discover the most secret corners of the Zedler Institute for Bicycle Technology and Safety in Ludwigsburg, where photography is normally strictly forbidden.
On 1 April 1993, graduate engineer Dirk Zedler sat down at a desk in a converted children's room and decided to become a bicycle expert with immediate effect. It was the time when the lightweight construction craze in the mountain bike scene was blossoming horribly. Cranks and stems were milled to the limit, handlebars and frames were laminated "on the off-chance". The stuff broke by the dozen.
Nevertheless, the first few years were tough for Zedler. He toyed with the idea of quitting. The issue of safety did not play a major role for the companies at the time. The engineers were more concerned with fine-tuning the technical refinements. Disc brakes, suspension, gears - there really was a lot to do.
With the triumph of carbon, laboratory tests became increasingly important from the mid-noughties. Zedler, who in the meantime had made a name for himself with test stands for the racing bike magazine TOUR, gradually expanded his company into a test laboratory. At the same time, he also developed the laboratory test together with the associated testing machines for Delius Klasing Verlag, which also owns BIKE and FREERIDE.
Since the Zedler test laboratory was restructured as an institute in 2010 - which required proof of scientific work - companies from Asia, Europe and the USA have been sending frames and parts to have their durability tested almost on a daily basis. The industry had discovered the topic of safety for itself. And Dirk Zedler undoubtedly played a large part in this. In BIKE 4/2019 we have dedicated a detailed portrait story to the tireless campaigner for product safety. A photo gallery is available here.
You can find the portrait story about Dirk Zedler in BIKE 4/2019. You can read the issue in the BIKE app (iTunes and Google Play) or in our online shop order - while stocks last:
