What does "Made in Germany" actually mean?
There are no clear legal rules for the term. A ruling by the Higher Regional Court of Stuttgart in 1995 states: "... provided that the services have been rendered in Germany that are decisive for that characteristic of the goods ...", the product may be labelled "Made in Germany". Components from abroad can therefore make up a considerable proportion. However, those who do not fulfil this criterion often advertise with "Engineered in Germany". This means that the frame is developed in Germany but manufactured abroad. In addition to small custom forges, Nicolai, Schauff and Bergwerk still weld MTB frames in Germany.
How did the "Made in Germany" seal of quality come about?
1887: England forces foreign manufacturers to label their products with the country of origin. At the time, German products in particular had a reputation for being cheap imitations. However, this quickly changed over the years. The labelling "Made in Germany" soon became a guarantee of quality for English customers and led to increased consumption of German products. Later, this labelling became a symbol of the German economic miracle. While the in Wolfsburg produced VW Beetle later conquered the whole world as an export hit, the term mountain bike was, of course, still unknown to anyone.
When were the first mountain bikes built in Germany?
At the beginning of the 1980s, bicycle manufacturers Shovel the first mountain bike in Remagen (Rhineland-Palatinate). Centurion began importing its Country model from abroad at around the same time. Even though the domestic bikes were inferior to the models from the USA in terms of image, more and more German bike companies were entering the market. Cube was founded in 1993 and, with over 600,000 bikes produced annually (company statement), is now probably the largest German manufacturer. However, neither Cube nor most other German bike brands advertise with the slogan "Made in Germany". On the website www.mtb-museum.de the Schauff company has once again documented its history of the mountain bike.
New series in BIKE magazine
To show the charm behind the expression "Made in Germany", we have created a series of articles of the same name. In BIKE 3/16 we were at Bike Ahead Composites and more companies will follow. You can see how a carbon handlebar is made at Bike Ahead Composites in Würzburg here.
