Shimano XT? You can pack up again: Interview on the 75th anniversary of Paul Lange & Co. OHG

BIKE: Bernhard, how grateful are you to your parents for their choice of career?

BERNHARD LANGE: Grateful is not an expression at all. Even though my first career ambition was actually to be a pilot. My parents didn't push me into the company, but I always had a passion for bicycles - and the feeling that there was still a lot of movement possible. In 1983, at the age of 23, I was allowed to start my training in Japan and was thrilled.

How do you define the relationship between the Lange family and the Shimano family?

Shozo Shimano, son of the founder, and my father sought and found each other. They got on incredibly well as people and both had this forward-looking approach. They wanted to take Shimano forward. Perhaps the German virtues are not so far removed from the Japanese ones: What you say, you do. And you have integrity. The co-operation is not questioned. You go through thick and thin together.

You also spent almost two years at Shimano in Japan ...

I spent 18 months in Japan and then in the USA. Later, children from the Shimano family also came to Germany. My son Paul-César, now CSO of our company, spent another two years in Japan in 2013 and came back to Germany with a Japanese wife.

What did you experience during your time in the early 80s?

A lot of things, but above all the beginning of the mountain bike. The pioneers around Gary Fisher and Joe Breeze approached Shimano relatively early on and said that the cranks were flying around their ears and the road bike hub was constantly breaking. They wanted a higher gear ratio, robust material and brakes that worked perfectly. Yoshizo Shimano was president of Shimano USA at the time and infected his brother Keizo, who was an engineer and technical director, with his enthusiasm. Keizo Shimano was also absolutely fascinated by the bike, you could feel it. He carried the joy into the factory and said: "What you see here is a trend reversal in bicycles." Subsequently, huge investments were made in MTB technology.

The pioneers around Gary Fisher and Joe Breeze approached Shimano relatively early on and said that the cranks would blow up in their faces.

And you got infected?

Of course. We tested the brakes to the limit on the hills of Osaka back then. The Shimano Deore rear derailleur with the deer antlers - if you still remember - was a great bike feeling that I had never experienced before. When I went to Japan and the USA, it was absolutely clear to me that this was the big thing. And then I came back to Germany at the end of 1984 ...

And what happened here?

There was no response. My first task at home was to bring the Deore XT to the factories. But the German manufacturers didn't see the trend. "You can pack it in again. It'll be a flop like BMX. Too expensive, it can't work at all."

How did you react to that?

With the founding of our own MTB brand: Longus. The trade had understood MTB, they believed in it. Ultimately, it was an open barn door for importers from the USA and Taiwan. But for me, Wolfgang Renner with Centurion, for example, was always a big player in terms of the success of mountain bikes in Germany.

Company portrait Paul Lange & Co. OHG

In 1949, Paul and Fernanda Lange start selling sprockets, tyres and other bicycle parts from their home in Stuttgart. In 1967, Paul Lange & Co OHG becomes the first European agent for a previously unknown brand from Japan: Shimano. Bernhard Lange - who was born exactly ten years to the day after the company was founded - takes over the company in 1989 after the early death of his father and manages it together with his sister Barbara Schattmaier for the 35th year. In addition to being the general agent for Shimano in seven European countries, Paul Lange also distributes other brands such as Schwalbe, SP Connect and Cateye. Bernhard Lange is one of the pioneers of the mobility revolution and has been awarded the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany.

Why didn't you continue with Longus?

After ten years, the mountain bike market was flourishing and we had customers for the components - and I certainly didn't want to offer a competing product to our customers.

What the industry didn't realise at the time: The mountain bike and its components socialised the bicycle. They could also be installed in city and trekking bikes, and as a result, the bicycle took an enormous leap forward. It was a very, very difficult birth in Germany. But it is sensational what has happened here in the meantime.

What was your attitude towards the EMTB in the past?

Give it to me and great. I found it fascinating. But I had no idea how fast it would come.

Was it similar with the electronic circuit?

I was a complete advocate of mechanical shifting - until I got a Shimano Di2. That was pure joy. Even though I love old bikes, you shouldn't close your mind to some things - they're just too much fun.

What are the most exciting topics in the MTB segment for you at the moment?

Future generations of circuits - I'm not allowed to reveal any more, but I'm really looking forward to the future. Nevertheless, I have to say that for me, one of the most important drivers of sport is infrastructure. You have to keep an eye on what's happening here, for example the current revision of the Federal Forest Act, which could significantly restrict freedom of movement in the forest. We have to get involved and lobby. Incidentally, any of us can talk to politicians.

Your commitment to infrastructure extends beyond the forest ...

We need a change in mobility, that is absolutely clear. Politicians must act now. To be honest: I don't want to be patient any more, I don't want to wait any longer. We need to accelerate this together and in a non-partisan way. If we are talking about times of crisis in the industry, then the way out is through the creation of infrastructure. We must be given the right to be able to cycle safely from A to B.

When we talk about times of crisis, the key way out is to create infrastructure.

A look into the future: will we be talking to Bernhard Lange again on the occasion of Paul-Lange's 80th anniversary?

You could talk to the young people today ... In the next two or three years, we will have a new management team. My son Paul-César is already in the company, as are two of my sister's sons.

What will a Bernhard Lange do after 35 years as CEO?

I can well imagine cycling a lot more. My wife and I love travelling. And I like to relax with a glass of wine.