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Bike Project Europe: Interview with Alutech CEO Jürgen Schlender
Few things are trusted as much as the announcements of navigation systems. But in this case it can only be a spectacular misdirection. This is supposed to be the legendary mountain bike manufacturer Alutech? The company that has just attracted media attention because, after years of Far East production, worn down by the supply chain disaster, it is once again focussing on local production? Which is seen by more than a few industry insiders as a possible future model for the entire bicycle industry and gave us the idea for our project: Can we manage to get a Made-in-Europe bike on its wheels? Right now?
The sat nav has announced that we have reached our destination. As a scene insider, you know that it is not a grey, soulless industrial block with a ring road connection. But this one looks like it was designed by someone under the influence of blood pressure-lowering herbal teas. A red brick building. Gravel driveway. Cosy garden. The chirping of the birds seems almost excited in the midst of this idyll. And there he comes striding out of the roller shutter, grinning broadly. Jürgen Schlender, the boss.
"Breakfast first?" he asks, pushing his famous black woollen hat back so that it hangs down his neck like Papa Smurf's. The path to the second floor, where the flat is located, leads through the company premises. Welding shop, assembly workshop, office. Orderly chaos. Everything as compact as possible. On the walls and in display cases, evidence of the company's history. The brutalist hardcore Wildsau frame that started it all in the nineties. The race numbers that tell of Schlender's decades-long passion for racing. Gearbox frames, prototypes, photos. A real little museum. Alutech is celebrating its 30th anniversary this year. But Schlender is not really in a party mood. On the contrary. The industry is going crazy. Despite the bike boom, Schlender is worried. Everything has become complicated.
BIKE: What happened that you no longer have your frames manufactured in the Far East, but instead weld them yourself again?
Stroll: We had no choice. It was a matter of survival. The supply chains collapsed completely due to the pandemic. The factories in the Far East were closed for a long time. And when they reopened, the big players were served first. It makes a huge difference whether you are Specialized or Alutech, for example.
What exactly was the problem?
It started with the pipes. We use hydroformed tubes that are manufactured according to our specifications. Eight moulds are required for one down tube alone so that it can be pressed out. Before the pandemic, the waiting time for tubes was 60 days. Then the frame was welded and sent from Taiwan to Germany. Suddenly we had to wait a year and a half for the tubes we ordered. Tubes for 750 frames! When our welder told me that I could expect the frames in another year or so, I had to pull the ripcord. The warehouse is full of parts, which ties up a lot of money. I can't wait two years for frames. You can't survive that as a company. That's why we're back to welding ourselves.
Is it only about delivery capability or also about other aspects?
Quality is not the issue. It used to be difficult to get a special pipe in Germany. Many companies were spoilt as suppliers to the automotive industry. It only started with large quantities. In Taiwan, you could order 50 pipes. The rule there is: a lot of small animals make a big pile of dung. The companies have expertise. The quality is top. The problem is the ability to deliver. That's why we're trying to focus fully on Europe in future.
You want to manufacture the frame for our Project Europe. Is a 100 per cent European mountain bike realistic?
No. Not at the moment, at least not at a reasonable cost. Even the raw aluminium usually comes from China. The blanks for the milled parts, which are forged using expensive tools, also come from the Far East. Even if you manage to build the frame 100 per cent Made in Europe, you will face the next big challenge with the add-on parts. But I believe that a lot will happen in the near future. We can't just be China's extended workbench.
BIKE Project Europe: The frame is Alutech's best-selling Fanes model
Schlender knocks the crumbs from his breakfast roll off his T-shirt. Then he trudges down the stairs into his office. A few employees are scurrying around. Schlender exchanges a few chummy remarks with them and switches on the light in the workshop.
workshop. On the welding bench: the provisionally sizzled-together fragments of the BIKE Project Europe frame, Alutech's best-selling Fanes model. Schlender couldn't wait and got started yesterday. He is a doer type. "If I find something cool, I want to realise it immediately. It's absolutely not mainstream," he laughs. What he means by that becomes clear less than a minute later. One of the pipes doesn't fit perfectly. Schlender grabs it, makes a template out of cardboard and cuts the aluminium part to size with an electric handsaw without flinching. He puts the tube back into the frame puzzle and taps it into position with a rubber mallet. Done.
"The cardboard is a kind of pattern. Just like you know it from a tailor. A lesson learnt is a lesson learned," grins Schlender. He alludes to his time in the fashion industry. Even as a teenager, he used to sew himself complete outfits before party nights because he hated run-of-the-mill outfits. After training as a tailor, he worked for Joop and Jil Sander. He then earned his living as a car dealer. But his great passion was biking. When the Internet was still in its infancy, he thought about an online shop for MTB parts, inspired by the recently launched car portal mobile.de. However, he discarded the idea due to the uncertainty of whether something like this would catch on, as he recounts today with a sigh. A coincidence made him the owner of the forge Alutech.
How do you become a mountain bike manufacturer as a trained tailor?
Crazy story. Through acquaintances, I got in touch with Andreas Zimmermann, who had founded the company Alutech. A CNC company that mainly produced small parts. Brake boosters, chain guides, that sort of thing. The one fully they had was made by Nicolai. Andreas wanted to sell it. I scraped together all the money I could and bought the company for a high five-figure sum. My girlfriend and I handed over the money and went straight on holiday to France. I made sketches for the first Fully while we were still travelling.
Don't you have to have an engineering degree?
I just didn't have it. So I learnt CAD drawing on my own and taught myself everything. Nobody showed us how the industry works. We jumped in at the deep end and learnt to swim. (laughs)
It's early afternoon. High time to pack. A few days ago, Schlender had the idea of welding the BIKE Project Europe frame not here in his workshop,
but at the BIKE Festival in Willingen. Live, in front of an audience. Euphoric with anticipation, he loads everything into the company trailer. The almost hundred-kilo iron plate with the frame gauge. The welding machine. Then the individual parts that he will assemble into a whole. 23 tubes and 55 milled parts, bearings, screws and washers.
The frame will be ready tomorrow afternoon. Around 3 pm. Thanks to the new production philosophy, he can now predict this as accurately as a navigation system can predict the arrival time at the destination.
The frame: Heart made of aluminium
Only a few weeks passed from the idea to the completion of the frame. The Alutech Fanes frame was welded live in front of an audience. Nevertheless, it is not completely free of Far East DNA.
1 The frame
As the centrepiece for our BIKE Project Europe, Alutech boss Jürgen Schlender has built an exclusive version of the Fanes enduro model. The fully with 160 millimetres of rear travel is designed as a mullet version, i.e. for 27.5-inch rear wheels in combination with a 29er front wheel. This combines liveliness and smoothness. Our Fanes is equipped with a Pinion gearbox made in Baden-Württemberg. Instead of the carbon rear triangle (Far East) of the 29er version, our Fanes comes with aluminium struts. The decor is custom-made.
Spring travel: 170 mm
Weight: 3.6 kg (without gearbox)
Value:. 3199 Euro (without gearbox)
Field of application: Enduro, bike park
2 Pipes
Not all pipes are the same. There are manufacturers in Europe, but they mostly produce round tubes. However, the full potential of the material can only be realised with hydroforming. Moulds are used to press the tube into the optimum shape and wall thickness. This requires special moulds. In this country, it is only worthwhile producing them in large quantities. In the Far East, even small series are affordable. This is why Alutech currently has the tubes manufactured in Taiwan, but is looking for alternatives in Europe. According to Schlender, hydroformed tubes could also come from Italy or Slovakia in the future. As the production of aluminium is energy-intensive and therefore expensive, the raw material currently comes mainly from China.
3 Bearing
The selection of bearings is large, and there are also excellent manufacturers of standard ball bearings in Germany. For example, the company SKF. However, a few specialists have established themselves in the mountain bike scene. The company Acros, for example. Bike manufacturers usually buy the bearings for inexpensive frames cheaply in the Far East. In the high-quality segment, there is no need to rely on the Far East. Alutech relies on bearings from the US manufacturer Enduro Bearings. The bearings are considered to be of extremely high quality, robust and reliable. All individual parts come from the USA. EU bearings would be possible and more consistent, but Alutech fulfils the demand of its customers here.
4 milled parts
The same applies here as for the frame tube: not all milled parts are the same. Any milling shop can machine normal square blocks. However, in order to save time, material and effort, Alutech (like other MTB companies) has pre-formed blanks forged, which can then be rasped into the final shape in no time at all. This requires forging moulds, which are expensive. For companies in Europe, this is usually only worthwhile for larger quantities. In Asia, such forging blanks can be produced at reasonable costs. This is why Alutech buys the milled parts in Taiwan. Various CNC parts are required for a frame like the Fanes. Here too, Alutech is already looking for EU alternatives.
Alutech Cycles: a brief history of the company
History: Chance turned the trained fashion tailor Jürgen Schlender into the owner of the forge Alutech. The company was founded in 1993 by Andreas Zimmermann and was put up for sale in 2001. MTB enthusiast Schlender seized the opportunity and turned the brand into a cult forge. The company is based in Aschaffel (Schleswig-Holstein) near the Baltic coast.
Production: In the early years, Alutech frames were still welded at the company headquarters. Production was then outsourced to Taiwan. Due to considerable supply difficulties, Schlender pulled the ripcord in 2021 and has been welding all frames itself ever since.
Model range: From gravel to downhill. The most successful model is the Enduro-Fully Fanes. The frame of the gravel bike Punk is made of carbon and is still the only model to be manufactured in the Far East.
