What mountain bike gears Shimano and Sramfor chassis components Rock Shox and Fox. The market for suspension forks and dampers is dominated by these two industry giants, particularly in the OEM sector. Both have their products manufactured in the Far East (largely in Taiwan). European alternatives are rare.
What's inside suspension forks and dampers?
When brainstorming, our editorial team came up with just ten manufacturers of suspension elements that produce in the EU. There are also a handful of accessory companies. If we restrict ourselves to special suspension designs, there are even fewer European manufacturers. When it comes to air spring dampers, there are BOS (France), IntendChickadeehill and newcomer Kamemo (all three from Germany), there are now only four shock absorber models to choose from. Apart from the overview of European tyres, this is the shortest list in our research as part of the BIKE PROJECT: EUROPE. Why is that?
Suspension forks and dampers are extremely small products. If you held a fork in your hand, you would probably not think that it contained hundreds of tiny individual parts. Tubes, seals, bushings, pistons, milled and moulded parts, springs, washers, screws, valves, lubricants and much more ensure that a mountain bike suspension system can spring and dampen. This complexity was also the reason why we chose BIKE PROJECT: RIDE GREEN We opted for an aluminium rigid fork from a 3D printer in Hamburg. The construction of a sustainable suspension fork could not be realised within the scope of the project according to our requirements.
The price balancing act at the BIKE Project: Europe
Spring elements are together with Frame and Wheels the most expensive parts on a bike. Manufacturers are therefore keen to purchase all the many small parts at favourable prices in order to be economically competitive. China and Taiwan in particular produce the required goods in large quantities and at unbeatable prices. So why not have everything assembled there? The fact that this does not necessarily have to be at the expense of quality is due to the decades of expertise of the Asian bike industry.
European manufacturers of forks and shock absorbers cannot completely avoid this dominance either. Although they assemble their suspension elements in Europe, they source the individual parts from many different suppliers. Not all of these in turn produce in the EU. "Assembled in Europe" would probably be a more accurate slogan. The further development of key technologies, such as 3D printing, could lead to individual parts being produced in Europe again at lower prices. So far, however, European mass production is still a dream of the future.
The situation is even more international when it comes to raw materials. Bauxite for aluminium, ores for steel and the carbon compounds for polymers, such as crude oil, are mined or extracted in various countries around the world. As with most other bike parts, there is no suspension fork or shock that is 100 per cent made in the EU. At Intend (Germany), around 90 per cent of the parts are said to come from Europe. Fast (France) also claims to have relied primarily on suppliers from the European continent since 2017. These figures are difficult to verify due to the small-scale construction methods. European manual labour is also more expensive than in most Asian countries due to the legally regulated environmental, social and labour standards. The price for an Intend Edge 29-inch suspension fork is currently 1899 euros. Fast charges 950 euros for a Fenix Evo Enduro shock.
A look at the list
The list of European mountain bike suspension manufacturers is easy to skim over. The most familiar sounding names are Formula (Italy) and Öhlins (Sweden). However, Öhlins only builds the TTX 22 M steel spring damper in the EU; all other products are manufactured in the Far East. The other companies mainly produce small series. Bright Racing Shocks (Italy) and Intend (Germany) specialise primarily in exclusive upside-down suspension forks. BOS (France) has become somewhat quiet in recent years. EXT (Italy) and Fast (France) are primarily known for their high-quality steel spring dampers. ND Tuned (Portugal) and Chickadeehill (Germany) are probably unknown to most bikers. Kamemo attracted attention at Eurobike 2022 with the production of an air shock in the Black Forest. Plans for a suspension fork were also presented. Particularly exciting: thanks to production capacities from the automotive industry, Kamemo could build large quantities in Germany in the future. Many of the European suspension manufacturers have a background in motorbike or car racing.
BIKE PROJECT: Europe - These suspension products are manufactured in the EU
Our list is not exhaustive and we look forward to receiving your additions. Do you know where other chassis parts are produced in the EU? Then please send us an e-mail: eu-projekt@bike-magazin.de
Manufacturer / Company headquarters / Production site / Remarks
- BOS / Toulouse (FR) / Toulouse (FR) / Forks, air & steel spring dampers
- Bright Racing Shocks / Rome (IT) / Rome (IT) / Upsidedown forks
- Chickadeehill / Aachen (DE) / Aachen (DE) / Air spring dampers, tuning parts for other fork manufacturers
- Darimo / Lliria (ES) / ES / Carbon steerer tube for Cannondale Lefty
- EXT Racing Shocks / Ponte die Barbarano (IT) / IT / Forks, air & steel spring dampers
- Fast Suspension / Plestan (FR) / FR / steel spring dampers, tuning parts for other fork manufacturers
- Formula / Prato (IT) / IT / Forks, steel spring dampers
- Huber / Siegburg (DE) / DE / Bushes
- Intend / Freiburg (DE) / Freiburg (DE) / Upside & rightsidedown forks, air suspension dampers
- Kamemo / Berghaupten (DE) / DE / Air spring damper
- ND Tuned / Figueira da Foz (PT) / PT / Steel spring dampers, tuning parts for other fork manufacturers
- Öhlins / Upplands Väsby (SWE) / Upplands Väsby (SWE) / TTx 22 M steel spring dampers from SWE only
- Rulezmann / Savona (IT) / Savona (IT) / Protectors for upsidedown forks
Our solution: the chassis on the BIKE PROJECT: EUROPE
To ensure the highest possible proportion of small parts produced in the EU in the fork and shock of our project bike, we visited Intend in Freiburg. Cornelius Kapfinger and his team put together the Intend Edge and the Intend Hover Gamechanger for us. You can read the full report in BIKE 10/22.
The Intend Edge upside-down suspension fork uses air damping with a semi-open oil bath. The system vents itself automatically every time the fork compresses and bush play is virtually eliminated thanks to the design-related constant lubrication. Most of the 103 individual parts of the fork come from Germany. However, individual parts also come from Austria, Poland, France, Taiwan and China. Two years of development work went into the Hover Gamechanger damper. The Royal Flush coating ensures particularly low friction. The fork and shock each provide 170 millimetres of suspension travel on our project bike.
Jan Timmermann
Editor
