What's inside wheels and tyres?
Whether aluminium or carbon: rims are usually one-piece. Depending on the construction of the Impeller For example, 32 spokes and 32 nipples. Some manufacturers use locking devices or washers on the nipples. Hubs consist of the hub shell, an axle and two or more bearings, which in turn consist of several seals, balls, cups and lubricants, depending on the design. Hubs can also contain additional seals and spacers. The rear hub also includes the freehub body, which may contain bearings, ratchet rings, toothed discs, pawls and springs, depending on the system.
Working in the hand Tyres as if they were made from a single piece of rubber. But far from it: tyres usually consist of the tread, a puncture protection, the carcass and a bead core. The latter ensures that the tyre stays on the rim and determines its diameter. As the name suggests, the bead core of clincher tyres is made of metal. In folding tyres, a flexible ring, for example made of aramid fibres, is used. Carcasses are textile fabrics that give the tyre its shape. Most manufacturers use nylon fabric rubberised on both sides. The puncture protection layer of most tyres is also made of special fabrics such as Kevlar. The tread itself is usually a mixture of natural and synthetic rubber, to which plasticisers such as grease, fillers (carbon black or silica), vulcanising agents and accelerators (sulphur and zinc oxide) and dyes are added.
To ensure that the tyre holds the air, you either need an inner tube made of butyl, latex or other plastics or, for the Tubeless setup a sealing milk made of latex, ammonia and colourants. Both systems require a valve consisting of a sealing base, a nut, the valve body and the multi-piece valve insert. Tyre inserts to protect the rim are optional, rim tapes are obligatory. It is obvious that the raw materials for rubber, steel, aluminium, grease, rubber, plastic and other mineral oil-based raw materials cannot be sourced entirely from Europe. Russia, for example, lives up to its name: most of the carbon black contained in bicycle tyres comes from there.
BIKE Project Europe: a look at the list of manufacturers
One might assume that it would be easy to manufacture wheels and tyres in the European Union. After all, they are nowhere near as fragmented as suspension forks or disc brakes. Nevertheless, very few manufacturers of hubs, spokes, rims, tyres and accessories rely on production in the EU. Industry leader Swallow for example, produces 100 per cent of its tyres in Jakarta, Indonesia. Maxxis not only produces its own tyres in Taiwan, but also manufactures tyres there for other manufacturers, such as Onza. In general, the focus of global production of bicycle tyres and wheels is in Asia.
There are only a few exceptions when it comes to tyres. Continental no longer produces all its tyres in Germany. The combination of Kryptotal and Argotal in our BIKE PROJECT: EUROPE however, comes from Germany. In neighbouring France, Hutchinson continues to produce tyres in-house. The Dutch manufacturer A. Dugast specialises in lightweight tubular tyres. As Finnish winters can be extremely harsh, Suomi Tires mainly build spike tyres there. In the Czech Republic, both Tufo and Rubena (formerly Mitas) produce mountain bike tyres. In March of this year, Pirelli announced that it would be producing tyres in Italy again in the future. So far, however, it has mainly produced road bike tyres there. In Austria and Germany, maXalami produces tubeless repair kits and Pepi's Tire Noodle tyre inserts. The products from MilKit come largely from Germany.
Carbon rims from Europe
European carbon rims are available, for example, from Lilienthal, Bike Beat or MCFK (all three from Germany). Lightweight (Germany) does not build mountain bike wheelsets, but gravel wheelsets made of carbon fibre. Xentis in Austria builds complete full carbon wheels, but also conventional models with carbon rims. Mavic is one of the few major manufacturers to produce most of its aluminium rims in France. DT Swiss manufactures its own spokes and nipples. For the European market, this is mainly done in Oborniki, Poland. DT Swiss rims and hubs are also produced in Poland. Spoke manufacturer Sapim traditionally produces in Belgium. Pi-Rope builds unique textile spokes in Germany. The parts for Erase wheels come from Belgium, Italy and the Netherlands, although individual springs and rims are also produced in Asia. Qvist and Nonplus also build hubs in Germany, as does Tune. Both Syntace and Newman manufacture hubs in Germany, but rely on the Far East for the production of rims.
The list: These wheels and tyres come from the EU
Our list is not exhaustive and we look forward to receiving your additions. Do you know where other parts of the seating zone are produced in the EU? Then please send us an e-mail: eu-projekt@bike-magazin.de
Manufacturer / Company headquarters / Production site / Remarks
A. Dugast / Oldenzaal (NL) / Oldenzaal (NL) / Tubular tyres
Bike Beat / Bensheim (DE) / DE / Carbon XC wheels
Carbon-Ti / Brescia (IT) / Brescia (IT) / Hubs from IT
Continental / Hanover (DE) / DE / Some models also from Asia
DT Swiss / Biel (CH) / Oborniki (PL) / Wheels
Erase / Fernelmont (BEL) / BEL/NL/IT / Springs and rims partly from Asia
Hutchinson / Paris (FR) / FR / Tyres from FR
Lavelle / London (GBR) / ES / Carbon wheels
Leonardi / Madrid (ES) / Madrid (ES) / Axles from ES
Lightweight / Friedrichshafen (DE) / Friedrichshafen (DE) / No MTB but gravel carbon wheels
Lilienthal / Braunschweig (DE) / DE / Carbon rims
Mavic / Epagny Metz-Tessy (FR) / Saint-Trivier-sur-Moignans (FR) / Most aluminium rims from FR
maXalami / Reit im Winkl (DE) / Reit im Winkl/Warendorf (DE)/Kössen (AT) / Tubeless repair kits and milk
MCFK / Leipzig (DE) / Leipzig (DE) / Carbon rims from DE
Milkit / Zurich (CH) / DE / Tubeless kits
Newman / Wiggensbach (DE) / DE / Hubs from DE
Nonplus / Murr (DE) / DE / Hubs from DE
Pepi's Tire Noodle / Reit im Winkl (DE) / Reit im Winkl/Warendorf (DE)/Kössen (AT) / Tyre-Inserts
Pirelli / Milan (IT) / Bollate (IT) / so far road bike tyres from IT, MTB tyres to follow
Pi-Rope / Chemnitz (DE) / DE / Textile spokes
Qvist / Dresden (DE) / Dresden (DE) / Hubs with double toothed disc system from DE
Rubena / Nachod (CZ) / CZ / Tyres
Sapim / BEL / BEL / Spokes
Suomi Tires / Lieksa (FIN) / FIN / Spike tyres
Syntace / Tacherting (DE) / DE / Hubs from DE
Tufo / Otrokovice (CZ) / CZ / Tyres
Tune / Buggingen (DE) / Buggingen (DE) / Hubs from DE
Xentis / Voitsberg (AT) / Votsberg (AT) / Wheels from AT
Our solution in the BIKE PROJECT: EUROPE
We use Continental tyres on our MTB for the BIKE Project Europe. The global player is the only manufacturer to produce bicycle tyres in Germany. The Argotal and Kryptotal Re models, which provide traction and grip on our enduro project bike, are manufactured entirely by hand in Korbach, Hesse. To ensure that the tyres do not lose their air even under tough conditions, we rely on a tubeless setup, or more precisely on the unique tubeless solutions from MilKit. The specially developed valve system makes it possible to refill the tyre with sealing milk without letting air out of the tyre. The other parts of the MilKit tubeless kit are also designed for simple, clean work with tubeless milk. The products are developed in Switzerland and produced in Germany.
When it comes to the wheelset, the Alutech Fanes EU-Bike on one of the really big brands. DT Swiss develops and designs all wheelsets and manufacturing processes in Biel, Switzerland. We visited the company headquarters in Switzerland and looked over the shoulders of the wheel builders. Read the full company report on DT Swiss in BIKE 12/22. If you buy a DT Swiss wheelset in Germany, you can be very sure that the spokes, hubs and rims were produced in Poland. The wheels are also assembled for the European market in Oborniki, Poland - entirely by hand! The DT Swiss EX 1700 Spline enduro wheelset in a mullet configuration is used on our European bike.
On www.bike-magazin.de you will find many more lists of parts from Europe and perhaps some inspiration for your own EU project:
Jan Timmermann
Editor
