Mountain biking in itself is environmentally friendly. But what about the production or recycling of mountain bikes and accessories? In order to address the issue of sustainability as a magazine, we have RIDE-GREEN campaign into being. Together with partners from the industry, we endeavour to build the most sustainable mountain bike possible. When it comes to brakes, there is no way around Trickstuff. The Freiburg-based company is supporting our project with a feather-light Piccola Carbon. During our visit to Freiburg, we find out why Trickstuff boss Klaus Liedler is in a dilemma when it comes to brake production, despite all his ecological endeavours.
Like on an altar, the individual parts of the Trickstuff Piccola brake spread out on a clinically clean work surface. Neatly arranged, just as it should be for sweeping-week-tested Badeners. Klaus Liedler, head of Trickstuff in Freiburg, is visibly proud of his little sanctuary. Or rather, of what his colleague Jan Borghoff will create from the 66 individual parts over the next hour: the lightest hydraulic disc brake in the world. A filigree marvel. 158 grams. As strong as a bear. Built for eternity.
What initially sounds like a pure marketing promise can be substantiated with facts in the case of Trickstuff. The high-quality components and extremely meticulous workmanship, for example, speak in favour of durability. The milled parts are made from aircraft aluminium of the highest strength class. They are manufactured with the lowest possible tolerances. The lever is mounted without play, friction and wear using four replaceable ball bearings. The stainless steel pistons cannot tilt or break. This brake is indestructible, anything but disposable. You have to pay 900 euros for such a marvel of technology. And yet customers who opt for a brake from Trickstuff are on a long waiting list. It seems that this business model is a success.
Spare parts supply even for 20-year-old brakes
Buying new instead of repairing - while this mentality is becoming more and more established in society, Trickstuff is going its own way. After all, anyone who buys a Trickstuff brake will still be laughing years later about the tears that the purchase price once brought to their eyes. "You can get any spare part from us, even if your brake is 20 years old," says Liedler, pointing to the yellow boxes containing thousands of tiny screws, seals and circlips. As if to prove it, his colleague Mo Duscheleit digs a brake, as massive as a throwing anchor, out of a wooden box. "This one is well over 15 years old, we've just repaired it and now it's like new."
Like the three Clegs from dirt jumper Rob J Heran. The Cleg was developed by former BIKE employee Christopher Hug in the early 2000s. The forefather of all Trickstuff stoppers. Hug gave Heran three prototypes to test back then. He still has them today. "They're so good, I'm not going to throw them away!" says the man known to everyone only as Rob J. The Trickstuff guys recently cleaned the dust off the old things and gave them new seals and new oil. "Now they brake like they did on the first day!" says the Munich bike pro happily. The fact that Trickstuff brakes last so long is greatly appreciated by their owners. "Hardly any of our brakes stay on the bike when it's sold. They almost always go to the new bike," says Liedler. "Even our professional downhillers Mick and Tracey Hannah or the Athertons ride with three-year-old brakes." Sustainability à la Liedler is what lasts a biker's lifetime. Or even longer.
For Klaus Liedler, environmental protection and sustainability have always been more than just hip PR buzz. The Trickstuffler team all cycle to work. Liedler with a Cannondale. His Gazelle now hangs in the "living room" in the new company building in the south of Freiburg. Colourful Trickstuff company cars? No such thing. "We do car sharing - in Freiburg it's called the Green Fleet." The Littfass-Benz as a status symbol? "Nobody needs one here," says Liedler.
Trickstuff boss is a walking encyclopaedia for disc brakes
"I was simply brought up to protect the environment," he says instead. "My mother, a real Black Forest woman, was thrifty and taught me to respect nature. I experienced the first and second oil crises and the forest dieback in the mid-1980s. That left its mark." Liedler later became an industrial engineer, worked in the field of technical documentation and technical advertising - and has always been a keen cyclist. Today, there are probably not a handful of people in Germany who know as much about brakes as he does. Klaus Liedler is a walking encyclopaedia and knows every model of the last 20 years inside out.
A brief history lesson: Michael Habighorst founded Trickstuff in 2004 and delighted the bike world with sophisticated, feather-light and sexy small parts. When Habighorst wanted to sell his company in 2009, Liedler took over. "Because the completely new job appealed to me and challenged me." In 2009, he had one employee. Today there are 27, and when you say Trickstuff, you mean the ones with the brakes. "First priority: function and reliability. Second priority: sustainability," is the boss's mantra.
But back to the crucial question: Why should you invest 900 euros when there are functioning competitor products for half the price?
Of course a Trickstuff brake is expensive. But if you consider the extremely long service life, the reliability and the repairability, then the high purchase price is put into perspective. And finally, the brakes are manufactured at great expense and only in small quantities, mostly here in Germany. The milled parts made from 7075 aluminium come from partners in the Black Forest and Bavaria. The carbon levers are made in Munich. The short distances also improve the carbon footprint. It quickly becomes clear that each one is something special. "We are aiming for 3000 brake sets this year. Fifteen per cent will be sold to professional and elite racers," reveals Liedler. "We want every brake to be assembled by a mechanic and not by someone who couldn't care less whether they are assembling a fridge or a brake," continues the company boss. Instead of assembly line production, Pfaffenweiler has quality controls after each work step. And ice lollies for everyone during the lunch break.
Goal for the future: Everything made in Europe
Trickstuff also plays a pioneering role when it comes to production waste. "Manual assembly here at Trickstuff doesn't produce any waste in the first place," says Liedler. "The companies minimise waste in machining production for cost reasons alone. Any remaining chips are recycled. Reusable returnable packaging is used when shipping milled parts from the paver, anodiser or laser marker. We don't send the brakes to our customers in plastic, but in wooden crates." But of course there is still room for improvement at Trickstuff. The discs and pads still come from the Far East. Unfortunately, quality trumps sustainability here. "Such high-quality products are simply not available in Europe at the moment. Nevertheless, we want to be able to say one day: Everything made in Europe!" When it comes to brake fluid, Trickstuff has been using vegetable oil from Danico Biotech (>> to the RIDE-GREEN home visit ). "I could also use it to dress my salad," smiles Liedler. "It just wouldn't taste as good as with extra virgin olive oil."
And what about the abrasion from brake pads? Isn't it highly toxic and harmful to nature? "Decades ago, there was a justified discussion about asbestos. These substances are taboo in today's brake pads - just like copper and lead," comments the Trickstuff boss. "I know of no study that would show a significant and relevant environmental hazard from brake pad dust in the forest."
In the end, however, even the inventors from Baden find themselves in an ecological dilemma. The subject of anodising. This treatment is the key to the durability of milled parts. "Without anodising, we could produce less harmful products - but we would certainly have to replace the part in a few years. A dilemma that we can't yet solve," admits the Trickstuff boss and, with a barely audible sigh, lifts the Piccola from the table, which his colleague Jan Borghoff has just created from its 66 individual parts. Liedler is just one year younger. But his goal of producing a completely ecological brake is something he definitely wants to experience in the course of his professional life.
In addition to Trickstuff, the Syntace, Danico Biotech, Canyon, Swallow and Sram take part in our RIDE-GREEN campaign.
