Atherton Bikes celebrate fifth anniversary

Atherton Bikes celebrated its fifth anniversary this week.

The start-up venture has never made a secret of its ambitions, nevertheless, the speed with which they have achieved some of those goals has caused the industry to take notice.

A successful season on the trails in 2023 saw Women’s and Men’s Elite victories on the World Cup circuit and a Gold, Silver Atherton Racing double for Charlie Hatton and Andi Kolb at Fort William.

Dan Brown, Atherton Bikes CEO, said: “Hard to believe it’s been five years – in some ways it feels like five months, in others a decade.”

When Atherton Bikes launched on January 25, 2019, it lifted the lid on one of the industry’s best kept secrets and overturned the accepted bike company sponsorship model as the Atherton siblings and their then team director, Dan Brown decided to “go it alone”

The team partnered with renowned suspension designer Dave Weagle and Dragon’s Den’s Piers Linney to create a range of bikes, utilising ground-breaking additive manufacturing technologies and lug and tube construction.

Where the Athertons have led, others have followed with several World Cup prototypes now utilising lug and tube construction. But that isn’t a development that phases Brown, who said: “We knew our product was next level, having the largest brands in the World following suit is only testament to that.”

It was a tough time to start any new business; alongside a lot of more established companies Atherton found that 2020 and 2021 were tough going and there were other, more personal setbacks, chief of which was Gee Atherton’s crash while filming his Ridgeline Series.

Brown said: “Looking back at the sheer amount of work that has gone into these last five years is staggering, our learning curve has been steep and we’re hugely grateful to everyone who has helped us over the last five years, from partners like Renishaw, angel and Crowdcube investors and our customers, that support has meant everything.

“I’m super proud that we’ve made the bikes that make these wonderful moments possible and of the part that we’re playing in bringing employment to Machynlleth, this community welcomed us with open arms so it’s fantastic to be able to put something back – especially in the current economic climate.

“We are 100% ready for the next stage in our journey.”

Here are some of the highlights chosen by the team.

January 2019: Launch day, a closely guarded secret

January 2019: The Atherton Bikes Company shares a birthday with co-founder and visionary Dan who built his first bike aged 10 – cake is guaranteed.

June 2019: Rachel takes the fledgling company’s first World Cup win aboard the prototype AM200 – still a full 29er and not available outside of the race team at this stage … “Winning at Fort William on our own bike was something that I hardly dared dream of … but I dreamt of it every day,” she said.

July 2019: Rachel takes another World Cup victory (her 39th) on board the AM200 in Vallnord.

August 2019: Millie Johnset makes it a hat-trick for the brand as she wins the Junior Women’s World Cup in Val di Sole – her first World Cup win.

February 2020: The A150 and A200 available to buy for the first 50 customers. Several have bought second, or third bikes from Atherton since then. The A200 shown here in its original 29“ format.

December 2020: Release of Ridgeline 1: Gee’s first Ridgeline edit now counts more than four million views on YouTube alone with 10s of millions in supporting content. “This is probably the most impressive thing I’ve ever seen Gee do on a bike, absolutely on the very edge of what’s possible,” said Dan Atherton.

December 2020: Crowdcube raise, overfunds in 24 hours. “A measure of the brand’s popularity and the support and belief that have helped us so much along the way,” said Dan Brown.

July 2022: Launch of Mullet 200 M. The culmination of three season’s feedback. Preference for “the mullet” is unanimous and customers agree.

October 2022: Launch of A130, a trailbike you can officially take to the Bike Park. “It’s the kind of bike you can hop on, pedal off into the woods, and whatever trail you end up on it’ll probably deliver a good time,” said Mike Kazimer, Pinkbike.

December 2022: Enduro Magazine’s best trail bike. “The comfortable pedalling position ensures top climbing performance despite the soft rubber compound. Downhill, the bike inspires huge amounts of confidence, combining intuitive handling, excellent composure and superb manoeuvrability. The AM.150 is undoubtedly the best trail bike of 2022.” — Enduro Magazine.

April 2023: The launch of A170, Dan Atherton’s favourite bike, seen here during Gee’s Dolomites shoot.

June 2023: Rachel takes her 40th World Cup win at Lenzerheide – then nips back to the pits to feed baby Arna.

June 2023: Andi Kolb puts in “the run of his life” to take the World Cup victory in Leogang in front of his home crowd. It is his first World Cup win and the first Men’s Elite gold for the brand.

August 2023: “A World Champs victory has always been the ambition , but to take gold and silver so early in company’s journey was mind-blowing. Ridiculously proud of the team and to be the first British bike manufacturers to take the World Champs win,“ said Dan Brown.

December 2023: AM 170 awarded Singletrack’s “Most Desirable Bike Award” as voted for by the readers.

Coming soon: The team are working on a new aluminium product for release early this year.