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Australian made bikes and components.


Zoom's picture

By Zoom - Posted on 10 July 2011

NB: Originally posted elsewhere on the Global Riders Network and appears via syndication.

We all buy foreign bits and pieces for our bikes but what if you want to support Australian products? How do you find Australian products?
Please post up anything bike related that is made in Australia so we can support our local bicycle industry.

The Brown Hornet's picture
Rockz's picture

http://www.widgit.com.au/index.html

I used one of these to convert to a single front crainring set-up. Great peice of kit, the bash guard worked well and the weight saving was amazing (no derailleur, only 1 ring, no shifter etc) and made riding easier as concentration is left to shifting the rear only.....

....downside is the narrowed choice of gears if you are on varied terrain/gradients.

DigDig's picture
Flynny's picture

Aerial Australia was making great stuff and even exporting to big cycling nations such as Italy but trouble and cost in getting material locally meant they either had to close down or go off shore. They pulled up stumps.

http://www.thylacinecycles.com/ is still going

http://www.craftworkscycles.com are back stronger than ever

www.velocitywheels.com/ do some good stuff

Not sure what Cycle Underground is up to these days.

Sasco's picture

1 Cell bikes - aren't they Aussie made? I like their hardtails - strong stuff and good value

2 Ay-up lights - of course

3 http://www.krankdirtwear.com/ - locally made, best MTB shorts in the history of humankind, imo

Southy's picture
Zoom's picture

Pity Krankdirtwear isn't Australian.

Where are Cell bikes made?

Where is the Ay-up factory?

Slowpup's picture

Just ordered a Velocity rimmed wheel with my new frame.... coming from America though. I've looked a little bit and as far as I can determine it is still cheaper to buy a velocity rim wheelset from the USA than locally, on-line or otherwise.

If anyone knows a retail source for Velocity wheel builds locally I'd love to get contact details.

marto71's picture
fastfreddie's picture

ethos cycles,great frames!

Flynny's picture
If anyone knows a retail source for Velocity wheel builds locally I'd love to get contact details.

Just about every retails will be able to supply velocity stuff (and they do more than just wheels) http://www.velocitywheels.com/store/default.asp

Oh and I forgot K-lite http://www.klite.com.au/

Flynny's picture

Oh and Grip Sport http://www.gripsport.com.au/

I use the Hi ride carrier. Wouldn't use anything else for my carbon bikes

Slowpup's picture

Thanks Flynny.... I should have looked harder.

lezo's picture

There is a review of the awesome looking deubel in the latest version of mountain biking australia. It looks awesome and from the review, gives a great reason to "buy australian made". If it is an all mountain machine you are looking for, this will be hard to beat.

Scratchy's picture

Craftworks isn't Australian made, it's made in Taiwan for an Australian company
Thyalacine isn't Australian made either from memory. It's Australian owned but the frames are made elsewhere (USA?)

Cell bikes aren't Australian made. They are made wherever cheap frames are made nowadays (China or maybe Vietnam), I'd be surprised if they were made in Taiwan.
Baum IS Australian made and my birthday is coming up soon (hint hint). http://www.baumcycles.com/

GripSports is Australian made.

Bunch of lights are as well but probably all made with imported parts.

Matt_B's picture

Makes nice custom steel frames, 29ers 26ers gears ss

http://www.gelliecustombikeframes.com.au/

johncarney's picture

What counts as Australian made? If the frame and parts are all assembled shouldn't that make it Australian made? Because until it all goes together they are Taiwanese, Japanese, Chinese and then when they get put together does it depend on the country? We have some interesting rules.

If a frame is made in Australia using tubing from overseas is it Australian made? I'd say yes but it isn't really.

Even bigger question is "Does it matter?" I mean is the quality of a mass produced Australian bike going to be better? I think the Taiwanese do a pretty good job.

I'm asking some far too deep questions.

If you want Australian made bikes then chat with Chris Jones for a custom frame how ever you want it. Then it will be WA made. Even better.

Pete B's picture

Where does he get his material from though? Sticking out tongue

Rob's picture
Zoom's picture

Yes, but she only made a few frames for herself (of the little fish design) and she had trouble with cracks developing on her brazing. She didn't actually have a company or business. She built two or three frames and made up stickers for her-self.

Crispy's picture

I have put together a prototype frame and everything seems fine so far. Geometry, strength...
Just I am not sure if there really would be a market for WA built frames as the price would be alot more than something made in Taiwan.

I would love some feedback whether or not I should pursue this idea?

I already have an Engineering business set up with insurance and all so thats not a big deal, just need a market...

Link for an image of the bike.
http://crispengineering.net.au/wp-content/upload...

Is this something worth pursuing?

Scratchy's picture

Pete B wrote "Where does he get his material from though? "

I'm sure some of us are riding around with some Aluminium that was extracted from Bauxite from nearby the singletrack around Dwellingup (Turner Hill for instance).

Aluminium is highly recyclable so probably some of your frame used to be beer cans. It's energy intensive but recycling uses less energy than extracting from raw. It can be a green depending on how the energy is generated.

As mentioned before most of the "Australian Made" is actually made from parts made elsewhere. Taiwan is capable of very high end nowadays.

mb's picture

Making a frame out of emu bitter cans may be as close as we are gonna get:)

hawkeye's picture

Had a brief ride on one of the Deubels' own bikes after the All Schools XC champs earlier this year.

Not that you can tell much from a couple of laps around a car park and about 10 minutes of singletrack, but they seemed well built and stiff.

They (she, actually) were talking up how light the bike was, and how much of a "do-anything" bike it was, and my comment that it was significantly heavier than my Rize was not well received, but nonetheless my quick impression was they've got a pretty good package together in that bike.

If I wasn't such a scared-cat old fart I'd be interested for sure. My impressions are it would handle anything you'd point a Reign at, and it seems a lot more responsive on the climbs.

If they can get their distribution channels and marketing sorted out, they should do very well.

A four or five inch travel 29er dually would be a good niche in the market for them to target where there is big growth potential and not much competition.

Scottboy's picture

She , who her name is Giselle they are more a all mountain/ downhill bike which can still be used in xc races which they have a team doing atm as someone on this site used too ride his Giant reign in events also they are of similar weight . My 2 bobs & I know the Duebels from events they have been riding in .

hawkeye's picture

Yes, Giselle... was having a seniors moment. Eye-wink

Scottboy's picture

did you come off again on the weekend ? Are you going to Awaba too race this weekend ?

hawkeye's picture

Nothing of any consequence, just a couple of silly stumbles on the first lap with no damage to bike or person. The only lasting damage was to the ego!

Lower back is giving me a little bit of grief at the moment, so I'm going to stay away from races for a bit. Tend to get caught up in the moment and go hard (which is half the fun Smiling ), but my form with the core muscles goes out the window, and I end up making things worse.

Love that track though.

Logan's picture

Greg builds custom wheels for people....

cruzer's picture

I like the syling but I am sure the big brands would never go for it... there is no where to put a big banner brand name sticker, no matter how light or killer it rides.

badchef's picture

built here in perth by the MAD MECH , cro mo frames for dj and dh i think, ht or full susser, dunno bout alloy tho

Chuck's picture

http://www.descendence.com.au

It's encouraging that Australian's still build things. I love it.

Deubel Bicycles's picture

Yes, DEUBEL engineers and manufactures the 2UP, high performance mountain bike frames which are CNC machined and TIG welded in Sydney. We have been approved by "Australian Made" branding and the unique adjustable design makes it the perfect all-mountain bike so you can charge anything from technical steep uphills to fast downhill tracks. You can purchase frames or complete bikes directly from us and we are working on having the 2UP available in store in each state of Australia. Contact us for a chat 02 9542 7992 or check out our brochure http://www.deubelbicycles.com.au/files/documents....

......'s picture

doin a 29er anytime soon??

Cotic Tony's picture

A very interesting thread & no doubt one that's been brought up in many other bike mad countries already.
As I see it there's almost no way to compete with the east on mass produced bikes or kit as it'd be way too cost prohibitive due to high labour, plant and material costs. The AUD is just too strong and the export market is saturated.

Looking at the US and UK you have a similar scenario & what is working is smaller niche industries specialising in top end and unique kit.
The advantage a smaller set up has is that they can be more flexible and customer focused. An example of this is Niner, Cotic, Dialled bikes, On one, Genesis, Stork, Ellsworth & Yeti although as far as I know ALL of these design frames which are then mass produced over east.

At one time there were also heaps of small component manufacturers like Pauls, Rhino, Thomson, X-Lite & Hope but these are fewer on the ground now that so much kit actually works fine straight out of the box.

I'd say that that leaves esoteric frames for a rider that has had the off the peg stuff and wants a unique bike & is willing to pay for the privilege.

As the first generation of mtbers approach old age I'm sure that there are now many riders that envisage what their ultimate MTB is and have the cash to pay for it. After all the technology, know how & passion is here to make it happen for sure.

Trouble is that technology is always moving the goalposts!

Goodspeed's picture

Hi All,

New to the site, just came across the thread whilst searching the Australian made frame market.
im one of four in Canberra starting our own frame building business, Goodspeed. We're about a year old and with around fifty of our frames now out on the road.

As an intro our 700c based frame sets use 4130 steel from suppliers in Melbourne & Sydney who import it for the aerospace industry. All the fabrication, painting, branding & assembly is done here locally. (granted we bring many running components in from Diacompe direct, however we're already underway working on our own handlebars, chainrings and saddles)

Stay tuned as we get into full swing including plans for a 26 & 29er already on the drawing board.

check us out and let me now your thoughts, www.goodspeed.com.au

myles chandler
goodspeed bicycle co.

GAZZA's picture

These are nice bikes and have a more traditional look.
Very nice!

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