Saxony's Bike Sector: Selected Companies

Diamant: Excelling with Quality in the Bicycle Branch

They’ve written bicycle history with such inventions as the double-roller chain, with such racing legends as the "Diamant Bike 67", and with such timeless classics as the ladies’ bike “Topas.” Today, the Diamant Fahrradwerke GmbH, located in Hartmannsdorf near Chemnitz, is one of the largest and the oldest bicycle manufacturers in Germany. The company manufactures about 330,000 bicycles per year; approximately a third with electric motors. And Diamant is planning to significantly increase its daily production output even further in the near future. Products made by Diamant are renowned and reputed around the globe primarily because of their excellent manufacturing quality and their outstanding sporting values.

This standard has already been maintained for more than 125 years now: In 1885, the brothers Friedrich and Wilhelm Nevoigt founded their first joint company near Chemnitz which originally focused on warp-knitting machines. Ten years later, the Nevoigt brothers launched their first Diamant bicycle on the market which marked the beginning of a true success story "Made in Saxony". Over the next few decades, the company’s innovations played a decisive role in determining the standards of the branch. Bicycles bearing the famous Diamant trademark were often to be found among the winners of important bicycle races.

Since 2003, Diamant has been part of the family-operated bike manufacturer Trek Bicycle from the USA. Today, the Diamant Fahrradwerke GmbH corporation employs more than 600 people. The company develops bike frames and other components in-house, has them produced by partners, and then assembles them on its own premises.

High-End Bike Components Made of Carbon

The Dresden-based Black East GmbH develops and manufactures high-quality bicycle parts made of carbon which have gained legendary repute and renown in the bike community under the name "Beast Components". The parts stand for top quality, first-class workmanship, robustness, and durability. They are without a doubt unrivaled on the bicycle market. The components are manufactured directly at the corporate site Dresden which distinctly qualifies the products as being “Handmade in Germany” and which truly makes them a rarity in the branch. The portfolio encompasses handlebars, wheels, stems, seats and saddles, seat posts, and bottle holders for mountain bikes as well as gravel and road bikes. 

It is primarily their scientific expertise and profound experience in lightweight construction which make the 15-person team so successful. The founders met each other for the first time while studying at Dresden University of Technology’s Institute of Lightweight Engineering and Polymer Technology (ILK). After having completed their studies, they worked for many years as an independent development team at the Leichtbau-Zentrum Sachsen (LZS), the Saxon center for lightweight engineering in Dresden, on projects for renowned companies from the aerospace, automobile, and marine industries before they transferred their knowledge to the business sector.

This background explains why Beast Components enjoys such a great reputation in the bike community: Black East’s own in-house knowledge, combined with the expertise gained at the ILK, LZS, and in two affiliated enterprises, are guarantors for the company’s considerable in-house production depth, rapid prototype construction, and comprehensive understanding of materials and the associated engineering options which is more extensive than that of most competitors.

Timeless Steel for Heroes on Two Wheels

Beautifully handcrafted touring, city, and sports bikes are the trademark of the Dresden-based veloheld GmbH. The company focuses on timeless and durable steel frames made of a chromium-molybdenum alloy which are assembled on-site according to the wishes of the customers.

At the beginning of this undertaking, there had been three industrial design students with an affection for a particularly environmentally friendly mode of traveling. They founded Veloheld in 2007. More than 1,000 bicycles leave the veloheld manufactory every year – truly no mass production. Towards this end, the eleven-person team based in northern Dresden concentrates on conceptual design, final assembly, and distribution. The frames are delivered by experienced enterprises from Taiwan and China respectively. But the company also plans to produce a number of its frames on its own premises in the future. The final powder coating of the frames is already carried out by a regional partner. The veloheld staff members consider this balance to be a part of their concept: Global supply chains where the quality standards require them, sustainable regional value creation where it makes sense and where it is possible.