The office vibe is easy to sum up – it’s like a big family. There’s no manual, we just have to work it out!” I’m told with enthusiasm. “We’re doing some things that no one has done before.

Here, a handful of fervent young staff pore over computer models and data tables.Īs they explain exactly how they do what they do, the palpable excitement makes it clear that this is more to each of them than just a nine-to-five job. Dan Griffiths / Our MediaĮager to find out how they’re designed, engineered and produced, we’re directed towards the engineering department. Schematics show how long each tube needs to be and where it goes. Robot Bikes, a fledgling company from Monmouthshire, had begun making full-suspension frames in an innovative new way, taking lengths of carbon fibre tubing and mating them with 3D-printed (or to give the process its proper name, additive-manufactured, or AM) titanium lugs. So, it was perhaps a natural (if perilous) step to begin making and selling its own bikes. This is where the Atherton Bikes team work and play, and where CEO Dan Brown proudly talks me through the birth of the brand and where it is now.Īfter deals with Muddyfox, Giant, GT, Commencal and Trek, the Atherton Racing team had a pretty good measure of what was needed to make a bike work well on the toughest stages imaginable – the Downhill World Cup circuit and Enduro World Series.

Upstairs is an open-plan space housing a showroom, dining area and office. Rachel: Rachel may be the youngest, but her achievements outshine even those of her siblings – she’s a six-time world champ with 39 World Cup wins.Ītherton HQ has moved from the quiet wilds of rural Llanrhaeadr-ym-Mochnant, Powys (where the race team was based) to a new, more commercial facility.Gee: Middle child George has won multiple DH World Cup and World Championship titles, mixed it with the top freeriders at Red Bull Rampage and drops jaws with his wild riding vids.Dan: Eldest brother Dan is a four-times World Cup winner and downhill racer who went on to build the infamously gnarly Red Bull Hardline track and now heads up Dyfi Bike Park.

Gee atherton