Blog - 29 December 2024
2024: Where to start?!
Cyfarchion y Tymor as they say here in Wales,Season’s Greetings to all…
It seems like only weeks ago we were writing this round-up for 2023!! We hope you’ve had as productive year as we have and that progression has been high – on the trails and in your lives! Here’s a quick look back at some of the highlights of 2024… the Atherton Bikes family is growing bigger and stronger every year.
December
A real-life Atherton Bikes baby!! A little girl was born on 12th December to Ed Meakes from our production team and his lovely partner Jamie.
And karaoke at the Christmas party of which less said the better... pics by studiolochan.com
November
Launch of S.150: for anyone who hasn’t seen it yet, it’s the perfect, fun all-rounder for playing in your local woods, tackling that Enduro you’ve been dreaming of, or heading out on the kind of ride that could take you anywhere!
The S.150 launch film Generations introduced Sennen Brown, the 13-year-old son of Dan, our CEO, the proud owner of S150, and one to watch! Sen’s bike is full size, but it's worth noting that some of our first sales of S.150 have been as a “mini-mullet (27.5/26), a perfect solution for younger racers…"
Kazakhstan - Ridgeline VI
Gee’s wildest adventure yet – the sheer scale and remoteness of this project blew our minds - the A.200 once again emerging unscathed from all that Gee could throw at it!
October
On the road: Horatio went on tour, delivering demos at Innerleithen, Farmer Johns, Rogate… and for the pedallers, an outside of the bikepark tour in Dyfi. It’s been our ambition to get more of you on board our bikes (once ridden, forever smitten!) so watch out for loads more demo dates in 2025.
This was also the month that Gee took his UK tour “Hold Fast” out on the road – 20 sell-out dates where we got to meet so many of you and celebrate Gee’s legendary vision and drive to overcome any obstacles in his way – huge apologies to the fainters who missed the end of the shows!
And we won the Powys Business Award for Technology and Innovation!!!
September
Ben Lovell’s epic ride: from World Champs in Andorra to World Cup round 6 in Loudenvielle; 170km and 3250m climbing on board the A130. It's not the easiest way to move between World Cup races, but it's certainly the most fun! Never bet against our Chief Technician.
Pretty good race results too – Ben’s rider Andi Kolb podiuming in 3rd in Loudenvielle!
Ridgeline V – up close and personal, a change of focus for Gee and the team as they attempt to share the true cost of capturing such spectacular riding footage, the A.170 the perfect companion when the big hits come along after hours of climbing and power and precision are top of the list.
August
Focus on racing this month - Andi won his second European Champs on board the A.200 so Continental Atherton could spectacularly claim the reigning World and Euro Champs in the pits (not that the Bens were going to let it go to their riders’ heads!)
July
The first customers receive their S.170s and fall in love!! Have a read of our first multilingual customer review from Ben Stuht – in English and the original German.
June
90 foot gaps: Huge jumps at Red Bull Hardline (Charlie piloted the A.200 to 4th place at “the hardest DH race in the world”) and a huge step for the business as we received the keys to our new facility.
We hosted 300 guests for an evening of bikes, beers, music and art at our brand new state of the art home in Machynlleth … such a great night with works exhibited by Dora Grabowska and Dan Griffiths, while DJ Furnz provided the tunes… it proved an expensive night for him as he fell in love with the new S.170 and signed up to buy that very night …
May
Owner’s Day: The first Atherton Bikes Owners Day. Forty owners from across Europe congregated at Dyfi Bike Park for the most fun day’s riding …the best bikes, the best tracks and the best group of people!! Huge thanks to Henrik Hedberg, who runs the owners club (now over 600 strong), and to all the owners amongst you – make sure you're signed up to receive this year’s invitation.
April
S.170 reviews: was all about the S.170 with some of the best first-ride reviews we’ve seen in a while. Well worth a look.
March
The S.170 is a very special bike for us, the first in the S-series designed in aluminium specifically to meet our original pledge to make Atherton Bikes accessible to the kind of rider we see every week at Dyfi Bike Park, launch day was intense with our first sale within minutes of going live!!
February
Seems like the Dyfi Dig crew boys hate the cold!! Jim and Dennis relocated to New Zealand for the winter where the sun shines, the dirt is good and the vibes are all time!
There was a LOT of riding for fun – mainly on the S.170 but neither could resist the lure of the first Red Bull Hardline outside of the Dyfi!! This one was insane, not the results the boys wanted but Den taking on the toughest race in the world in his jeans was priceless.
January
We celebrated 5 years in business! by the time we reached our 5th birthday, we’d won a World Champs, 5 World Cups and numerous media accolades, but more important still, we had a firm path ahead and a great group of people at our backs, staff, investors, customers, team partners, subscribers, followers and fans at the races, huge thanks to all for making every year special.
