The start 18 years ago
The history of today's DT Swiss company - apart from its beginnings in the 17th century - begins in 1994: Marco Zingg, Frank Böckmann and Maurizio D'Alberto take over the memory production division from the former Vereinigte Drahtwerke AG as part of a management buyout.

The portfolio expands to
It's not just about spokes: In 1995, the Biel-based company launched its own hub line, followed in 1999 by an additional hub line and the production of spoke nipples, and in 2001 the first DT Swiss shocks were fitted to mountain bikes. In 2003, rim production starts in Biel, and twelve months later the first system wheels are built using exclusively in-house components. In 2008, DT Swiss buys the suspension division of Pace and starts manufacturing suspension forks. In spring 2011, DT Swiss moves into its new headquarters in Biel - an investment in the double-digit million range - and employs around 200 people at its headquarters.

Worldwide activity
In 2012, DT Swiss is presenting a wide range of spokes, nipples, hubs, rims, system wheels, shocks, forks and accessories such as thru axles and truing stands. The Swiss components are not only popular with end customers, but the Biel-based company also has a major say in the original equipment business. Today, DT Swiss is active worldwide with bases in the USA (Grand Junction, Colorado), Taiwan (Taichung), Poland (Oberniki) and France (Le Bar sur Loup).

The watch industry behind us
DT Swiss benefits from its location in the epicenter of the watch industry: on the one hand, there are good suppliers here, and on the other, the spirit for precision is in the blood of the people here, says Friso Lorscheider, International Sales Manager at the Biel-based company. There are numerous companies in the surrounding area that specialize in milling or turning, and the toothed pulleys for the freewheels come exclusively from Switzerland. According to Lorscheider, suppliers outside of Switzerland were unable to supply the required surface hardness or dimensional accuracy. While most of the impeller products are outsourced to Poland and the suspension products are manufactured in Taiwan, Biel remains the location for product development: "The engineering is all in Biel, we haven't outsourced anything".

In the following parts of "Visiting DT Swiss", we take a look at the production of spokes and rims in Biel.

Here the manufacturer offers a further insight into the history of the company.