History or how it all began
In 2007, three cycling enthusiasts studying industrial design came together with the desire to create something of their own. After all the theory at university, it was finally time to get started with a “real” project for my own existence. It was important to everyone that it was authentic – so the direction of a new bike brand was clearly mapped out.
During a semester abroad in Switzerland, the name for the joint project was quickly found – veloheld. The brand was still running parallel to the design studio neongrau, which was also founded. In 2012, this connection was dissolved and two independent companies continued the philosophies from this point on.
From now on, Carsten Maiwald, the current managing director, will lead the company from the original founding team. In the 1990s, he came into contact with the growing mountain bike movement and was immediately enthusiastic about it. Organized in the local cycling club, he successfully took part in many MTB races from then on, until one day his talent was also discovered on a racing bike. However, he celebrated his greatest successes in track cycling, including as German youth champion in the 2000m single pursuit in 1998. This victory enabled Carsten to become part of the junior national team.
True to the motto “less is more”, the first bikes in 2007 were kept in plain black or white and consistently designed as single speed or fixed gear bikes. The demand for beautiful steel frames increased and it was time to consider where the journey should take us. It was no longer enough to simply call the bike veloheld. The veloheld product family has gradually expanded to include models such as the veloheld.lane, veloheld.icon, veloheld.iron, etc. You can currently get veloheld bikes from us, from urban city companions to sporty road racers and adventurous MTB off-road bikes, i.e. for almost all areas of use.
Our philosophy
Our work as a team for more beautiful bikes on all roads of this world motivates us every day to constantly improve and expand our product range and thus adapt it to your wishes. For us, steel frames are not “old iron” and we want to show how this material can be timeless. We are also always on the lookout for the latest developments in components. For example, for over ten years we have been installing the grease-free
Gates Carbon Drive belt drive
on our city bikes for ten years, helping to reduce maintenance on our urban and trekking bikes to a minimum.
As far as this works within the global cycling world, it is a matter of course for us to work as sustainably and regionally as possible. Due to the fact that most components are produced in Asia, this is not entirely possible, but our aim is to increase local production in the future.
Finishing and assembly take place right here on site. The powder coating for standard and customized frames is located in close proximity to us and the final assembly takes place directly at our premises in Dresden’s industrial area. We recycle packaging sent to us or use it to protect the box from shipping damage. We are aware that we can improve these processes even more in the future.
We love beautiful steel wheels!
It is a wonderful and traditional material for use in our veloheld bicycle frames. With its discreet tube diameters and “natural” damping properties, the result is timelessly beautiful, comfortable and durable bicycles that are not oriented towards fashions and trends.
The chrome-molybdenum alloy we use for the pipes, often referred to as CrMo or chromoly, offers the best technical properties and is also environmentally friendly. Less energy is required during production and there are hardly any environmentally harmful waste products compared to other materials typically used in the bicycle sector, such as aluminum or carbon. And at the end of a bicycle’s life, the frame can also be recycled in scrap metal.
Our frames are also competitive when it comes to weight. The use of multi-butted tubes (different wall thicknesses in one tube) results in sufficiently light frames for the respective application.
The steps to the new veloheld
In order for you to receive your veloheld bike, perhaps in the color and equipment of your choice, a whole series of steps must be completed, which we would like to briefly introduce to you here
1
Of course, everything starts with the basis, the right veloheld frame. This was developed in close cooperation with our frame builder in Taiwan for its area of application – a process that requires constant small changes from one model year to the next. For example, new sizes are added, geometries are adapted based on your feedback and often new standards are established that emerge on the component market and that we think make sense. One example of this is the change from quick-release axles to thru axles.
2
On to your bike: After your order, we deliver the frame and perhaps also the fork and mudguards to our powder coater. We are particularly proud of its quality, our friendly business relationship and also the close proximity of the companies to each other. The frame is either given a standard color or a color of your choice. We offer you a choice of over 200 colors from the RAL Classic color table or colors from the American manufacturer Prismatic Powders with a glossy or matt finish. Further information on powder coating can be found here.
3
Now it’s time for assembly: This is carried out by experienced fitters directly on our premises. We take the necessary time for this, pay attention to perfection and pay a lot of attention to detail with the standard wheels, but of course also with your desired components. Once everything has passed through our quality control, we carefully pack the bike and hand it over to our shipping service provider or we can arrange a handover directly at our veloheld showroom.
The veloheld team
With a small team, we don't need a staff council and appreciate the short distances between the office and the workshop. This means we are flexible and can respond to the last special requests of our customers right up to the end
from left to right: Christian Tiede, Konstantin Schade, Martin Lampe, Paul Sparmann, Tankred Spittler, Carsten Maiwald, Daniel Brete, Marit Schaffrath, Michael Nikolai, Carsten Reimann