A DYFI-based bike company is going from strength to strength thanks to worldwide support.

Atherton Bikes, which was founded in January 2019 when the UK’s top family of mountain-bikers teamed up with entrepreneur Piers Linney of Dragons’ Den, has now launched its own direct to consumer sales website and completed its move to Machynlleth after securing funding.

Dan, Gee and Rachel Atherton are the most decorated siblings in international sport with eight World Championships and 49 World Cup wins to their credit. They wanted to push bike technology as hard as they have pushed their riding and so have created a game-changing product using additive manufacturing technology from the F1 and aerospace industries.

Dan and Rachel both live at Pantperthog – home of Dyfi Bike Park which is not only the ideal testing ground for the companies bikes but brings 1,000s of riders into the area every year.

The company have spent just over three years testing and developing both product performance and the supporting technology that perfectly fits their bikes to a rider.

They have been supported in their growth by the Development Bank of Wales’ angel network Angels Invest Wales, which helped them raise £76,000 equity investment. A further £76,000 investment was matched from the Wales Angel Co-investment Fund to help set up the business.

In November 2020 they also launched a hugely successful crowdfund raise with Crowdcube which overfunded within just 24 hours. The £1.4m investment allowed the company to accelerate their relocation and recruitment plans with a move to Machynlleth. Now they are ready to offer online purchasing to customers across the globe.

At launch they will be offering two models, a World Cup winning Downhill bike with 200mm of travel and a newly refined version of the 29”, 150mm Enduro bike.

Dan Atherton said: “We always wanted to base our manufacturing in Machynlleth, there is such a rich mountain-bike heritage in the area and the people here have welcomed us with open arms. This area means a lot to us and the more that we can do to help skilled young people find work within Wales the happier we will be.”

Atherton Bikes are manufactured using additive manufacturing (3d printing in titanium) This cutting-edge technology is widely used in Formula One and the aerospace industry but it is still relatively unknown in mountain-biking.

The new website will host a customer fit calculator that suggests one of an extended range of standard sizes (22 for the enduro bike, 12 or the downhill) or there is a custom option for match to the millimetre.

World Champion Rachel Atherton said: “Every bike is made to order and built to last so there is no waste. We all love it when we see our bikes out on the trails, we’re still in start-up mode but I hope this next phase of our company’s development will give many more people the chance to try our bikes.”