Least Likely MTB Manufacturing Nation

[velomaniac]

Most bikes are made in far east and Taiwan in particular as is being debated in LGF's thread

Have any of you seen or even ridden a MTB manufactured in the last place you would expect a bike to come from ?

I remember an interesting Baltic republic (cannot remember which one) built full sus from my internet trawls of the past. Also DBS from Norway was not somewhere I associated bike manufacturers with :?

 

[Major22]

There are a few finnish bicycle brands that makes mtb's, for instance 'Helkama' and 'Tunturi', although I'm not sure Helkama is in the mtb business anymore. They used to make a nice XT equipped hardtail in the early 90's, called 'White Power', but for some odd reason that specific model was pretty short lived.

There were, by the way, no nazi connection (as far as I know) despite the somewhat awful name, probably just some less than thoughtful marketing people coming up with a name for a bike that only came in white. The Helkama mtb model range consisted, at the time, of 'Strong Power' and 'Nice Power' too, which were more or less low range models.


Major

 

[mikee]

okay then jumping right out of the water and taking the fly

Holland


cos its got no mountains, i'm told


Bangladesh the next stop for the cheap dollar apparently

 

[velomaniac]

I did see some horrible stuff in the Peoples Democratic Republic of Lao, mainly SS MTB with 24" wheels :shock:

 

[Radoslaw]

In Poland we have brand called "Romet" They made fantastic pro road bikes with Columbus tubing in mid 80. They also had some horrible folding bikes which I've owned one as a very first pre- MTB bike. Made from gas pipes, I think, they could fold durning the ride.

Now they doing decent MTB bikes (read modern aluminium tad)

 

[velomaniac]

Rado, I too had a Polish built folder like yours although mine was white/rust coloured and rescued from a ditch
Only good bit was the fork which was as tough as a BMX version :!:

 

[one-eyed_jim]

I once rode a mountain bike that was made in England - a land without music, or mountains.

:shock:

 

[velomaniac]

Pitiful :roll:

 

[one-eyed_jim]

Pitiful :roll:

I wouldn't go quite as far as that: I still have quite a lot of affection for the old place.

The people spoil it though.



But seriously, isn't England an unlikely place to manufacture mountain bikes? A highest peak of only 978m, high population density, a general lack of wild countryside (with just a few notable exceptions), and a culture that hasn't favoured manufacturing of anything much in recent decades.

 

[velomaniac]

Aw c'mon man, the cultures not at fault its just the economic and political situation in the world.
Englands not an unlikely place for mtb, lack of mountains aside, numerous makes are English.

Back to the point, who do you not expect bikes from and were you pleasantly surprised or not ?