Specialized was founded in 1974 by Mike Sinyard,a cycling enthusiast who sold his Volkswagen Bus for $1,500 to fund a cycle tour of Europe, where he bought handlebars and stems made by Campagnolo and Cinelli to take back to the US. Sinyard started out importing Italian bike components that were difficult to find in [...]

The KTM Brand History 1934 Hans Trunkenpolz opens a repair workshop in Mattighofen Austria. 1951 Hans Trunkenpolz built his first motorcycle. 1953 The company is now officially known as KTM “Kronreif, Trunkenpolz, Mattighofen” after company founders Hans Trunkenpolz and Ernst Kronreif and the Austrian location: Mattighofen, where Hans Trunkenpolz began and the manufacturing plant was [...]

In 1946, Gaston LAPIERRE started a small bicycle business in Dijon, France (Côte-d’Or region), quickly finding success in an industry that was experiencing rapid growth in general. The management was passed on to his son, Jacky LAPIERRE in 1960. In 1972, a new factory was constructed in the industrial zone of Dijon to accommodate increased [...]