Rohloff (company)
| Rohloff AG
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| legal form | Corporation |
| founding | 1986 |
| Seat | Fuldatal , Germany |
| management | Werner Schiller (Management Board) Miriam Rohloff (Chairwoman of the Supervisory Board) |
| Number of employees | 50 |
| Branch | Manufacture of bicycle parts |
| Website | www.rohloff.de |
The Rohloff AG is a German company from Fuldatal in Kassel , which manufactures bicycle components. The company was founded in 1986 by Barbara and Bernhard Rohloff to produce the SLT 99, a bicycle chain for derailleur gears .
Company history and products
After the SLT 99 established itself well on the market, the Italian manufacturer Campagnolo joined Rohloff in 1990 , which meant that all Campagnolo groupsets were equipped with Rohloff chains for the next four years.
After four years of collaboration, the customer Campagnolo was interested in getting better prices for the chains, while the investor Campagnolo wanted more returns. This contradiction led to the separation of the companies in 1994, Rohloff bought back the 40% shares. In 2010, the shift chain production was stopped because Rohloff saw no possibility of offering the chain quality for ten- and eleven-fold sprocket packs, which appeared on both e-bikes and racing bikes.
In the coming years the product range to include special tools as was Kettennietwerkzeug "Rohloff Revolver" wear lessons for chains and rings, as well as a chain lubricator ( Lubmatic in the years of separation from Campagnolo - -) and 1994 the corresponding biodegradable chain oil "Oil of Rohloff" expanded.
In 1996, the Speedhub 500/14 gear hub , for which the company is primarily known today, was presented at IFMA . In the meantime Rohloff presented per year (as of 2008) 20,000 IGH ago, the Speedhub 500/14 is the only available on the market bicycle hub with 14 speeds, a conventional derailleur respect friction losses can replace and scope of compilation wholesome. Since the introduction of the Speedhub, the company's turnover has risen steadily to around 10 million euros per year (2009). Around 150,000 of these gear hubs had been produced by 2010.
Rohloff itself was converted from a GmbH to a stock corporation in 2004 and currently employs around 50 people (as of 2018).
In accordance with the company philosophy, all products and individual parts are manufactured in Germany. Suppliers take on the production of parts, which are then assembled at Rohloff and then sent to bicycle manufacturers, specialist dealers and importers. Product development takes place at Rohloff itself, as is the assembly of the products. The production of the individual parts is made possible by approx. 150 supplier companies from Germany.
Plant 1
Rohloff began in 1988 in a former horse stable in a back yard in Kassel Nordstadt at Mönchebergstrasse 30 with the production of the nine-speed chain SLT 99, which was way ahead of its time, as the first nine-speed gearshift from Shimano only came onto the market five years later. However, since this chain was downwardly compatible with the then standard eight-way gearshift and, contrary to the manufacturer's specifications and competing products, compatible with all gearshift systems available on the market, it became a great success. Starting in 1989, the small company was producing up to 10,000 chains per month in three shifts in this backyard.
The then dominant riders Greg Lemond and Miguel Indurain rode chains from Rohloff and won the Tour de France . Since every Campagnolo group was accompanied by a Rohloff SLT-99 chain, the company name quickly became known worldwide.
The market leaders at the time Shimano , Suntour and Sachs produced chains that were specially tailored to their gear groups. The attempt was made to bind customers to their own products in the long term. It was claimed that the circuits can only work in conjunction with their own chains. At IFMA 1988 Rohloff presented his chain, which simultaneously switched over eight-speed sprockets from Hügi, Shimano and Campagnolo at the exhibition stand. In the years that followed, the Rohloff chain became a “secret recipe” for bicycle mechanics, as it shifted gear more readily and cleaner than the manufacturer's original chains.
While Shimano and Sachs manufactured and marketed their own chains, Campagnolo was looking for a gear chain for its drive groups in 1990. For four years Campagnolo held a 40% stake in what was then Rohloff Gesellschaft für antriebstechnische Entwicklung GmbH , Rohloff delivered 2,000 chains to Italy every week.
Plant 2
With the start of series production of the Speedhub gear hub, the operating rooms in the backyard became too narrow, and Rohloff also rented a hall a few hundred meters away. Although this additional hall enabled a temporary start of series production, it was foreseeable that this would not be a long-term solution.
Production at the separate locations took place from 1998 to 2004. The production conditions did not allow a further increase in production, so in 2004 the company moved to the current company location.
Plant 3
The current company headquarters is in an industrial area of Fuldatal.
Trivia
- The symbol of the Rohloff company is a flying raven on a yellow background.
- The company logo came to life when in March 1995 a carrion crow called "Rohloff", which had fallen out of its nest, was raised in the company. Because of his pranks, the free-flying colleague gained great popularity in the district. Since then, caring for orphaned crow chicks has become an integral part of the company's operations.
literature
- Barbara Rohloff, Marco Rauch, Thomas Tiggemann, Margit Grimm-Bettermann u. a .: Rohloff stories . Fuldatal 2009. ISBN 978-3-00-028542-4
Web links
- Official website of the company
- Book about the company
- Photo report and video about the production of the Rohloff hub
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b c d Rohloff company history . Rohloff. Retrieved October 18, 2009.
- ↑ "010 Production of switching chains stopped
- ↑ Video from the IFMA stand in 1988; Visit of Shimano at Rohloff
Coordinates: 51 ° 20 ′ 53 ″ N , 9 ° 31 ′ 0 ″ E