lEidENSCHaFt - Storck Bicycle GmbH

The Lightweight brand was born out of pure passion: a passion thatHeinz Obermayer and his partner had for new materials, combined withrevolutionary development ideas, which ultimately led to a brilliantwheel system. Excited by the talk of a cycling enthusiast friend,these two engineers one day came out of their old tractor garage andastounded the entire road bike world with a product that simply hadno equal. Incredulous amazement about the unique performance anda synthesis of light weight and stiffness that hasn’t been achievedby anyone else up to now are the characteristics of our wheels thathave won acclaim with discerning customers around the world.Running in parallel with this story, the current company owner, Erhard Wissler, wastouched by the cycling world by accident. In the mid-nineteen-nineties, Wissler boughtthe carbon fiber department from Dornier Aviation Company. The management atDornier had decided that carbon fiber technology was a dead end and dismissed theengineers in order to close this department. Erhard Wissler, an engineer himself withvisionary far-sightedness, decided to start a company that would use the know-howand skills of the Dornier specialists as well as a number of road bike frame molds thatwere in development. When September 11th shook the world and the whole aircraftindustry faced a huge decline in volume, he didn´t let his people go but gave them anew mission. Erhard and his team of carbon-fiber specialists started to analyze andresearch the road bike market in detail. It took a very short period of time for Wisslerand his team to become ’infected by the virus’ that bonds cyclists all over the world:emotion and passion for their favorite piece of sports equipment. By sheercoincidence, Erhard Wissler one day met Lightweight wheels and Heinz Obermayer.This lucky meeting led to a relationship of mutual respect and appreciation, whichculminated in perfect cooperation: Erhard Wissler took over the Lightweight brand.Heinz Obermayer, the ’Godfather of Lightweight,’ is still an important and essentialpart of this new structure. Jan Ullrich and many, many other pro riders won and,continue to win, on Lightweight wheels in events that include the Tour de France,classic one-day races and and a countless number of the world’s other most famousraces. These sportsmen, like many other road bike enthusiasts, are eager to ownthe very best products, regardless of cost. It’s hard for the athletes themselves todescribe the emotions they experience at the moment of victory but the sparkle intheir eyes and the special smile on their faces tell more about their emotions thanwords ever could: road biking is pure emotion and passion.And this is what counts at Lightweight. All the technical advantages the Lightweightbrand stands for are based on sheer passion, craftsmanship and enthusiasm for aunique material. In Baden-Württemberg, Germany, men breathe life into cold carbonfiber, by hand, and with a passion for detail. Every employee in our company has beenpursuing the same aim when it comes to launching a new generation of wheels tothis day. From purchasing to production, from the assembly line to the sales forceand customer support staff and, last but not least, on the management floor: atLightweight, people do not just do their job. Everyone here is driven by the desire togive his or her very best to deliver the perfect wheel. Not in an anonymous, namelessfactory, but right here in Germany where hours of high-precision craftsmanshiplead to a unique wheel. Not in soulless mass production but as the result of Germanengineering, the world’s best materials and a wealth of intuition.At the end of every working day, our Lightweight perfectionists head for home: happyabout their work and happy because they know that they’ve given their very bestto make sure that somewhere in the world a simple bike ride has been turned intosomething special – another road bike enthusiast has shared in the experience ofLightweight passion and reached his or her own personal moment of perfection ontwo wheels.Whether you cross a finish line first after endless switchbacks, stop on amountain peak to enjoy the view or simply ride your bike after work with some friends:Lightweight makes you happy. This is the basic emotion you can clearly see in thefaces of Lightweight riders all over the world.79