Leggerissima in bici Magazine
Oliver Karle
December 3, 2024
https://www.bicimagazine.it/contenuti/articoli/in-pillole/3038-leggerissima-5-4-kg-per-una-delle-biciclette-da-corsa-piu-leggere-sul-mercato.html
30
Years
Schmolke Carbon
Company
Pioneer with Passion
There are only a few lightweight construction specialists in Germany who are among the carbon pioneers. SCHMOLKE Carbon is definitely one of them. Stefan Schmolke, the founder of Schmolke Carbon, successfully debuted the first carbon handlebar in the early 90’s. Because of his passion, and unique engineering feats to build the lightest carbon parts, he is viewed as one of the most competent lightweight carbon construction gurus in the bike industry.
30 years ago, Stefan Schmolke was
first to make racing bike handlebars from carbon fiber.
30 years of SCHMOLKE Carbon.
Even after 30 years, Stefan Schmolke has remained true to himself: He relies on quality instead of mass, and on manual work instead of assembly lines. As a university educated engineer, he continuously optimizes Schmolke components. In fact, our Schmolke success story continues to be pushed: from bars to the eventual development of ultralight weight, aero carbon wheels. And our anniversary celebration in 2022 included a new product line: Stefan Schmolke detailed lightweight carbon frames. Discover the success story!
On offer since 2022: ultra-light carbon bikes.
Passion for cycling and lightweight construction.
In his youth, and together with his brother Matthias, Stefan Schmolke raced his bike.
His passion for sport and his technical interest in lightweight construction led him to study mechanical engineering. His student research projects dealt with practical issues related to cycling technology. His work was professionally supervised by cycling technology legend Hans-Christian Smolik.
In 1989, while still a student, he opened a bicycle shop in the high-end retail segment with his brother. At the same time, he wrote his diploma thesis, which was titled, „New materials and the theory of a carbon racing handlebar“. Just one year later, Schmolke puts his theory into practice and produces the first rideable carbon handlebars.
Success right from the start.
In order to deepen his experience in lightweight construction, Stefan Schmolke initially worked in a design office after his studies. This was followed by working for an aerospace manufacturer, EADS (European Aeronautic Defense and Space Company). Along the way, he spent every spare minute tinkering with his carbon handlebars and eventually brought them to market. The racing handlebars were in such high demand that production capacity was quickly reached, and in 1992, he founded SCHMOLKE Carbon.
Breakthrough with the Tour de France.
In 2001, the bicycle world also looked to SCHMOLKE Carbon: Jan Ullrich won second place in the Tour de France while racing on SCHMOLKE handlebars. Moreover, and through quality control testing, his carbon bars outperformed aluminum on the scales of both stiffness and lightness. Schmolke not only achieved a significant technological breakthrough, but importantly, his carbon components were successfully being sold. Since then, the lightweight specialist has long since ceased being an insider tip.
Lightweight expert Stefan Schmolke:
Since more than 30-years, SCHMOLKE Carbon products have been at the forefront thanks to continuous improvements in detail. Our philosophy is not to constantly announce new prototypes, but to deliver our products quickly. The typical Schmolke quality and individual customer service remain our top priority.
