Hope: A Thoroughly British Firm
Article Posted: 4 March 2008
Images & Words: Phil Ingham
Hope have become synonymous with quality and innovation as they have carved a niche for themselves in the mountain bike components business. When the GB Mountain Bike team went along to the Hope factory, to pick up some exclusive components for their 2008 race bikes, we were invited to tag along and enjoy an exclusive look round.
Rows of glistening new brakes
Hope is located in an old textile factory on the edge of the town of Barnoldswick in Lancashire. When we visited, on a wet Wednesday morning in February, the factory was buzzing with activity. Indeed, with 76 staff and 24/7 shift working, it's a busier and bigger concern that we had anticipated.
After a warm welcome, we were given a very comprehensive tour of the production line, from raw materials right through to product despatch. Now concentrating one hundred percent on the mountain bike market, Hope has very strong presence in the upgrade market, supplying some of the lightest and most desirable brakes, hubs, wheels, lights and other top end components.
The GB Team mechanics arrived with brand new Trek carbon XC frames and were soon hard at work adding bottom brackets, headsets, brakes and wheels, many of which were anodised the distinctive mint green reserved for Hope's sponsored riders.
Plunging deep into the bowels of the factory, we were shown the various processes which result in the approximately 2000 different component that Hope manufacture themselves. Indeed, their philosophy is one of "do-it-yourself" and they proudly point out that, apart from nuts and bolts, they buy in virtually no finished items, and turn, machine, polish, harden and anodise everything themselves. A brand-new anodising line was an example of their commitment to this approach.
Brake pads by the bucket load
The factory still has the air of an old textile mill. The looms may have gone, but the throb of large machinery and the oil-heavy atmosphere is highly evocative of the past glories of British manufacturing industry.
Hope don't pretend to be able to compete with giants like Shimano on manufacturing efficiency and output. But they still fly the flag for British innovation and produce extremely high quality products which are distinctive and, crucially, highly desirable to a demographic � the modern mountain biker - which has both the money and time to want the best playthings available, especially if they come with a hint of exclusivity.
Hubs of all shapes and colours!
However, don't be fooled into thinking that Hope is in any way an old-fashioned operation. Watch one man tending several machines, each the size of a small bungalow, or marvel at the laser cutting of brake discs or the laser etching of components and you realise that, this is still a very well thought-out and refined set-up.
Marry that to a superb product development history, a rock-solid brand and components which match desirability with functionality and you can see why, in this quiet corner of East Lancashire, something special is happening.
Factory Tour - From Raw Material to Finished Product
Classic before and after shot of a solid lump of Alu and the machined hydraulic brake reservoir
One of the huge machines which produces these precise pieces of kit
The main factory floor, still very textile mill-like in atmosphere
A rough hub casting compared to the shiny machined version which the machine spews out
GB Coach Phil Dixon shares a laugh with MTB and 'Cross star Paul Oldham, who works for Hope
Laser cutting of brake discs � dozens of discs are cut from a huge single sheet of metal.
Freshly cut discs are stored in bins awaiting hardening
A red-hot disc emerges from the hardening machine � next it will be water cooled under pressure to prevent it warping.
Stacks of finished disc brake components lie awaiting boxing and despatch
Small components are smoothed and polished in these large rotating bins of small abrasive lumps.
Racked components enter the first of 11 dips, which make up the anodising process � here it's a cleaning solution.
The coloured element of the anodising process is added to components
Laser etching of the distinctive Hope logo is the final stage in the manufacturing process � in this case it's a hub getting the treatment.
Hope's large assembly room, where the many components come together to form finished products � processes such as brake bleeding occur in this area
The Hope despatch office � neat and surprisingly small � stock apparently doesn't linger for long!
Phil Dixon admires a couple of the wheels his squad will be using this season.
Finished product � a shiny new Trek with lots of blingy mint-green Hope componentry
David Fletcher putting one of the new bikes through its paces in pre-season training in South Wales.