Bionicon’s story began in the late 90’s when a couple of professional snowboarders were looking for more efficient ways to ride up into their local mountains during the summer, and still have a great handling bike to come back down.

Their inspiration came from watching Mountain Goats climb and descent, and the way they hunch up their shoulders to shorten their front legs when climbing, and extend their front legs when descending. They were inspired by this and set out to develop technology for mountain bikes that would do the same.

By 1999 they had their first prototype adjustable travel system. They shopped it around to various mountain bike manufacturers in the U.S. and were met with a lot of curious interest but no real takers. Interestingly, the following year the first adjustable travel forks from the major manufacturers were being developed.

Undeterred, they set about to design and build their own bike frames optimized to take advantage of their patented suspension technology. In 2000, the first Bionicon Edison was produced. The suspension technology has been refined and further developed, and now Bionicon has a complete line of bikes.

From its humble roots, the company grew to the point where in 2004, fellow professional snowboarder and bike mechanic, Paul Ferguson, was invited to test ride one of the Bionicon bikes by his friends, the founders of Bionicon. He was an instant believer in the technology. He brought a couple of the bikes back from Germany, and within a few months Bionicon USA was formed and funded. We then set about the daunting task of bringing these incredible bikes to the U.S.A.

Bionicon USA is an independently owned division of Bionicon. Still small but growing, the company’s offices are in Ridgecrest, California, half-way between Los Angeles and Mammoth. With a small and dedicated staff who are passionate about mountain biking, we’ve been able to cover the South West U.S. with dealers in five states.

All Bionicon bikes sold in the USA are built in our California facility, with parts coming from Europe, Asia and the U.S.A. Every wheelset is hand-laced by us, and the suspension systems are subjected to a 24 hour pressure-test before being shipped as part of our stringent quality control. Parts and warranty are also handled right here in California, ensuring prompt and personal in-house service.

Look for the Bionicon Van out on the road, at a trailhead, or a bike shop near you, and come and say Hi. We’re all about riding. Being on a bike on the trails and meeting others passionate about mountain biking is why we do what we do.

Bionicon Van