Meet Riese & Müller: From Garage Start-Up to Global Leader in Premium E-Bikes

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Many Australian and New Zealand bicycle dealers might know very little about the premium quality German e-bike manufacturer Riese & Müller.

R&M, as it’s commonly known, has a fascinating history and they’re now looking for a very select group of additional ANZ dealers to partner with in specific areas that are currently lacking representation.

Humble Beginnings

Markus Riese and Heiko Müller got to know each other on the first day of their mechanical engineering degree course in Darmstadt, Germany. The year was 1988, they were in their early twenties and quickly became friends, thanks to their common passions of cycling, travel and invention.

A few years later they did a long cycle tour in Tunisia where their wheels kept getting stuck in the desert sand. They decided they could make better bikes themselves. Back in Germany, still living with their respective families and working out of a garage, they invented the Birdy folding bike.

Markus and Heiko were so excited about their invention that they decided to enter the 1993 Hesse Innovation Award. In just 10 days plus several night shifts, they produced a full-suspension, folding, bright-red prototype – and won a Special Award.

Then with their single prototype on a tiny expo stand, they exhibited at the Cologne and Eurobike shows where legendary Taiwanese manufacturer George Lin of Pacific Cycle enthusiastically declared, “I want to build this bicycle.”

Straight from the fair, Markus travelled to Taiwan for two weeks with the red Birdy in his luggage to have a production-ready prototype built. The dream of their own bike company was within reach, but the risks were great. Friends and family provided start-up capital, and a bank offered the duo the start-up loan they need. Only then could Markus and Heiko have the first 250 Birdy’s produced in Taiwan.

The Birdy quickly gained cult status and Australia was one of the early countries to see this revolutionary new folding suspension bike.

Through the rest of the 1990’s and 2000’s, Riese & Müller developed new products and built their range. The company consistently made their “full suspension cycling” slogan a reality. Riese & Müller became a brand for discerning clients who valued comfort, durability and a distinctive look.

Electric Pioneers

Way back in 2008 Markus and Heiko made a groundbreaking decision. They saw huge potential for everyday mobility in e-bikes, which at that time were still in their infancy in Europe and virtually unknown in Australia and New Zealand.

They set ambitious goals for their new e-bike range: light weight, excellent comfort, visual integration of the drive and battery and ultimate performance for all components.

Their new Jetstream full suspension e-bike won the Eurobike Green Award for its outstanding sustainability credentials. There was no turning back, with R&M focused upon electric bikes ever since that day – one of the world’s true pioneers.

Over the subsequent 16 years, R&M has experienced massive growth, but importantly, it’s still a private company where the founding partners are heavily involved on a daily basis. Markus Riese is completely in his element as an engineering mentor: coming up with new ideas and trying the impossible. And Heiko Müller, as Managing Partner, oversees day-to-day operational business – with foresight and prudence. In 2013 they hired economist Dr Sandra Wolf as co-CEO and now Managing Partner.

Riese & Müller now operate from a large campus very close to the founders’ homes in Mühltal, Germany. It’s just 45 kilometres south of Frankfurt, home of the Eurobike show. In their recently expanded, state of the art Mühltal facility, R&M bikes are designed and manufactured, using the best quality components from around the world.

Sustainability is a core pillar of everything R&M does. They began publishing detailed annual Responsibility Reports from 2019/20, something that few other bike brands are doing, even today.

R&M’s vision is to be the most sustainable company in the e-bike industry by 2025. Their strategy to achieve this vision is to act responsibly and transparently across four levels: economics, ecology, social and cultural. These Responsibility Reports, that you can see here, go into a great level of detail about how they are progressing with all of these strategies.

Opportunity for a Select Group of Dealers

R&M has already been available in the ANZ markets for quite a few years.

“We realise that the market for premium quality e-bikes and cargo bikes designed for everyday mobility, commuting and replacing car trips, is still relatively small in Australia and New Zealand”, said Timo Gührer, Chief Sales Officer at Riese & Müller.

“But we believe that the change in mobility behaviour is a global, unstoppable trend that has led to huge growth in Europe already. And we are seeing great potential in the ANZ market, where people are more and more taking conscious decision about their mobility behaviour.”

R&M use a dealer direct model, so if you’re interested in making contact, reach out directly to R&M Germany via email to: sales@r-m.de