Cyclorama - The guide to oustanding and specialised cycles

Hannes Bodner, cycling legend and guest of honour Francesco Moser, GRUBER Assist Director Monika Schweitzer and Tirol-Werbung CEO Josef Margreiter at a presentation at the Giro d’Italia 2006 stop on 25th May in the Sporthotel Sillian (East Tyrol, Austria)

Exhibitor Profile: Gruber Assist

People stood and stared! On the Gruber-bike, a bike wheel and the crank were spinning under power, with no obvious battery or motor. Was it magic?

Well, it's very clever engineering. The idea for an ultra light motor for mountain bikes came to DI Reinhold Gruber, from Igls in Tyrol, back in 2004. An enthusiastic sportsman and mountain biker, he was determined to develop something which would offer an ‘electronic tailwind' a kind of invisible engine. Yet it had to be unobtrusive, and good enough to take the cycling world by surprise.

The hard work and preparation pay off by winning the business plan competition AdventureX, organised by the Tiroler Zukunftsstiftung (Tyrolean Foundation for the Future). Motivated by this success, and supported by two investors, the company Gruber Antrieb GmbH & Co KG was finally established in March 2006. It goes from strength to strength, further boosted by a another victory – winning the 14th Brand New Award from ISPO Munich and the Eurobike Bronze Award in 2007.

The product range has since expanded – featuring complete bicycles with GRUBER Assist, from the classical Comfort Bike, to trekking bikes and sporty MTBs.

Want to try one out? At the test centre in Ellmau, Tyrol, you can combine a test ride with a short-break amidst the Alps.

Managing Director, Monika Schweitzer, has been with Gruber since its foundation, and rides on her Gruberbike on her days off. “It's great to have a product which attracts so much interest and serves a niche market which has such a guaranteed future potential. It all comes together: sport, fun, the pleasure of good technology, and environmental sustainability”.

Thanks to a succession of appearances at the leading trade and public cycle shows, Gruber have an extremely strong profile for such a young company, and are more than positive about the future!

Visit this exhibitor's website: http://www.gruberassist.com