DT Swiss

DT Swiss was officially founded in 1994, but the factory in Biel, Switzerland where it operates has been producing precision wire and metal components since 1634. That history is baked into the name: DT stands for Drahtwerke Tréfileries — wire works in German and French, the two languages spoken in Biel, which sits on the boundary between Switzerland’s linguistic regions. The company was built on a management buyout of the Vereinigte Drahtwerke (United Wireworks) by Frank Böckmann, Maurizio D’Alberto and Marco Zingg, who stripped back the product range to focus entirely on bicycle spokes — and then set about rebuilding from there.

The expansion was methodical: hubs in 1995, nipples in 1999, rims in 2003, complete integrated wheelsets from 2004. The hub launch introduced the Ratchet System — two interlocking toothed rings that engage simultaneously — which remains the benchmark for hub engagement and durability nearly thirty years later. Unlike most wheel brands, which source components from multiple suppliers, every DT Swiss wheel is built entirely from DT Swiss parts: their own spokes, nipples, hubs and rims, all designed and manufactured within the group. Biel also remains home to an extraordinary proportion of the world’s spoke production — DT Swiss produces around 70% of all bicycle spokes globally from its Swiss headquarters.