The DMR brand began in the mid 1990’s in the UK. The mountain bike boom years in the United Kingdom saw the brand develop rapidly and gain a lot of long term customers and supporters of the brand.
Who are DMR?
The brand was set up by Damian Mason and Marr Ryley – hence the name. The long-term friends both studied Industrial Design and went to work in Taiwan for frame and fork manufacturers. Worldwide bicycle industry base, Taiwan, gave the pair valuable experience in the bike industry. Importantly, in addition it also introduced them to industry partners with whom they stick work today.
Build it
The duo initially imported Fishbone bikes and developed parts and some BMX framesets themselves. The brand hit a rich stream when they started to produce pedals. Pedals with clips and straps were still being used in mountain biking in the 1990’s. Trials legend and one of the original MTB ‘influencers’, Hans Rey was showing what could be done on flat pedals and shoes.
Flat Mate
During the early 1990’s Shimano introduced SPD pedals and had given mountain bikers the option to have similar pedalling dynamics to their road riding cousins. However, not all mountain bikers were focussed on pedalling efficiency. As the sport of mountain biking diversified, slalom, trials and downhill riders all demanded more freedom to shift around on the pedal and needed an alternative. The V12 from DMR provided grip and a solid platform for riders to enjoy with confidence.
V12 Power
Early flat pedal riders were limited by pedal choice. They still looked more like traditional road bike pedals without clips and straps, until bear trap designs came along, although these were grippy, they tended to turn if you missed your footing. In the quest for what worked, riders were digging out old Shimano DX BMX pedals from the 80’s and swapping axles so they would fit MTB cranks. Early DMR V12 pedals would give riders who wanted to ride flats a really solid, well designed option.
The original V8 and V12 pedals were based on an open mould design from Wellgo, once they saw the potential for the pedals, they had their own tooling made. Features such as replaceable pins were huge for riders who would often break pins. High quality removable end caps meant that servicing was relatively straight forward too.
Extensive Range
The success of DMR’s pedal range allowed the brands product list to develop. As well as being well known for pedals, the Wingbar handlebars, Death Grips and range of Dirt Jump frames have won the brand legions of new fans. The DMR range also includes single speed conversion components. These are ideal for converting a geared bike to single speed dirt jumper or fixie / pub / shop bike.
