The Passion People - Magura Factory Visit
MAGURA FACTORY VISIT
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Ever wondered what your German company name might sound like? Take the beginning of your family name and combine it with the first letters of your business's birthplace. It's a traditional name generator in the 'Mutterland' and exactly the way 'Magura' was born - brainchild of Gustav 'Magenwirth' who called the historic spa town of 'Bad Urach' home in the late 1800s. Six distinctive-sounding letters is pretty neat for a country that calls a speed limit 'geschwindigkeitsbegrenzung'... luckily a word you'll never need on the Autobahn. Anyway, it was here, nestled in between Stuttgart and the Schwabian Alps in Reutlingen, Southern Germany, that the self-proclaimed 'Passion People' set up shop over 120 years ago. After all those years, a Pinkbike visit was beginning to sound overdue and finally this summer we made the trip to find out what it is that keeps this homemade brand firing on all cylinders and why the words 'made in Germany' are set in stone... and a good deal of carbon fiber composite.
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 There's not much to dislike about Magura's hometown of Bad Urach with it's quintessential German market square, surrounded by 14th century, wood-frame housing and a 60 'C thermal spring. |
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 | What is Magura all about? Magura is about the passion to create high-performance products of the utmost reliability, succeeding as pioneers in our business. Armed with decades of know-how, we are always looking to offer solution-oriented products to be winners alongside our customers. We are also a family-determined, economically independent organisation that is proud to Schwabian. In the years to come we hope to remain just as innovative, inventive, rooted in the soil, all whilst maintaining the best face-to-face relations with those who invest in our equipment - Fabian Auch - Magura CEO |
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| Fabian and Gustav together outside the Magura HQ, now in it's fourth generation of family ownership. |
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| Worldwide, the Magura crew of today runs 500 people deep and has important bases in Asia and the USA. |
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| A blast from the past, but also a key to the future; Magura's iconic Hydro-stop rims brakes were a 90's must-have for any hard tail and today sell in huge numbers for city bikes. Meanwhile the Gustav M discs were the flagship big-bike brake, ridden by greats like Shaun Palmer at the pre-millennium World Cups. |
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| Magura's distinctive, double-arch, 'DLO' fork line greets you at the door of their busy design department. With exciting and unique innovations like the eLECT system already on the market there's also much more to come. Keep an eye out at Eurobike when further high-tech wizardry is set for release. |
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| A short drive out of town we find Magura's production facility, home of cutting-edge injection-molding techniques. |
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| The raw material is predominantly carbon-infused plastic. Purchased at costs of up to 80euros per kilo, it carefully finds it's way to the machinery through an extensive mass of pipework. |
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| A supplier of components to BMW motorcycles for some 90 years, Magura recently achieved the beautifully rare feat to reverse the flow of technology back upstream from the bicycle industry to that of the mighty motorcycle. The product that made the leap - their injection-molded, carbon-reinforced, 'Carbotecture' master cylinders with only fraction of the weight, but with superior strength and the perfect degree of flex. |
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| Molds for Magura's product line are stored in a huge, computer-operated, racking system, while rooms surrounding the main factory area are allocated to humidity monitoring of the materials and rigorous quality control of the products. Safety has always been the brand's best selling asset. |
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| A key motivation for Magura to continue to produce in Germany is their immense technical know-how. For some of the machines where photos are not even permitted, to keep them under watchful eye at home in Europe is the best way to keep a secret safe. Techniques for carbon-fiber alignment and material thickness alteration to achieve optimum reinforcement are closely guarded. |
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| Product Manager, Stefan Pahl and Key Account Manager, Christian Brauner showed us a few highlights of the very extensive local trail network to lighten the mood on a Thursday afternoon. The sweltering depths of a deep, dark factory are surely no place to hang around on a summers day after-all... |
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| The view from the top of Hohen Neuffen Castle is a good one... |
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| Never forget, when the locals don't put knee-guards on; be afraid. It means they don't shuttle and you're about to take a good thrashing. Apparently 25km is only a quick one in these parts. |
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| With the Magura offices backing onto steep woods that lead you all the way into the heart of the Schwabian Alps, good times on two wheels are never far away for these guys. And it's very important for product testing... We meant to say that first. |
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| Back in the aftercare and warranty department, our host and head of marketing, Gotz Braun, sets me up with some of Magura's flagship 4 piston brakes to try on my downhill bike and after today I look forward, teary-eyed, to my next chairlift assisted descent. |
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| The MT7 with it's original Magura 'Raceline' colorway and lightweight 'Carbotecture' master cylinder is one good-looking piece of equipment. First rides in big mountains have already given me a good idea of their excellent modulation, impressive power and markedly reduced arm-pump. |
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| Having witnessed the ins and outs of the molding process and the local trail scene, it was time to explore Magura's high-tech assembly plant a few kilometers away at Hengen. |
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| Welcome to the supermarket. Component parts are shelved up to the ceiling ready to be picked for assembly. |
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| Patrick Gruber oversees proceedings at the ultra-clean facility that uses a higher than normal air-pressure to remove atmospheric dust. |
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| Levers and calipers are build up at workstations by hand operated machinery. |
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| A row of full-carbon MT8 brakes await their hoses and bleeding - a robotized process it's not possible to photograph due to more technical know-how that needs to be kept secret. |
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| You've got to love it when a plan comes together. Magura's MT8, born and raised 100% in Germany. |
MENTIONS: @Magura / @natedh9
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Year+ later I had a weird piece of membrane show during a bleeding - which freaked me out (didn't want to ride it) so I called them and again they took care of me. I now have the MT5 which I can't wait to try.
Have been using the louise BAT on my DH bike (they have so much power not sure I need quad piston) and have been flawless for 3 seasons.
I use Shimano ice Tech rotors which I know a thinner, but like the cooling idea better. You just need a bit more fluid in the MT for them...Occasionally I run out and get air when they pads get to the metal. Also the plastic bleed screes on MT can strip so easily (bad design). Only down sides.
They were the most reliable piece of equipment that i've ever had and with nearly 100kg of meat attached to my bike i could still accidentaly lock the front wheel with one finger anytime.
With good brakepads i reckon they are still the most powerful brakes on the market avaliable/
Save yourself the hassle and buy Shimano or Avid... You'll be glad you did.
If you're stripping bleed port plugs too, I'm voting "user error" not the brakes..................
German MTB-Mag recently dyno'ed DH-brakes (Saint,Zee,MT5/7,Guide,Formula....) they threw a set of GustavM in the mix for grins and they were on par with all the new brakes in all respects but weighing in +150g a brake... they definitely were way ahead of their time back in the day.
i'm also running a magura fork on my mach 5. great fork, just did a full service on it 2 weeks ago, and was done in less than 20minutes.
i havn't needed to use the customer service since thorsten left 15 years ago. but when i did, superb. i know a friend did have issues with his MT-8's that have since been sorted.
For me Gustav is one of the most iconic products in MTB history and I would be delighted to hang on the wall and stare at it in the winter.
Even Cannondale had dropped Magura from most of their bikes. I have warrantied more Magura brakes than any other brand.
Come on Magura, get on the quality control!