Diamondback Bicycles

Diamondback Bicycles is a major bicycle brand that is based in Kent, Washington]. Diamondbacks are sold in many countries, including the United States, Australia, Canada, and the United Kingdom. Most Diamondbacks are considered to be mid-type bicycles,[1] with a high-end prototype in development as of 2011.[2] Diamondback is owned by global private equity firm Regent, L.P., which also owns the Mavic cycling brand and Redline Bicycles.

Diamondback Bicycles
IndustryBicycles
Founded1977 (1977)
Headquarters
Kent, Washington
,
United States
OwnerSheppard Cycles
Websitewww.diamondback.com

History

Diamondback Bicycles was founded as a BMX brand in 1977 by Western States Imports in Newbury Park, California, which sold bikes under the Centurion (bicycle) brand.[1] Early in its history, the brand name was "Diamond Back" and over time this changed to "DiamondBack" and then to "Diamondback." Beginning in 1990, Western States Imports started selling its mountain bikes and road bicycles under the Diamondback name as well. Since 1979, many riders have successfully competed under the sponsorship of Diamondback, which began with BMX and expanded to Mountain Bikes with the creation of Diamondback Racing (DBR) in 1993.

In 1999, Diamondback Bicycles was purchased by the Derby Cycle Corporation, which also owned the Raleigh Bicycle Company, and merged Raleigh and Diamondback together.[3] In 2001, Derby Cycle Corporation sold Raleigh and Diamondback. In August 2019 Accell Group sold Diamondback to Regent, L.P.[4]

Diamondback is a partner with several advocacy groups, including the Evergreen Mountain Bike Alliance, the Cascade Bicycle Club, Bikes Belong, and the International Mountain Bike Association.[5]

Models

One of the innovations pioneered by Diamondback is the Knuckle Box suspension, which is found on its Sortie, Mission, and Scapegoat full suspension mountain bikes. In addition, Diamondback has its own fitness line which includes a variety of exercise equipment such as ellipticals, recumbents, uprights, and indoor cycles. Between 2013 and 2016, Diamondback developed a new trail bike platform called the Release.[6] Using input from bicycle suspension expert Luther Beal and Diamondback team riders (notably Eric Porter), Diamondback developed its first ever patent-pending suspension called Level Link.[7] The Level Link suspension is based on dual counter-rotating links in a similar fashion as Santa Cruz's Virtual Pivot Point suspension.[6]

A number of different models and sizes are offered by the brand, which include the following:

A 2011 model Diamondback Outlook, which is an entry-level hardtail mountain bike

References
  1. "The History of Raleigh America, the Owners of Diamondback Bikes". www.bicycling-gear.com. Retrieved 14 August 2015.
  2. Rouse, Kevin (28 April 2011), "Diamondback's 29er and DH Prototype: A peak down the road for Diamondback", BikeMagazine
  3. Ferrara, Darla (26 May 2011), "The History of Diamondback Bikes", LiveStrong.com
  4. "Accell Group sells Diamondback, Redline and IZIP to Regent LP, Mavic's new owner". Bicycle Retailer and Industry News. Retrieved 2019-08-07.
  5. Staff writer (21 November 2010), "Diamondback Bicycles Takes Different Approach to Advocacy", U.S. Cycling Report
  6. Diamondback's all-new, all-fast Release trail bike, DirtRagMag.com, 2016
  7. Diamondback springs two new bikes with all new Level Link suspension, BikeRumor.com, 2016
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