ROSE Bikes Factory Visit: What Constitutes Real Innovation?

Looking at the question, perhaps the best way to approach an answer is to look at a brand that often flies underneath the radar, but sets its own path rather than following the industry norms. In fact, no other bike manufacturer unites tradition and progress as well as Germany’s Bocholt-based, family-run ROSE. More than a century of hard retailing graft has now seen the company expand to countless countries, tracking the progress from print to internet, from shops to concept stores.

According to that holy grail of research, Wikipedia, innovation is “something original and more effective and, as a consequence, new, that ‘breaks into’ the market or society.” But where’s the innovation at ROSE, you might wonder, as we take a look at the bare figures relating to their current models: the UNCLE JIMBO, GRANITE CHIEF, and ROOT MILLER. Comparing these to their market competitors, you’ll only spot marginal differences. So if there are no screaming stat differences, then what makes ROSE so special?

A bike shop with a sewing machine

Let’s face it – while bad bikes have almost ceased to exist, bad advice, inadequate quality, poor service, and almost-impossible-to-decipher marketing hype are still prevalent. To understand where ROSE’s innovative forces hail from, you have to dive into their history, going back over a century to 1907 when Heinrich Rose opened a bike shop close to the German/Dutch border. Twenty-five years later, his son Heinrich Jr. began selling Edelrose bike frames and parts from his tiny corner shop during the summer months. Once the off-season came and the sale of bikes dwindled, his collection expanded to include sewing machines and so-called Dutch Oven cooking pots to keep the shop’s turnover healthy.

Ahead of the game – Sports marketing and mail order catalogues

In the 1970s, the administration of the company was handed over to Heinrich Rose’s sons after the founder passed away, and it rapidly underwent a decisive change in direction. Erwin Rose, who is still at the helm of the company today, set up a solid cycling section within the firm. This was a wise business move back then, as the sport was just evolving from its infancy and was quickly gaining recognition.

ROSE itself grew exponentially, and from 1979 it began building its first steel and aluminium frames in Japan, with carbon to join not long after. In the early 1980s, thanks to a black-and-white copying machine, it launched its first national advertising campaign. This allowed them to copy their hand-made leaflets and flyers and distribute them to foreign customers. The concept proved so successful that their first catalogue followed not long after in 1981, which massively broadened the small company’s customer base. The sixty-four black and white pages, which included numerous tables that displayed all the imaginable information on the bikes, prompted an entire generation of cyclists to dream of their perfect bikes, set up just for their needs. All of the texts were initially penned by Erwin Rose on his own typewriter, but as the catalogue grew to almost 1,000 pages with a print run of 750,000 copies, this wasn’t feasible any longer. While successful with the general population, the idea of ROSE’s mail-order method left a suspicious taste in the mouths of the era’s other bike dealers.

From Bocholt to the world – with neither airplanes nor energy drinks

Erwin Rose rapidly expanded their portfolio of mail-order products, becoming one of the first Europeans to import high-end road bikes from across the world, a step that included sales of Nishiki from Japan and De Rosa from Italy. Communication with their Japanese manufacturer required Erwin Rose to visit his local bank, who arranged the use of their teleprinter, a sort of electronic typewriter, and designs soared back and forth via airmail. This early contact with Asian producers is one that never died out, and the boss’s antics in the 1980s still benefit the company today.

By 1990, ROSE had undergone such exponential growth that a relocation was in order, and they took on a space of 1,200 m² in the city centre. After four years, they outgrew the site once more and headed to peripheries of Bocholt, where the warehousing, dispatch, and administrative departments have remained ever since. Bike assembly takes place here too. However, 1994 wasn’t just the year of the biggest relocation, it also marked the re-introduction of ROSE’s own brand, which hadn’t appeared since the Edelrose frames of the 1930s, and would exclusively be sold through mail-order. It was dubbed RED BULL, a brand name that Erwin Rose was the first to trademark in Germany. As the company developed, its popularity ensured that it continued to grow, and the production facilities and warehouses were extended once more. As the other RED BULL (the well-known energy drink producer) exploded in popularity, creating some brand confusion, the bike brand’s name was changed to ROSE in 2008. Interest from prospective buyers was huge during this entire time, but Erwin Rose had no interest in selling it: “There was so much money [offered] that I could easily have bought myself an aeroplane,” he explains. “But I didn’t want that.”

The first bike boutique

The family-run business had its own agenda, which included staying true to its retail-based roots, and the opening of BIKETOWN in Bocholt in 2005 was the realization of Erwin Rose’s long-term dream. Over four light-flooded floors, which cover a total of 6,000m², customers can try on apparel, admire parts and accessories – and test-ride (or simply ogle) their bikes, of course. However, BIKETOWN is no regular retail experience as there’s professional foot and seat-bone measuring to ensure the perfect fit for your shoes and saddles. With sixty-five staff members on hand, customers will see every need met. If you happen to be there at the busiest time of day, there’s free coffee to accompany you as you wait to be paged when the next staff member is available. Moreover, the in-house workshop has a veritable treasure trove of items, including 30,000 parts (with over 5,000 hailing from the 1990s), which means it’s highly likely they’re able to repair your bike in a short amount of time. Bikes that are ordered online can be collected directly from BIKETOWN, with the customer welcomed as if it were the crowning purchase of a car: getting you acquainted with the bike, to grips with the parts, and dialling in the right set-up.
Thorsten Heckrath-Rose, the managing director, sums up the shop’s concept as follows: “I think that the secret of a successful business comes from the ability to see outside of the box and beyond the garden fence.” This is why ROSE BIKETOWN draws few influences from other bike shops; instead it cites car showrooms, restaurants, and even a San Francisco-based jeans shop as inspiration.

The old new brand – ROSE

Seven years ago marked ROSE’s biggest breakthrough, and a significant pivot point in the brand’s image. Given the difficulties incurred in trying to distance their own RED BULL brand from the energy drink, they eventually relented and introduced ROSE as the brand name for their bikes, which brought the family-run business back to the focus. They’ve since developed a new ROSE logo and design. This new design first hit their mountain bike range, where three new bike developers designed a new generation of frames. Since 2011, ROSE have turned their hand to trekking and road bikes as well.

For those who know any of ROSE’s design team, you’ll agree that their passion for designing bikes is insatiable, and they’ve excelled over the past few years. However, progress has been conservative, as the Bocholt-based team prefer to weigh a situation or trend thoughtfully before jumping onto the industry bandwagon. This minimizes risk and benefits the end customers, as the result is visible in the bikes: well thought-out, reliable, and mature, with no teething problems. This is testament to the company’s philosophy and insistence on quality. As a direct-order company, it’s trickier to implement new standards, as – aside from BIKETOWN and fairs – their direct-order method gives them far less contact with the final customers than a regular dealer.

The bike configurator – Progress through tradition

Even in the new millennium, ROSE’s strengths lie largely where they have always been; just as they did over a century ago, customers buy their new frame and choose suitable parts. So while the ‘custom built’ tag may not have existed then, the principle of customizing the bikes for the customers was in evidence. Since 2009, ROSE’s own configurator has enabled this on a much more professional scale – there are no off-the-shelf bikes here, as every client can assemble his or her dream bike and view it as a photo montage on the ROSE website first. Thanks to their three photo studios in Bocholt, ROSE can display their whole range. The exchange of parts comes at no extra cost for the customer, and each bike is assembled by hand in Bocholt, and delivered in a (more or less) ready-to-ride condition.

When online trade meets a static shop – BIKETOWN Munich

Just last year Munich welcomed a brand new interactive BIKETOWN. This concept store features giant touch screens and tablets, which have replaced the former catalogues listing parts and prices. Every single part can be viewed in 3D, and clients can customize their bikes, which are all still assembled in Bocholt. As the company has now spread to Munich, the capital of Bavaria, Southern Germany, it’s easy to spot the direction that ROSE are heading towards – the union of online and offline trade. As Thorsten Heckrath-Rose explains, “We’re not just online, we’re also a physical presence. We’re a retailer at heart.” This step shows how the company intends to match their success online and offline by selling great products, with great service at the core.

Long live tradition – bump off the catalogue!

While staying true to tradition remains important to the family company, the catalogue has now ceased to exist. Just like their RED BULL brand name stepped aside and became ROSE, so too has the catalogue, giving way to the internet and more compact brochures that reveal their bike collections. Print, however, isn’t yet dead, and their customer magazine CYCLE STORIES is more than just a catalogue, as it publishes servicing tips, riding hints, and gives a look behind the scenes of the company in addition to presenting products.

Innovation through realism

And now? After those early days with 30 m² retail space (now multiplied into 32,000 m² of commercial space), Bocholt’s smallest shop has become an enterprise that’s now active in fourteen countries – so what’s next on the horizon? It’s a question that ROSE are hesitant to answer, although they hint at further progress into e-bikes, at more comfort and all-round capabilities for road bikes, and an even more strengthened union between their online and offline worlds for the benefit of clients. One thing’s for sure though, ROSE will always remain a family-run business. Erwin Rose sums up their philosophy: “My perception of our brand is that we stay true to our concept, and that despite the direct orders we are not a mass manufacturer. The priority is still about producing quality, and our capital isn’t in the bank balance – it’s in our qualified personnel.”

ROSE’s personnel consists of realists, of staff who understand the business and their work. They know their purpose at ROSE, and that’s the impression that we get too. A good company doesn’t need to only employ bike junkies – instead it needs reliable and professional specialists in every department. While certain companies get lost in miniscule details for tech geeks, the team at Bocholt look at the wider situation.

Unlike many other manufacturers, they don’t want a bigger slice of the cake – they want to make the cake even bigger by enticing more people into the sport of cycling and drawing in a wider audience. They don’t do this by exclusively delving into the nitty-gritty of a bike’s technical details, as many amateurs would initially be left drowning in the stats. It’s the service, quality, and innovative concepts that lure many customers to ROSE, and get them out on two wheels with a smile.

Words: Cornelia Thoellden Photos: Klaus Kneist/Moritz Dittmar/Christoph Bayer

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