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What is Handmade?
Challenge handmade tires combine comfort, performance, and grip in a way other tires can't match. Unlike tires mass-produced through industrial vulcanization – a process that relies on heavy machinery and minimal labor to heat-mould synthetic butyl rubber and nylon into a tire shape – handmade tires are assembled step-by-step by experienced craftspeople. High quality natural glues and latex coatings are applied to ultra-supple casing materials like silk, cotton, or polyester. The natural rubber tread is moulded and attached – with the exception of the tread itself, no vulcanization is required and the materials maintain their superior characteristics. The result is a small-batch tire with a ride feel that is simply on a different level.
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Challenge History
It began in the late 1990s when the legendary Clément brand was closed down by Pirelli. Max Brauns saw an opportunity and decided to take over the factory and resume production of the special handmade tubulars so popular in the market. In 2000, after a few years of producing tubulars for other brands, Max and his son Alex decide to create a brand of their own calling it ‘Challenge’. The choice was not random, but because creating a boutique handmade tire brand was going to be a real challenge! -
About Us
We are a dynamic, family-run brand, producing Handmade Tires for performance-driven cyclists. Using the very best natural rubbers and the highest quality silk, cotton, polyester and latex, our Handmade production technique is one that only a hand-full of artisans have mastered and none have matched our commitment to development of a full range of tires in multiple disciplines.
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Where is Challenge?
Our main headquarters in in Switzerland very close to Italy. We make all Challenge Handmade Tires in our family-owned factory in Thailand, 90 minutes down the coast from Bangkok. We manufacture in Thailand because that is where our natural rubber and latex is sourced, where we can choose and control the raw materials and where the world’s rubber and latex experts work.
