DESIGNING and making a world-beating mountain bike was not rocket science for a couple of Bolton entrepreneurs – more like aircraft science.

For it was dabbling in the material from which landing gear is made of that has given Chris Williams, managing director of Empire Cycles, and Tony Anderton, boss of Merlin Engineering, a competitive edge.

Mr Williams, aged 37, developed the rear suspension for the MX6-EVO using the same technology as an off road motorcycle, utilising high strength aluminium, used mainly in the aircraft industry.

Now, coupled with their strategy of selling the bikes direct to the public online and keeping the design and manufacture in house at Dunscar Business Park, Mr Williams and Mr Anderton, aged 43, are selling the bike a third cheaper than it would otherwise be.

Most mountain bikes in high street outlets are manufactured in the Far East but Mr Williams and Mr Anderton are aiming to capture the elite mountain cycle market.

“In the Far East, it’s like any industry,” said Mr Williams, who studied for his degree in product development at the University of Bolton. “They have a lot of knowledge of how to make bikes, but they always do it the same way.

“We manufacture and design on site. We source our materials 100 per cent in the UK for our products for the frame of the bike. We also get ancillary items like brakes and wheels locally whenever we can.

“We control our own manufacturing whereas most cycle brands sub contract to overseas factories which make the whole thing on their behalf.”

Mr Anderton, a former pupil of Turton High School, who also went to the University of Bolton echoed Mr Williams comments when he said: “The problem with bikes made in the Far East which are imported is that they are ordered at the beginning of the year, so when they are gone, they are gone. The bike dealers have to guess how many they are going to sell.

“The bike companies say to the dealers ‘how many of these are you going to buy’.

“Bikes are made seasonally. We are in November now and if we want a hi-gh-spec mountain bike made in the Far East there’s no chance of getting one until March because they are now making children’s bikes for Christmas.

“There are two types of mountain bikers. There are the ones who go down to Halfords which sells bikes up to £1,000. They sell more bikes than anyone else in the country. It’s brilliant because it’s getting people on bikes.

“But there are others who are saying ‘we want a better bike’. Those people are who we’re aiming at.”

The MX6 Evo sells for between £2,500 and 3,500 depending on the spec.

So far Empire Cycles and Merlin Engineering’s marketing has been reasonably low profile, but word is filtering through the elite cycling community about how good their bikes are.

Such is their growing reputation that Merlin Engineering has started to make parts for the Great Britain cycling team and for Tour De France team Sky.

They have also supplied 3D printed proto-type handlebars for Pinarello in Italy.

Meanwhile, working in partnership with engineering giant Renishaw, Empire has also made the world's first 3D printed mountain bike out of titanium, a special version of the MX6-EVO,

The bikes can be viewed online at empire-cycles.com.