Who is Pro-Lite?

Pro-Lite is a partnership that has been going for quite some years now as an independent bicycle frame, parts and wheels manufacturer. We are now the biggest producer of hand-made wheels in the world and manufacture wheels for some of the top brands in the world in every discipline. We do not use machines to build wheels which gives us some very strong advantages:
#1 - Machines will never be able to build a wheel as well as a human. There are too many variables and too many factors need to be monitored for a machine to do it any better than 'well'. To get really great wheels, it has to be done by hand.
#2 - Hand-built wheels allow for a greater variety of building quality controls. Our spokes are tested many times more than in a standard build and even our tensiometers are checked and calibrated more often than in any other factories. This gives Pro-Lite wheels a higher level of consistency from wheel to wheel as well as a higher overal level of quality.
If a machine were to be made that could match this level of quality, it would drive the cost of wheels up to ridiculous levels.

As of Spring 2010, we also now have the ability to manufacture carbon products completely in-house. Further, our carbon forming machine is a special high-pressure model that uses 2.5 times more pressure than standard carbon forming machines - meaning that ounce for ounce, our carbon is stiffer and stronger than if it had a similar design made on other machines. Not all carbon is equal.
Our product range is full of unique and innovative products both from a materials standpoint and a design standpoint. We use purpose-specific alloys, including 6061, 6066, 7005 and the amazing 7046 series, use a collection of amazingly high quality spokes that test out at 30% stronger than the competition (and our own testing machine to make sure that all of our spokes meet that standard), and aerodynamic technologies like LEDT: Leading Edge Deflection Technology, borrowed from the aerospace industry and tweaked for cycling in the wind tunnel.
Everything we make is built by hand, scrutinized carefully in production and tested by crazy riders and overbuilt machinery that take the product well past sensible usage limits.
It's just natural then that we make some of the best quality products that last longer than anything else and help you go faster than you thought possible for prices that real people can afford.
On the business side of things, in 2000, Pro-Lite was created by Steve Fenton, a former racer from Great Britain, mostly as a project to supply dealers and shops that he already knew. As he kept making them, the demand kept growing, expanding across borders throughout the EU and beyond.
To deal with this increased demand and the logistics problems that came with it, Pro-Lite opened a Taiwan office in 2002 and in 2003, merged with our local manufacturer here in Taiwan. "Too many orders" became a thriving business and, as of last year, we have grown to a little more than 60 staff.
What does Steve know about wheels?
He started building wheels at 13 years old, started building his own frames at 16 years old and as a racer, represented Britain from 15 years old. He turned Pro at 21 years of age and carried on racing throughout Europe and the World for many years hence. He loves racing and has raced in every type of race imaginable.
This experience with riding has taught him that when speed counts, the most important factor is Power Transfer. With every wheel we make, rigidity and strength are balanced against weight to make the most efficient, fastest wheels possible, with every single joule of energy possible going into forward momentum, not being wasted.