1996 LEADER 96 started trading. 2001 First own production unit was opened in Plovdiv, Bulgaria. 2008 Investment in a new production facility in Rogosh, Bulgaria. 2011 The first Bulgarian company with e-bike production. 2012 Acquisition of TRETWERK GmbH in Germany. 2015 ORYX brand for mountain bikes was established. 2016 Investment fund KJK Capital acquired 60% stake. 2017 New factory with latest machine equipment and technologies. 2019 Acquisition of the German brand Panther. 2020 Investments in new automatic production lines, powder painting shop, 4250 m2 warehouse. 2022 53% of LEADER 96 is acquired by global asset management company , The Rohatin Group (TRG). 2023 New 47 000 sqm production and warehouse facility with a one-of-a-kind lean production model in Kuklen Industrial and Commercial Zone.
The journey to the final customers incorporates conceptual planning, integrating color and graphics into the mix, prototype development and testing, refining the models, and – finally – production. E-Bikes bring even more stringent testing requirements into play. The in-house lab pushes the products beyond the industry standards. The eChecker is the core of the lab, testing the e-bikes for maximum speed, cut off distance, maximum power and assistance speed. All the work performed in the painting plants and in the whole company complies with the latest European standards, with high responsibility towards environment and society. The distribution and the preparation of the parts in the production area is based on the Kanban method. The number of operators on each production line and the speed of the conveyors depends on the complexity of the bike. Spokes are arranged skillfully and diligently, in various wheel designs, by the trained team in the workshop. Total control is performed on every step of the process to warrant optimized performance. After final inspection of the ready product is performed, the packaging team packs the products according to customer request and design and the lot is transported to the warehouse.
