Sunn

1982 – 1988: The BMX years

1982, France had just discovered BMX, and Max Commençal created the company MX France which will soon become Sunn, a name that better matches the activity. At first, Sunn focuses on producing BMXs for young riders. Bikes are assembled in an organization employing disabled people. The small company quickly starts to be successful on the French BMX market, and slowly grows and tends to get more organized. The former external collaborators, such as the welder and the assemblers ‘employer, join the brand. Then comes Jean-Pierre Garnier, more famous under his designer signature: Zoobab. He was around fifteen when he sent his first frame drawings to Sunn. His ‘touch’ is already there, he soon becomes the brand’s official designer, and he will sign the unique design of the frames for a couple of years, a major component of the success story back then. On the competition side, Sunn sets up its first official team which is composed of young riders with names such as Florent Poussin, Jean Christophe Tricard and Cédric Gracia among them. National champion titles add up and the Sunn riders join the National Team and bring back many international titles.

1988 – 1993: Re-organization

In 1988, some investors, closely related to the creator, launch a new structure entitled Sunn SA to enable the brand to better develop. From now on the brand is totally established in St Gaudens, at the base of the Pyrénées mountains, it continues to produce BMXs and manages a terrific team. Indeed, the Sunn Chipie team collects international titles and will be crowned Team World Champion in 1991. At the same time, Sunn raises its interest in mountain biking, which freshly arrived in France. After some more or less fortunate attempts, the first MTB range is launched in 1991 with a strong, BMX inspired, identity. Frames have a slopping top tube (very rare at this time), and the geometries are rather aggressive. The Radical, an oversized steel frame using though Vitus tubes makes the early Sunn downhillers happy.

1993 – 1996: Let’s ride on your 5003 R

If the public liked the 91 and 92 ranges, 93 is a major step forward for the brand history, and perhaps even for the MTB French history. The new products introduction had a bomb-like effect for the competitors. The 1003 series goes against all the marketing habits. Indeed, for aesthetic reasons, tubes tend to get oversized, which resulted in heavy bikes. Sunn launch a range of simple mountain bikes, with a very thought after geometry, build with low diameters steel tubes. The result: very light bikes and an unmatched weight/price/equipment ratio. Components groups are mixed up – a massive disappointment for the exclusive supplier most a large number of brands! – which allow to upgrade the important specs as well as maintain reasonable cost on other parts. Sunn’s pride is the cromo 5003 R; which will become THE best seller of the year. It will also get elected Mountain Bike of the year by French magazine Velo Vert for the first edition of the annual election. Starting in 93, thanks to the 5003 R and all the “little brothers”, Sunn’s growth is amazing, and it will keep going that way for the next three years. Revolts and Maxes are also core products by this time, as well as the Bmix (a BMX with 26in. wheels) and the first road bikes models. All the ingredients of success for Sunn are well established, for products and image also. The brand develops a marginal image compared to the competitors: at the same time highly involved and far from the bicycle world. This strong identity is inspired by Zoobab. He and his crew, stars of the catalogues, show a riding style, free ride before its time, and a unique lifestyle also. Sunn is proud at tell the world about its independence, freedom and unusual open mind. With wide influences, such as music, the Sunn style is well summed up by its motto ‘let’s ride: take your bike and ride the way you want. And then do something else…’ The strength of Sunn is to be fully involved, passionate, and totally aware that there are other things than bikes in life. All of this gives an exceptional independence, a relief from stress which can look like anarchy…but only look like.

1996 – 1999: Team Sunn adventure

Beside a free and sport oriented spirit, Sunn is still highly involved in competition. The BMX team continues its titles conquest, in all age categories. Joining the team at the age of eight, ten or twelve years old, is a gateway to professionalism in the best structure of the world. The current pros are the real ‘dream team’ with the trio: Christophe Lévèque, Thomas Allier and Dylan Clayton…followed by a bunch of young guns: Médhi Rémili, Clément Doby, Pablo Guiterrez...and many more. Of course, Sunn gets also involved in mountain biking competitions, Gilles Sanders is the first official team rider in cross country at the end of the eighties. But it’s in downhill that the team will shine. In 93, some of the young BMX riders make the move to mountain bike: Florent Poussin, Cédric Gracia, Carmine Falco arrive in downhill, with their BMX like styles and techniques and make the show while they are still juniors. They are managed by François Gachet, a former co-factory rider, who turns pro in 93. 1993 is also they year the world first heard of the phenomenon Anne Caroline Chausson, discovered by Sunn, who will be crowned downhill junior world champion for the third race of her life on a mountain bike. In 94, Sunn releases a new bomb in terms of products with the awesome Radical Plus, a downhill specific bike which will ensure a long lasting technological advantage for the brand. On the exact bike, Gachet and Chausson win the first world cup race of the 94 season: an historical double win! François will clinch the world cup overall title this year and win the first senior world championship title for France. Still in 94, Anne Caro confirms by winning the junior world champ title again, second of a long streak as she will remain unbeaten at world championship until the end of her career at Sunn in 98. The Radical becomes the ultimate weapon for amateur racers, who push to join the co-factory program, a perfect supplier of top guns for the team. Gracia, Barel, Pascal will all three win the junior world champion title on their Radical Plus. And then, Nicolas Vouilloz joins the team to be able to work and train with the best technical team at this time. The meeting of the greatest rider so far and the more professional team ever will give three world champion titles (97, 98, and 99). Success also comes from the cross country riders with Christophe Dupouey and Miguel Martinez. The fantastic pair will dominate three years of international events, the peak being 1998 world championships, with Dupouey winning the senior title, and Martinez the junior one. Eric Barone’s performances must also be mentioned, many times world speed record holder on a Sunn prototype (and veteran downhill world champion as well) and his trial teammate, Thierry Girard proved his talent with a strong domination. The Sunn team is the most successful and the most professional one on the race circuit. Unfortunately, the awaited big sponsors and investors, thanks to the raising interest in mountain biking, will never come. The major teams set up very professional structures in order to attract hypothetical partners, and make huge investments. Did they invest too much? Maybe. Long story short, at the end of the nineties, paddocks are not so joyful, it’s the end of the big structures (at its peak, the Sunn Team was composed of 24 pro riders, all disciplines together). Anyway, those years will be remembered as a fantastic period, with epic battles between teams and racers, for the pleasure of all mountain bikes and competition fans.

1999 – 2005: the dark years

At the end of 98, Max Commençal leaves Sunn, result of different ideas with shareholders, and the company files for bankruptcy to better start over. Besides, the market tends to slow down and the mountain biking world is back to reality after a couple of crazy years. In this situation, without the support of its team, Sunn struggles to display a strong identity. Xavier Marigot becomes designer in place of Zoobab and will leave his trademark which is going to be a key visual detail of Sunn’s bikes: the famous down tube integrated mudguard. The brand survives thanks to well thought ranges, but the Sunn spirit is cruelly missing, the company is not among the market leaders any more. After six years, production has seriously dropped, and with only a few employees left, the company is put into liquidation.

2005 – 2007: let’s start all over again

In April 2005, Sunn is acquired by Patrick Tanguy, who creates a structure in order to re-start the company. His ambition is to give back to the company the place it holds in the previous years. For this, he carefully chooses the staff members, including some former employees and some new young faces. Skills and passion, the components that made the success and the identity of Sunn earlier, are back in the company. This carries the future of Sunn on the technological side as much as on the image one. The team motivation is strong enough to achieve all the challenges ahead of the company and satisfy the public expectations who still cherish the brand. 2006 is year Sunn comes back on the market and the pleasant surprise is that the brand is still well perceived by the entire mountain bike scene. After this first step, full of hope, 2007 is the real renewal of Sunn, with the first range launched by the new staff. The spirit is back, the company is full of projects, and skills are in action: everything is finally back in place the re-build this passion around Sunn.

2008 and beyond: the confirmation

All the work of the past years to completely re-construct the range finally pays off: in 2008, the Kern Exo is elected “mountain bike of the year”. The same year, the Kern LT is elected “enduro bike of the year” for the second year in a row and in 2009, the Shamann Exo ends up at second place for the “mountain bike of the year” election only three points short of the win. The public and cycle professionals’ recognition for Sunn can be felt. The products’ aesthetic, the good results and atmosphere for the team Sunn riders’ society and the marginal advertising campaigns in collaboration with La Chose agency; are all key points to the comeback of Sunn among the leading and innovating firms on the market. The strong image around Sunn, as it was in the nineties, is back and the company makes everything to keep innovating again and again for the pleasure of every single rider.

The story continues, live on www.sunnbicycle.com