A visit to Transalpes – the manufacturer of unique MTBs for nearly 25 years

Patrick Bardelli

24/3/2026

Translation: Veronica Bielawski

Pictures: Patrick Bardelli

Since 2002, a small bike shop in Central Switzerland has been developing mountain bikes. Each one is handcrafted and one of a kind. A visit to Transalpes in Baar.

It’s one of those days for me – the kind that feels like Christmas morning as a kid, impatiently ripping open your presents, smile plastered on your face, with a sparkle in your eyes. But it’s Wednesday, mid-March, in the canton of Zug.

I’m standing in the Transalpes bike shop in Baar, marvelling at the carefully arranged components from Shimano, Sram and the like. I’ve arranged to interview managing director Michel Juhasz, who greets me with a smile and a freshly brewed cappuccino from the portafilter machine (it’s the little things that matter).

Transalpes: attention to detail as the corporate DNA

In 2002, company founder Philipp Schranz developed a revolutionary bike concept and named it the «Mojo». What made it so special was the fact the angle of the saddle dome could be adjusted with just a few turns. This steeper angle put additional pressure on the front wheel for improved climbing performance.

Today, almost 25 years later, the Mojo’s unorthodox seat dome is history. Why didn’t it stand the test of time? In part, because this kind of frame was very expensive, but also because its unusual look took some time to warm up to. «That’s why we retired the concept in 2008 with the Mojo Longtravel. Since 2010, we’ve been making classic mountain bike frames without the patented Mojo,» Michel Juhasz explains.

But Transalpes’ foundational idea remains the same to this day: it offers special, fully customisable bikes. On top of that, the bikes’ frame geometry and kinematics are tailored to the specific demands of the Swiss Alps.

Online configurator

As early as 2003, Transalpes gave customers the option of configuring a bike to suit their own wants and needs. Back then, this was done with an Excel spreadsheet – «today, we use our online configurator,» Michel adds with a grin. Riders are guided through the range in seven steps all the way to their completed MTB or e-MTB.

At the workshop in Baar, you can also put together your dream bike the analogue way. Seven steps from left to right: from the frame to the drivetrain and wheels, all the way to the seatpost and saddle.

Frame geometry from here, for here

Another Transalpes hallmark is its frame geometry: a steep seat angle, slack head angle and a short chainstay. Take the C2 model, an all-mountain bike. Like all the brand’s other bikes, it’s perfectly tuned for riding in the Swiss Alps, as managing director Michel Juhasz explains. That means plenty of stability at speed, agile handling in tight corners and excellent climbing ability.

Since 2017, the frames have been manufactured by a partner company in Taiwan. There’s also a frame builder in Einsiedeln, Switzerland who produces small batches. But a «made in Switzerland» carbon frame would cost more on its own than a complete Transalpes bike. The MTB starts at CHF 4,980, while the e-MTB starts at CHF 6,980. According to Juhasz, 80 per cent of Transalpes’ value creation currently takes place in Switzerland, with the long-term goal being 100 per cent. The plan is to eventually move frame production to Switzerland. But as Juhasz explains, it’ll probably be a few more years before high-quality carbon frames can be made here at competitive prices.

Paintwork is a major cost factor. Here too, there are countless options, from a standard finish to bespoke colours in gloss or matt, with or without added flakes. «We have customers who want their bike to be the exact same colour as their car, for example,» says Michel. The frames are painted at a spray shop in Switzerland.

Delivery times are around two to four weeks in the off-season and up to eight weeks during peak season, depending on the model and specification.

The importance of wheel choice

We’re standing in front of the wall of components while Michel Juhasz talks me through the options Transalpes offers. He keeps coming back to one thing: the bike’s intended use. For instance, the suspension on all-mountain bikes has a different travel from enduro or trail bikes. Then you have to decide if you want mechanical or electronic shifting and which manufacturer you want the parts from. Some people swear by Shimano products, others are devoted Sram fans.

Brakes quickly become a matter of personal taste, too. And then there are the wheels. «I can’t overstate how important high-quality wheels are for the right use case,» says Michel. «A wheel is moving mass. If you save ten grammes on the rim, that’s roughly the equivalent of 100 grammes on the frame or other parts.» No wonder some wheelsets cost more than a complete bike in the mid-range segment. According to Juhasz, nothing matters more on a bike than choosing the right wheels. But the point isn’t simply to get the weight as low as possible – it’s to match the wheels to the intended use.

Transalpes offers standard wheels, but customers can also have wheelsets built to their own specifications in the company’s in-house wheel workshop.

Built to last

Each one of these bikes from Baar is one of a kind. No two are exactly alike, the choice of colours and individual components making each one unique. So it stands to reason that, as a cyclist, you’ll want to keep riding your dream MTB for as long as possible. Transalpes does everything it can to make that happen.

And should you one day decide to part ways with your bike, you can return it to the shop and have it sold for you on commission. Alternatively, you can donate it. To this end, Transalpes works with Velafrica. Since 1993, Velafrica has collected retired bikes, refurbished them in socially minded enterprises and then exported them to partner organisations in Africa.

All the colour!

Towards the end of our tour of the Transalpes workshop, Michel Juhasz once again draws my attention to colour. We’re standing in front of a wall covered with colourful cassettes, chains, hubs, grips, valves and pedals. Be it the colour of the frame or the logos and lettering, or a Kashima coating on the Fox suspension fork in its distinctive copper tone, you can keep playing with colour across components.

The sheer number of combinations almost makes me dizzy, and I can already hear the purists whispering that anything other than black on a mountain bike is the devil’s work – be it green or, heaven forbid, red.

Patrick Bardelli

Senior Editor

Patrick.Bardelli@digitecgalaxus.ch

From radio journalist to product tester and storyteller, jogger to gravel bike novice and fitness enthusiast with barbells and dumbbells. I'm excited to see where the journey'll take me next.

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