10/31/2026
The highlight of my trip to China: being invited to the Giant GLM factories. Exciting to see but unfortunately it was forbidden to photograph this very high-tech proprietary manufacturing environment. If you didn’t know, GLM is the largest motorcycle rim manufacturer in the world. Yes, larger than Excel and DID. Some stats: 235 acre campus, the GLM specific factory floor area is 60,000 sq meters. GLM processes the raw materials in their own foundries to create their own aluminum alloys on-site. No other rim manufacturer has this capability. They have 18 extrusion press lines, multiple casting furnaces, and pressure casting so advanced it’s referred to as liquid forging. Also multiple standard forging presses including one that’s multiple stories high and operates at 12,000 tons! Overall they process about 30,000 metric tons of aluminum per year across various product lines. On the motorcycle rim side 1500 employees produce over 600,000 rims per year. They provide 100% of BMWs rims, 60% of KTMs, and a large percentage for Ducati, Aprilia, Triumph and many other manufacturers. GLM now owns the Akront brand and is starting to roll that out.
Some folks may notice that rims on certain European brand motorcycles were a bit soft, and prone to bending if pushed too hard or from pot hole damage. This is primarily due to a decision of the motorcycle manufacturer to select the lower grade softer alloy rims, such as 6000 series, which IMO has no place as part of a motorcycle rim. For the better choice manufacturers, and aftermarket like Wheel Worx, only 7050 series triple heat treated aluminum is used.
In 2027 we will see the beta release then rollout of a new advanced 7000 series off-road rim series, that will equal or exceed the strength of the Excel A60 and DID STX.
Wheel Worx will be part of the beta testing of these rims with a few of our pro riders putting them through real world durability testing in extreme conditions.
Production versions of this advanced rim will be later in 2027.
I’m excited to have Wheel Worx involved in bringing some of the next generation technology to market!
