MADE IN JAPAN
SINCE 1923
Their products are strictly made in Japan.
All of their products are processed and finished by the top tier craftsmen.
Nitto has a massive trust from cyclists around the world, thanks to the strict safety tests, which every single product goes through.
February 11th 2023 was Nitto's 100th anniversary.
Grant Petersen the founder Rivendell, and a great friend of Nitto gave the most accurate description of Nitto in Rivendells's catalog back in the day.
Nitto is a small, old handlebar-stem-seat post-rack-and bottle cage maker in Tokyo. and everything Nitto makes is the best of whatever it is. The designs are always spare and beautiful. Nitto's company slogan is "Light weight, heavy duty, finely made." and it is accurate. There are lighter seat posts, but Nitto's are light enough, and stronger. Nitto will not build anything to its customer's specs if it doesn't pass Nitto's own internal standards.
Nitto can bend metal in ways that other makers just plain can't Mr. Yoshikawa, who designs most of Nitto's products, has an eye for beauty that, in my experience, is unmatched. He takes our ideas and rough sketches, and turns them into stunnigly lovely shapes -- the Moustache Handlebar, the Noodle Bar -- and he test the heck out of them to make sure they're safe.
There aren't many companies like Nitto these days, and none other that I'm aware of making bike parts. It is a pleasure and an honor to offer them to you. Every loved bicycle deserves some kind of Nitto on it.
-- Grant
via Rivendell catalog 2003
By looking at all their nicely packed products on the shelves, you may think that their products are machined. That is not the case.
If you look at each of their process individually, they are basically handmade. Many of Nitto’s unspoken legends who have the same level of knowledge and skills as legendary handmade builders can be seen at their factory.
You should be surprised that their products are sold in a rather affordable price, despite the welding, bending, cutting and polishing are mostly done by hand.
Right as you step inside Nitto’s factory, you are greeted by a few machines for testing the durability for their own products.
The products you see out in the world as Nitto products are the ones that surpassed this test.
Their quality control over the years as being the only NJS certified handlebar manufacturer in Japan, and the aim to be the worlds best handlebar manufacturer with their safety standards for riders all over the world are incredible.
This durability test is the main reason why they are well trusted in the world.
You’ll notice that most of their process are done by human hands when you look at their work.
In order to achieve the quality that a machine cannot, requires the skills that the craftsmen refined over time.
For your information, the woman who is welding the M-1 rack ,and the man who is welding the Rivendell 84 seat post in the video above, learned how to weld from Tom Ritchey himself.
From what we can tell by visiting their factory, the polishing process looked like the toughest of all.
They have tried making a machine do this process, but they could not achieve the brilliance they were looking for.
The reason most bicycle component manufacturers produce their black components with a matte finish, is because the polishing process is time consuming. It is way easier to produce black components with a sandblast finish.
1923 Establishment
Founded in Arakawa Ward Tokyo on Feb. 11th 1923.
The very first president of the company was Masae Yoshikawa. (Who is the grandmother of Akira Yoshikawa, the current president)
The name "Nitto"-日東 came from Masae's desire to always rise like the sun. The kanji character "日"= sun "東"=east
They became a handlebar manufacturer in 1925, which they renamed their company to "Nitto Handlebar Works".
1970
New facilities were completed and installed in the Machiya factory, which was in operation since 1949.
1973
The Fukushima factory was established and starts its operation.
1977
The NJPRO, the Keirin stem was born, then supplied to Koichi Nakano, a Keirin racer who later won the world champion ship.
MTB & NITTO
Nitto starts hearing an unfamiliar term "Mountain Bikes" around 1980.
Tom Ritchey and Gary Fisher visits Nitto in 1982, bringing dozens of pictures of the two and many friends having fun riding in the forrest and the mountains with their bicycles. Tom and Gary pitches the idea of Bullmoose bars to Nitto.
Tom Ritchey revisited Nitto shortly after and gave a welding lecture, directly to the workers.
1988
The "S65" Seat Post was made to commemorate their 65th anniversary. This was the first non-handlebar product they have ever made.
During the same time period, they started manufacturing aluminum frames, along with racks and other bicycle accessories. They were producing products other than handlebars, so they renamed their company to NITTO Co.,Ltd in 1993.
2003
Nitto was featured in Rivendell Bicycle Works Report.
2007
Selected as one of the "300 domestic SME's who support the Japanese economy"
They were highly rated for having 100% of the market share for competitive cycling parts.
2021
Yumi Kajihara, a cycling athlete who Nitto supports, becomes the first female athlete to win a medal in the Olympics.
2023
Celebrated the 100th anniversary.
The annual Nitto Celebration day, was actually started on our own, as a play of words in Japanese. The number “2” is pronounced “ni” and the number “10” is pronounced “to” in Japanese, so we made this day the Nitto day. We believe that we can make it a national holiday if we keep this up for 20 - 30 years, so we’re gonna keep trying! All jokes aside, we truly respect a company who had been in business for over 100 years.
We would like for you to think about Nitto on February 10th every year. Go through your parts box and find some products, look at their catalog, or even swap to a Nitto handlebar for one of your builds. That would be awesome! Oh, and don’t forget to rewatch all the episodes of N-1 Grand prix.
Then post about what you thought about them on Instagram at the end of the day. #mynitto
【N-1 Grand Prix 2025】
【N-1 Grand Prix 2024】
【N-1 Grand Prix 2022】
【N-1 Grand Prix 2021】
#mynitto
