Our ambition is clear: we want to bring the bicycle industry back to the Netherlands. With the automated production of the monocoque frame, we have taken the first step. With our new model, the recently introduced Mokumono Polder, we’re proving that we’re not just talking a big game. In addition to the frame, we now also manufacture the handlebars and front fork in the Netherlands, based on our own design. Thanks to the technical ingenuity of Donk Industries in IJsselstein.

An age-old technique that’s still going strong

You wouldn’t think so, but Donk Industries in IJsselstein, founded in 1932, is a relatively young injection molding company. After all, the first iron foundry in the Netherlands dates back to 1689! It may come as a surprise that we have the handlebars and front fork of the Mokumono Polder manufactured in IJsselstein. Still, we don’t just look at developments outside the—conservative—bicycle industry; we also look at what the Dutch manufacturing industry has to offer. And it turns out there are plenty of Dutch companies that not only know how to respond to current market demand but have also resisted the temptation to move their production to low-wage countries by implementing smart automation. Donk Industries is one such company.

Made in the Netherlands

Donk Industries has mastered the art of aluminum die-casting down to the last detail. It’s exactly the technique we were looking for to shape the handlebars and front fork of the Mokumono Polder, which we designed ourselves. We were actually inspired by Tesla. Tesla calls it “Gigacasting,” a process in which large sections of the chassis are cast as a single piece. In the same way, at Donk Industries, liquid aluminum is poured into a mold under high pressure to create the two halves of the Polder’s front fork, which are then bonded together. The handlebar is also cast under high pressure in a mold that eliminates the need for a stem. The result is a beautiful, seamless unit with the Polder’s robust frame.

Mokumono chooses Donk

The discovery that we could have parts for the Polder manufactured entirely to our own specifications in IJsselstein, the Netherlands, was an eye-opener for Tom Schiller, co-founder of Mokumono: “The bicycle manufacturing industry has completely disappeared from the Netherlands—it’s a real shame. By redefining the production process of how a bicycle is made and by looking at how other industries operate, it turns out that it is indeed possible. Just look at our frames, the wheels and fenders, and the handlebars and front fork of the Polder. All Made in the Netherlands!”