Established in 1978 by Doug White in Ignacio, near Novato, Marin County, California. White Industries have since left Marin County and moved up the road to Petaluma, Sonoma County, California, the home town of Norman Greenbaum and Winona Ryder (now that’s a combination). Notwithstanding all this, White Industries remain in the very heartland of mountain biking.

I like their products for eschewing the fashions of the moment for good old traditional engineering virtues. White Industries’ products give gaudy anodising a body-swerve, and usually sport a traditional, highly polished, finish. They love a spot of careful radiusing - not for them the sharp (but stressful) angles typically cut by the CNC machine. Finally, White Industries generally concentrate on simple products executed excellently - hubs and cranks are their signature products and ‘less is more’ seems to be their general philosophy.

The White Industries LMDS stands outside this tradition. It is very radical, is exceedingly complex, by reputation is hard to instal, and looks to me to have a large number of fragile parts. It was also very, very expensive (jokes about shop lifting aside). White Industries introduced it in 1997 and within a few years they had laid it to rest and it had gone to the place that’s the best.

White Industries continues in business to this day manufacturing a fine range of cycle components that does not include derailleurs.