MAKING IT IN O.C. : GT Bicycles Began in Garage, Today Ridden by Top Racers

SANTA ANA — Like many of Orange County’s high-end bike manufacturers, GT Bicycles started out as a garage business.

Fifteen years later, “we still like to think of ourselves as a garage operation,” said Bill Galloway, GT’s vice president of operations. “The only difference is that we’re bigger.”

Bigger indeed.

GT has grown considerably since it was founded by cycling enthusiasts Gary Turner and Richard Long. Last November, the privately held company moved its administrative offices and distribution staff to a large building in Santa Ana.

GT has expanded in part by acquiring smaller bicycle manufacturers in the Orange County area. About 160 of the company’s 350 employees work at a manufacturing plant in Huntington Beach. The remainder work at the Santa Ana building and at a handful of distribution offices scattered around the country.

The company purchases some bike parts--including wheels--from third parties. But its employees manufacture and assemble the company’s tough and reliable bike frames at the Huntington Beach plant.

GT manufactures frames from chrome-alloy, lightweight aluminum and super-tough titanium. The company prides itself in the skilled work done by its welders, particularly the painstaking task of joining titanium parts. “Even the best welders make mistakes, but when you burn titanium, it’s several hundred dollars of material that’s lost,” Galloway said.

GT’s bikes are ridden by some of the world’s best racers. The company regularly sponsors race teams in the United States and Europe.