In 2003 Talon Engineering celebrated 30 years in business. It has grown from humble beginnings in a small, shared factory, into the market leader it is today.
George Sartin started the company late in 1972, working part time at first, before going full time in 1973. A time served toolmaker, Sartin was made redundant from Westland Helicopters in 1970 and, before the advent of Talon, even had a spell as a freezer salesman in Bristol !
Having begun an interest in motorbikes watching Grass Track racing as a young boy, George was to become great friends with the Grass Track ‘legend', Lew Coffin. Following a period as a mechanic for Coffin, George was asked to make hubs for his bikes – the rest is history…..
After increasing success manufacturing Grass Track and Speedway hubs, the company rapidly expanded hub production to include the motocross market. As well as their renowned hubs and wheels, Talon is also well known in the industry for their sprockets, now covering an enormous range, including road bikes. Alongside their ‘home' produced products, Talon is the UK importers of the highly regarded Braking products from Italy and Excel rims from Japan . They are also a distributor of RK Chains.
2006 witnessed the start of a new era. After nearly 35 years at the helm, George decided to take a back seat and handed over the reigns to his son, Rob. Talon's new Managing Director has been with the company for over 20 years himself and has heavily influenced the company's progression. Rob, a time served engineer himself, brings with him a wealth of experience having enjoyed a highly successful riding career, competing at World championship level in both Trials and Enduro, winning 2 British Junior Trials crowns and a brace of British Enduro titles (the 2nd of which, the year after an accident breaking his neck!)
After 35 years in business, Talon exports to 35 Countries, with distributors in Europe, the United States , Japan and Australia . In excess of 70% of the company's business is now in the export market.
Talon Engineering has evolved into a thriving success story, now operating from a 35,000 square feet, state of the art factory, with 50 full time staff. The quality of the product is highlighted by the fact that there have been in excess of 75 world champions riding with the help of Talon parts.
