Deon Retief, Born in South Africa in 1964. Born into a middle class family and Youngest of 5 kids. Was a highly gifted sportsman in both football and Rugby. His parents made him move high schools at a crucial stage and the new school kids knew he had a reputation of sporting talent and they excluded him from their social groups.

He had vowed to learn from this experience which shaped his beliefs for later years of business to build a life and brand that was inclusive and not Elitist.

Combining his love for sports and his brother's love for cycling, it was a natural course for him to take to pursue the sport of business. He joined forces with his brother Anton in 1987, and imported the Diodora cycling shoe brand from Italy. In 1994 they acquired the Trek Bikes Distribution rights. During 1994-2002 selling Trek they won 2 coveted Distributor of the Year awards.

As a Teenager he admired the craft and engineering of Germany and was a young fan of the Porsche brand & museum. He wanted to Prove his worth in the toughest  bicycle market in the world so In 2010 Immigrated to Stuttgart Germany.

The Founders experience distributing brands like Trek, Diadora and Campagnolo led him  to a question: how could we build a different type of company. One that could make a greater impact?

A company the right size to scale, that is focused on the customer and not focused on Pro Teams, but rather on developing the Right Product for the Right Price - where the Customer is the Real Hero!

The company wants to demonstrate that with passion, determination, creativity and empathy we could build a sustainable business by doing good in this world without Charging a premium for our Bikes. We dedicated years to keep costs down so we could charge Less.

Silverback Bicycle Technology Company, based in Stuttgart Germany, was founded in 2004 with a mission to do good and show love for humanity with beautiful, better, functional and Affordable bicycles - further enhanced with a new focus on sustainable design thinking and a culture of giving back. We believe that all of humanity must have basic needs like Shelter, clean running water and Food. We do our best to contribute to the Joyce Meyer Ministries Hands of Hope initiative.

Silverback: A brand for People by People. Now Sold in 49 Countries

• Won Distributor of the year with Trek Bikes twice between 1994-2002.
• Visited over 1000 bicycle retail stores worldwide in 46 countries.
• Conducted over 500 extensive brand studies. In all industries.
• Design & Development Silverback Global brand Experience Center in Stuttgart in 2010.
• The Silverback bikes won global design awards.
• The Silverback bikes won a UCI world MTB cup in Switzerland.
• Two new design and utility patents registered in 2024.
• Awarded top 100 bikes of all time with the design of the Starke model concept 
• Pioneered in 2012, the concept called: 279 Signo Technica: 27.5” Rear wheel with 29” Front wheel
• Was first to introduce Matt/Gloss finish on a bike artwork in 2007
• Was first to introduce Select & Collect commerce program in 2013 at Eurobike

Live simply, Humbly and Honestly, and be obsessed with Plant based Diet and Mostly seek God more than Fortune. Be a better Human Being by giving more than you receive.