Velo City: Bicycle Culture and City Life

Sunn Royal

Sunn Royal

My French friend Med from BMX Groupment sent through some images of his Sunn Royal BMX, a marque he has had extensive involvement with over the years. Sunn is a bastion of old school BMX and mountain biking, erupting upon the French scene in 1989. The company was originally focused exclusively on BMX, but grew over the years to incorporate downhill and cross country World Cup-winning teams, borne on the successes of legendary names such as Cédric Gracia, Nicolas Vouilloz, Anne Caroline-Chausson, Christophe Dupouey and Miguel Martinez.

Sunn Royal

The Sunn Royal enjoys a highly respected reputation for being an innovative, high-quality frame constructed from Columbus Nivacrom tubing. Med breaks his Royal down for us:
“What is interesting about this BMX is the international origin of components. Back in the 90’s, not everything was made in Taiwan. See the list:
1. Made in France:
• Frame: 1999 Sunn Royal
• Stem: Sunn Forboy
• Sprocket: Sunn Trivial 44T, made by Specialites TA
• Chain: Sedis/Sachs
• Spokes: Mach 1
• Tires and tubes: Hutchinson Hooper

Sunn Royal

2. Made in USA:
• Grips: ODI Rogue
• Crank: Old school 1988 Boss 180 mm, 48 splines axle
• Pedals: Crupi square
• Rims: Sun Rims Rhino Lite

Sunn Royal

3. Made in Canada:
• Seatpost: Syncros

Sunn Royal

4. Made in Italy:
• Saddle: Selle Italia Nitrox plastic with titanium rails

Sunn Royal

5. Made in Japan:
• Freewheel: Shimano DX 16T
• Hubs: Suzue

Sunn Royal

6. Made in Taiwan:
• Fork: Sunn Bogota
• Headset: Dia-Compe
• Handlebar: Sunn Barbar
• Lever & V-brake: Avid

Sunn Royal
Sunn Royal

“Frame is made with Columbus Nivacrom steel tubes, almost 2 times stronger than regular cr-mo steel. Welded in the Sunn factory in St-Gaudens (south west of France) those frames were very hi-end frames, ridden by world class riders like Christophe Leveque, Thomas Allier, Dylan Clayton…”

Sunn Royal

“Sunn may have been the inventor of the 3D dropouts for BMX as well. There has been a real close work between Sunn and Columbus to make BMX specific tubes, especially for Sunn Pro Team racers”.

Special thanks to Med for the photography and story.

Sunn Royal