TCX/Novation Factory Tour – Dirt Rider Magazine

By: Pete Peterson

Monday, December 20, 2010

/></a> <p class="wp-caption-text"></p> </div> <p><strong>Italy’s Fusion Factory</strong><br /> Giuliano Zanatta moved from cobbler to company owner when he started Jolly Scarpe, a work boot company, in Montebelluna, Italy, in 1982. His son Ivo loved dirt bikes (he was an Italian National Enduro Champion in his day), which soon influenced the business, and Oxtar boots was born out of Jolly in 1999.In the same region Novation SpA was expanding further into the field of composite technology, the craft of creating multi-element pieces to take advantage of the desired qualities of each. Novation builds products or pieces of products for companies like Ferrari, Bentley, BMW, Nordica, Nike, Ray-Ban, KTM and Yamaha, and when we visited was working on a carbon fiber boat dock for use on the canals in nearby Venice.<br /> <br clear=all>In 2006, Novation pulled off perhaps its best synergetic fusion when it bought Oxtar and stepped into the world of off-road boots. In 2007, Oxtar’s name changed to TCX (the acronym of the company’s Torsion Control System ankle articulation), and in 2010, the merger produced not only the not-yet-available prototype Nike motocross boot that protects Ryan Dungey and James Stewart, but also the redesigned TCX Pro 2.1 boot.<br /> <br clear=all>We got a lesson in how a new boot model is conceived, designed and built, as well as took a tour into the secretive fusion factory of Novation. We peeked at, but not into, the “building within a building” that houses Novation’s off-limits development area where cutting-edge products are so secretive we can’t even tell you what sport they’re being developed for. Really! <div><a href=This five-axis CNC high-speed machine mills steel blocks to create molds./></a> <p class="wp-caption-text">This five-axis CNC high-speed machine mills steel blocks to create molds.</p> </div> <div><a href=This multi-component shoulder cup for a BMW riding jacket is a single piece of metal, plastic and leather. Sounds impossible, but it

This multi-component shoulder cup for a BMW riding jacket is a single piece of metal, plastic and leather. Sounds impossible, but it’s real.

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