Trail Born: Shimano Commits $10 Million to Trail Building

This morning, Shimano announced the Trail Born Fund, a new initiative that aims to build and sustain mountain bike trails worldwide. The brand has pledged $10 million USD over the next decade, which will help support a network of trusted (but yet-to-be-announced) trail advocacy groups in their work to increase access and develop new trails.

It’s no secret that digging and maintaining quality trails is very expensive, and local groups need all the help they can get, whether donations or volunteers. To put it into concrete terms, according to Shimano, it costs around $10,000 to $45,000 per mile of trail, including permitting, impact studies, tools, materials, and labor. The Trail Born Fund will put dollars directly to work across North America, Europe, and Oceania through the end of next year. By 2026, the initiative aims to expand across the broader mountain bike world, including to trails in Asia, Africa, and Central and South America.

Beyond committing funds to building trails, Shimano also plans to help share the stories of the people and places behind selected projects to help spread the joy of cycling and highlight the real-world impacts trail networks can have. Further, they’ve pledged to help facilitate identifying and lining up additional outside funding. We’ll share additional details on selected partners and future plans as they become available.

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