Reuther

The Janssen-Fritsen research and development team is continuously searching for ways to improve the performance of the Reuther equipment. Radical changes like the Pegases vaulting table replacing the 100 year old vaulting horse, but subtle and less visible changes as well, such as the side stabilized Landing mats 'Rotterdam' or the safety cable in the Horizontal bar 'Munich'.
The basic concept for most of our equipment is however still one that started decades ago.

Richard Reuther, a German engineer, inventor and gymnast joined forces with Mr. Spieth and Mr. Janssen. The last two were enthusiastic gymnasts and both owners of a factory producing gymnastic equipment. Richard Reuther had developed the idea to put pre-tension in a springboard so the weight of the gymnast would be compensated by the pre-tension applied on the board. The result was the Reuther springboard, used world wide and produced exclusively by Spieth and Janssen-Fritsen even still today.

The result of the Reuther concept of pre-tension and the subsequent production of prototypes and ever improving production of pre-tensioned apparatus such as the uneven bars and the horizontal bar is up until today visible in most of the apparatus used in gymnastics. Although the idea has been copied by many manufacturers and spread over the world, the real Reuther concept based on pre-tension is still only found in original Reuther products and his concept is still the starting point for the Janssen-Fritsen engineers. Uneven bars, horizontal bar and rings are the most visual tensioned devices, but the pommel horse, the parallel bars, the balance beam and even the floor are all based on the Reuther concept of pre-tension.

Parallel bars are the best example to show the difference between pre-tensioned and non pre-tensioned equipment. Reuther bars are being bent convex during production. 3 fibreglass inserts pull the bars into shape. If the gymnast’s weight is on the bars they become parallel thus making the reaction of the bars very predictable. As they are under tension when released, the vibration time of the bars is shorter compared to non tensioned bars. This results in a serious decrease in long term micro trauma on the wrists and shoulder joints.

You can identify original Reuther products by looking for the original Reuther label.

All Janssen-Fritsen equipment is developed and produced based on the Reuther concept and has the original Reuther certificate.