Rocky Mountain Bicycles

Rocky Mountain Bicycles
Private
Industry Bicycles
Founded 1981
Headquarters Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
Products Bicycles
Parent Procycle Group
Website www.bikes.com

Rocky Mountain Bicycles is a Canadian bicycle manufacturer based in Vancouver, British Columbia. The company was incorporated in 1981, its name a reference to the mountain range that stretches from eastern British Columbia to the southwest United States. Rocky Mountain bicycles are widely used by professional cyclists.

History

Rocky Mountain Bicycles had its beginnings in a Vancouver bike store in 1978, when two men began modifying Nishiki road bikes by adding wider tires, straight handlebars and internal five-speed gears.[1] Their aim was to create a bicycle that could be ridden and raced on the technical trails of the West Coast. Rocky Mountain Bicycles Ltd. was officially incorporated in 1981, with Grayson Bain serving as president until 1997.[2] In 1982, working with frame designer Tom Ritchey, the company introduced its first production mountain bike - the "Sherpa".

Having expanded sales beyond Vancouver in 1984, Rocky Mountain began shipping bikes internationally in 1989. The company expanded rapidly during the 1990s, enlarging its production facilities to meet growing demand in the United States and elsewhere. Rocky Mountain was acquired by Procycle Group in 1997 but continues to operate independently.

Rocky Mountain Bicycles has won Mountain Bike Magazine's 'Mountain Bike of the Year' award three times - for the Hammer Race in 1996, the Element Race in 2000, and the Slayer in 2002. Rocky Mountain has also seen one of its sponsored riders, Marie-Hélène Prémont, win a silver Olympic medal in 2004.[3]

Products

A Rocky Mountain Altitude 70 full-suspension mountain bike

Mountain bikes

Rocky Mountain is best known for its mountain bikes and produces a wide range of models specialized for different riding styles and disciplines within the mountain category. As of 2011, the company offers over 30 different models, ranging from hard-tail cross country bikes to full-suspension downhill bikes. Rocky Mountain produces carbon fiber, aluminum alloy and steel mountain bike frames.[4]

Road bikes

Rocky mountain began producing road bikes in 1984 and currently markets 11 performance road models and 2 cyclo-cross models, along with several "urban", "fitness" and "hybrid" bikes.[5]

Cross country

From 2009 to 2011, Rocky Mountain co-sponsored Team Maxxis-Rocky Mountain, sponsoring racers Marie-Hélène Prémont and Geoff Kabush, Sabrina Jonnier, Lea Davison, and Cameron Cole.[6] 2009 has also seen the addition of a new team, Rocky Mountain Bicycles' current sponsored XC athletes are Andreas Hester, Kevin Calhoun, Quinn Moberg, Greg Day and Emily Handford.

Enduro

Rocky Mountain is a co-sponsor of the Rocky Mountain/Urge Bike Products team. In 2016 the team finished in first place in the Enduro World Series. Team riders include: Florian Nicolai, Jesse Melamed, Alex Cure, Andreane Lanthier Nadeau, Remy Gauvin, and Sebastien Claquin.

Freeride

Rocky Mountain sponsors several professional freeride athletes including Wade Simmons, Geoff Gulevich, Thomas Vanderham, Brett Tippie and Carson Storch.[7]

References

  1. ↑ "History". RMB. Retrieved 24 October 2011.
  2. ↑ "LinkedIn Profile for Grayson Bain". LinkedIn. Retrieved 24 October 2011.
  3. ↑ "History". RMB. Retrieved 8 August 2009.
  4. ↑ "Bikes - Mountain". RMB. Retrieved 24 October 2011.
  5. ↑ "Bikes - Road". RMB. Retrieved 24 October 2011.
  6. ↑ "Team Maxxis/RMB XC". RMB. Retrieved 8 August 2009.
  7. ↑ "Athletes - Rocky Mountain Bicycles". RMB. 23 January 2009. Retrieved 2 September 2016.
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