Rocky Mountain is a Canadian

bicycle A bicycle, also called a pedal cycle, bike or cycle, is a human-powered or motor-powered assisted, pedal-driven, single-track vehicle, having two wheels attached to a frame, one behind the other. A is called a cyclist, or bicyclist. Bic ...

manufacturer based in Saint-Georges, Quebec. Its name is a reference to the mountain range that stretches from eastern British Columbia to the southwest United States.

History

Rocky Mountain Bicycles had its beginnings in the basement of a Vancouver bike store called West Point Cycles. It was in 1978 when two men began modifying Nishiki road bikes by adding wider tires, straight handlebars and internal five-speed gears. 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 Grayson may refer to: Places Canada * Grayson, Saskatchewan * Rural Municipality of Grayson No. 184, Saskatchewan United States * Grayson, California * Grayson, Georgia ** Grayson High School * Grayson, Kentucky * Grayson, Louisiana * Gra ...

serving as president until 1997. In 1982, working with frame designer Tom Ritchey, the company introduced its first production mountain bike - the "Sherpa". The legendary Paul Brodie painted, designed and built some of the first rocky mountain bicycle frames. The iconic sloping top tube frames is based on his original design. Which was also copied and adopted by many other bicycle brands and builders. Some of the older rocky mtn frames have a designed by Paul Brodie sticker on them. 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 (owners of the

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, and Miele brands) in 1997. Procycle then changed its name to Rocky Mountain in 2019. Rocky Mountain Bicycles has won

Mountain Bike Magazine A mountain is an elevated portion of the Earth's crust, generally with steep sides that show significant exposed bedrock. Although definitions vary, a mountain may differ from a plateau in having a limited summit area, and is usually higher th ...

'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 Marie-Hélène Prémont (born October 24, 1977) is a Canadian cross-country mountain biker. She is a 6-time Canadian Champion, represented Canada twice at the Olympics (2004, winning a silver medal, and 2008), a Commonwealth Games gold medalist, ...

, win a silver Olympic medal in 2004.

Products

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.

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.

Sponsored Teams and Athletes

Cross country

1992, Alison Sydor wins her first World Cup on a Rocky Mountain Bicycle. 1993, Bruce Spicer wins the Canadian National XC Title, adding to his record 13 National Titles. 1996, Rocky Mountain Bicycles rider Andreas Hestler wins the season opener Cactus Cup ahead of current world champion Henrik Djernis and legend, John Tomac. Andreas Hestler then debut's with Rocky Mountain Bicycles at the XXVI Olympic Games in Atlanta and the inaugural inclusion of Mountain Biking as a sport, Mountain Biking is taking the world by storm and has officially "arrived"!. Also in attendance Alison Sydor, Lesley Tomlinson and Warren Sallenbach. 2003 - 2007 Rocky Mountain Bicycles/Crystal Decisions (later Business Objects) Team dominates modern mountain bike stage racing. With multiple wins and podiums in the Trans-Alp, Cape-Epic and Trans-Rockies the Team: Lesley Tomlinson, Gretchen Reeves, Karl Platt, Andreas Hestler and Carsten Bresser carry the team into the modern era. From 2009 to 2011, Rocky Mountain co-sponsored Team Maxxis-Rocky Mountain, sponsoring racers

and Geoff Kabush, Sabrina Jonnier, Lea Davison, and Cameron Cole. 2009 has also seen the addition of a new team, Rocky Mountain Bicycles' current sponsored XC athletes are Andreas Hester, Kevin Calhoun, and Felix Burk

Enduro

Rocky Mountain is a co-sponsor of the Rocky Mountain Race Face Enduro Team. The current team consists of Jesse Melamed, Rémi Gauvin, and Andréane Lanthier Nadeau.

Freeride

Rocky Mountain sponsors several professional freeride athletes including

Wade Simmons Wade Simmons (born 20 September 1973) is a mountain biker from Kamloops, British Columbia, Canada who has won the Red Bull Rampage The Red Bull Rampage is an invitation-only freeride mountain bike competition held near Zion National Park in Vi ...

, Thomas Vanderham, Carson Storch, and Vaea Verbeeck.

References

External links

Rocky Mountain website
{{Canadian bicycle manufacturers Mountain bike manufacturers Cycle manufacturers of Canada Saint-Georges, Quebec Manufacturing companies based in Quebec