Rocky Mountain is a Canadian bicycle manufacturer based in Saint-Georges,

Quebec Quebec ( ; )According to the Canadian government, ''Québec'' (with the acute accent) is the official name in Canadian French and ''Quebec'' (without the accent) is the province's official name in Canadian English is one of the thirtee ...

. Its name is a reference to the

mountain range A mountain range or hill range is a series of mountains or hills arranged in a line and connected by high ground. A mountain system or mountain belt is a group of mountain ranges with similarity in form, structure, and alignment that have arise ...

that stretches from eastern British Columbia to the

southwest The points of the compass are a set of horizontal, radially arrayed compass directions (or azimuths) used in navigation and cartography. A compass rose is primarily composed of four cardinal directions—north, east, south, and west—each sepa ...

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

History

Rocky Mountain Bicycles had its beginnings in the basement of a

Vancouver Vancouver ( ) is a major city in western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the ...

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 serving as president until 1997. In 1982, working with frame designer

Tom Ritchey Tom Ritchey (born 1956) is an American bicycle frame builder, Category 1 racer, fabricator, designer, and founder of Ritchey Design. Ritchey is a US pioneer in modern frame building and the first production mountain bike builder/manufacturer i ...

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

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 Cheng Shin Rubber Industry Co. () is a Taiwanese and the ninth largest tire company in the world. Established in 1967, in Yuanlin City, Changhua County, Taiwan Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia, a ...

-Rocky Mountain, sponsoring racers Marie-Hélène Prémont and

Geoff Kabush Geoff Kabush is a Canadian cyclo-cross cyclist and cross-country mountain biker. At the 2000 Summer Olympics, he finished in 9th place in the cross-country race. He then competed in the same event at the 2008 Summer Olympics, finishing in ...

, 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, 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