Freeride pioneer plans his future-Richie Schley rides for Rotwild
Dietzenbach – Rumours were already afloat – now the deal has been confirmed: from 2007, freeride star Richie Schley will ride for the German brand Rotwild. The 37 year old Canadian, often referred to as pioneer of freeriding, has influenced the sport like no other; Schley is one of the most successful and most photographed mountain bike pros in the world. With his change to Rotwild the outrider of freeriding set the course for his future."After ten years with Rocky Mountain, I am very excited to align with an Elite brand like Rotwild because of their size and commitment to engineering quality”, said Richie Schley. “The bikes are unique and very light. I can't wait to have a new ride that is much lighter. They are very interested in my ideas and should be able to implement them quickly because of the size of their business.” With his change to Rotwild the Canadian has set another important milestone in his career as MTB pro. “Hopefully, I will learn more about designing bikes, a different market place and possibly importing bikes into North America. My long term goals are to continue to be involved in the biking as a rider on some level and to spread the bike love to as many people as possible. Mountain biking has given me a very fulfilling, healthy lifestyle and I would like to share that with others.”
During a visit at ADP Engineering in November, Richie Schley thoroughly checked out the Rotwild bikes and was thrilled – above all by the ROTWILD RFC 0.4, which won first place in the freeride category at the 2006 MountainBIKE magazine reader polls. The elaborate long travel Enduro bike with 180 mm of travel and a sensitive X-Linkage carbon swing arm precisely meets the expectations of the Canadian. “I really look forward to riding that bike on my favourite trails in Whistler”, he said.
![photo]()
"We are proud that Richie has decided in favour of Rotwild“, said Peter Schlitt, managing director of ADP Engineering. "For us this strategic partnership is the start of a new era. This year we celebrate our tenth anniversary and the freeride segment has always been an integral part of our business. Since we introduced the first Rotwild bikes, in 1996, we followed an independent philosophy with a clear target: to create the optimum competition bike at the highest level of technology. This aim was the origin of the Rotwild brand, and is still the basic principle behind today’s product development processes. Our partnership with Richie goes far beyond classic athlete sponsoring. Richie will bring in many years of his experience into our development process and we will launch new products together so that in the end the Rotwild client will benefit from this partnership. And since Richie is not ‘only’ a freerider but a full-blooded mountain biker who also feels comfortable on a cross country bike, we will work together in many ways.”
Visit www.rotwild.de to learn more.
*Both images are by Yorick Carroux/ photo credit carroux.com*
During a visit at ADP Engineering in November, Richie Schley thoroughly checked out the Rotwild bikes and was thrilled – above all by the ROTWILD RFC 0.4, which won first place in the freeride category at the 2006 MountainBIKE magazine reader polls. The elaborate long travel Enduro bike with 180 mm of travel and a sensitive X-Linkage carbon swing arm precisely meets the expectations of the Canadian. “I really look forward to riding that bike on my favourite trails in Whistler”, he said.
"We are proud that Richie has decided in favour of Rotwild“, said Peter Schlitt, managing director of ADP Engineering. "For us this strategic partnership is the start of a new era. This year we celebrate our tenth anniversary and the freeride segment has always been an integral part of our business. Since we introduced the first Rotwild bikes, in 1996, we followed an independent philosophy with a clear target: to create the optimum competition bike at the highest level of technology. This aim was the origin of the Rotwild brand, and is still the basic principle behind today’s product development processes. Our partnership with Richie goes far beyond classic athlete sponsoring. Richie will bring in many years of his experience into our development process and we will launch new products together so that in the end the Rotwild client will benefit from this partnership. And since Richie is not ‘only’ a freerider but a full-blooded mountain biker who also feels comfortable on a cross country bike, we will work together in many ways.”
Visit www.rotwild.de to learn more.
*Both images are by Yorick Carroux/ photo credit carroux.com*
Author Info:
Must Read This Week
Sign Up for the Pinkbike Newsletter - All the Biggest, Most Interesting Stories in your Inbox
PB Newsletter Signup
si6.mtb-news.de/fotos/data/8480/Rotwild_RDH_P2.jpg
i took that pic at the eurobike 2005. i don't know why it wasn't in the product line of 2006, though. but at least it shows that there is something in the works.
Rotwild is not a huge brand in europe or germany when talking about numbers of bikes sold cause they are a elite brand (No, they are not cheap!). For me it seems that they have focused on the marathon and XC sector the last years and they developed some really good bikes for that. They use a lot of new stuff to develop new bikes and when it comes to using new materials they are one of the best in germany. So there impact on the marathon bike scene is quite high, but I thing there are better companies for freeride or dh bikes (like Nicolai or Alutech). Lets see if Richie will make a difference...