A Tour Of Rotwild With Richie Schley
May 30, 2012
ADP (
Advanced Development Products ), the parent company of Rotwild bikes, also develops and manufactures folding bikes, electronic bikes, and currently has design plans to make the first all-mountain hand bike for paralysis athletes. On top of that, they produce frames for German juggernaut auto companies Porsche and Mercedes Benz. Pinkbike recently had the opportunity to hook up with team rider Richie Schley to check out one of the more dynamic bike brands at their head office in Deiburg, Germany.
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 Rotwild's first downhill prototype, developed in 1996, used a URT (unified rear triangle ) design with 130mm of travel. Equipped with a belt drive, electronic shifting, and a carbon legged fork, the RDH P1 was far ahead of its time. Internal cable routing was employed to create a smooth look but also to protect the electronic shift line. |
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| Peter Schlitt, ADP's owner/operator, proudly shows off a magazine feature on the RDH P1. The bike's suspension design may have since been surpassed, but its electronically operated internally geared rear hub and belt drive are two design points that many of today's downhillers still feel would be nice to have. |
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| Fast forward ten years and the 2006 RHD P2 utilized a far more advanced suspension layout, including carbon tubes for the rear end. |
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| Rotwild's Schlitt in is office, at the desk where the company's latest ideas are conceptualized. Images of both current model year bikes and future designs hang from the wall. |
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| The simple component that kicked it all off: the carbon ADP ''Brake Booster'' from 1994. We may no longer require brake boosters on our bikes, but it was from this comparably straightforward accessory that the German brand grew from. |
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| ADP has been working with Ottobock, Europe's top prosthetics company, to develop the worlds first all-mountain hand bike for paralyzed athletes. Keep an eye out for this announcement at this years Eurobike. |
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| One of ADP's engineer hard at work. |
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| The Rotwild's 175mm travel E1 enduro bike. |
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| Rotwild's Richie Schley shows off the Porsche branded hybrid bike. A carbon frame and fork combined with an XTR drivetrain ensure that it weighs far less than your run of the mill city bike. Don't expect to spot this one at your local shop, though, because it is only available at Porsche dealers. |
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| The Rotwild S2 carbon road bike bike for when you want to go faster than your Porsche city bike. |
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| The Flik, designed for the European commuter market, folds and unfolds in seconds. |
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| The assembly department pumps out between twenty and thirty bikes per day, with all of them being assembled by hand and tested before they go out the door. All warranties are managed in house as well, keeping everything under one roof. |
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| The Rotwild warehouse, built back in 1920, is the hub for their distribution business that includes their assembly facility, warranty department, and photo studio. It's fair to say that this old building has seen a lot of bikes pass through its halls over the years. |
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| Rotwild recently started to branch into the clothing, a market that they feel will act as a future growth engine. |
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| Richie is no stranger to the engineering office at Rotwild, often stopping in to the German office during his European trips. |
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| Ole Wittrock, Rotwild's marketing manager, sat down with us to talk about his team. Here's what he had to say about Richie: |
 | Richie is customer oriented and knows what they like. He is able to communicate well with our engineering department to make necessary changes in order to make the bikes better. Rider feedback and Richie's involvement are a valuable part of the team. - Ole Wittrock |
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| It is fitting that the owner of the warehouse and office has his own shop attached, a work area where he restores vintage Porsche and Mercedes Benz cars as a hobby. Richie was shy about drooling over the 1960 Mercedes Benz that he didn't want to get out of. |
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| How many cycling workplaces have a collection like this kicking about? |
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| A Porsche tractor, a Super AP133 that is from the late 1950's, graces the collection. You'll find an air-cooled, four-stroke, three-cylinder, 2625cc diesel engine under its hood. |
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| Richie sits in a Unimog that is also in the collection and likely high on many mountain biker's dream car lists. Fast? Not so much, but it can take you and your bike nearly anywhere you might want to venture. |
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| This looks like a a good fit to us. |
Photography by
Nic Genovese
