Has it really been twenty years? 2016 marks two decades of Wade Simmons riding for Rocky Mountain, which has to be some sort of record when it comes to athletes staying put. To celebrate this milestone, Rocky planned a special project that was
supposed to be a surprise for Wade: a custom painted Maiden done up in the same motif as the iconic RM7 Wade Simmons Edition from 2003. Memory not what it used to be? Wade took delivery of his green flamed RM7 shortly after he rode off the Moreno Valley road gap in California over a Marzocchi monster truck on an earlier RM7, stomping what was at the time the largest move ever done. More than ten years later, it'd still be worthy of a movie's highlight reel.
In a lot of people's eyes, that was the golden age of freeride, so there's probably no better bike to use as inspiration for Wade's twentieth-anniversary present.
Originally, the custom Maiden, known by those at Rocky as the ''Waiden,'' was supposed to be a surprise for Simmons, but the frame was apparently in Rocky's office when he dropped by unexpectedly. Surprise spoiled, but I doubt that mattered to Wade once he saw those green flames.
The frame itself was actually a stock, unpainted unit that Rocky was delivered to renowned Vancouver-based custom paint shop, PaintHouse Customs. Once there, Stacy Glaser based the Maiden's logos on the actual decals that were used on that 2003 RM7, only instead of decals, he painted them onto Wade's new bike by hand.
Glaser got his hands on the frame around the end of April, and the whole bike was finished just prior to Crankworx after some custom chrome decals were added to the Fox suspension. Longtime sponsor Race Face also joined the party with custom graphics on the carbon cranks and handlebar that will have more than one fan wondering if the bike is rocking Diabolous components. It's not; they're actually carbon fiber SixC arms and a SixC handlebar.
China or platinum are supposed to be the go-to twentieth-anniversary gifts, but neither have anything on the Waiden.
MENTIONS:
@RockyMountainBicycles /
@wadevsimmons
www.pinkbike.com/video/201757
cdn.coresites.factorymedia.com/dirt_new/wp-content/uploads/2014/08/wade-simmons-moreno-valley-gap-2002.jpg
Wade Simmons seems like a really cool dude.
http://ep1.pinkbike.org/p4pb207507/p4pb207507.jpg
I started riding RM in '89 with the Hammer...miss the 'ol RM7
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v438/loopie/Bike%20Gear/My02RM7-frontangle.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v438/loopie/Bike%20Gear/My02RM7-non-drside.jpg
YES, the legendary Wades Cycles MBUK advertising campaign - ironically suggested by the female marketing manager at Future Publishing at the time....
www.pinkbike.com/photo/12187300
Sweet tribute bike, but now I'm starting to feel old :p
Also had a stratos rear shock that lasted 20 minutes. One bunny hop resulted in the shock body breaking in two pieces. Garbage.????
Homegrown 4 banger...I can't count the times Indrolled over those in the local shop!
Stupid small buttons and fat fingers...
Wade has been the source of so much inspiration during the years when I rode the most. The old RM7 was a dream bike and the "Waiden" looks the part.
Did you make him cry!!????