Video: Ride Concepts Introduces the Grom Army, Featuring 7 Fast & Stylish 11-14 Year Olds

Oct 28, 2020
by Ride Concepts  

As Ride Concepts celebrates two years, we’ve been reflecting on how bikes have been a direct influence in making us the people we are today. Most of us were fortunate to be introduced to the bike at a young age- to feel the independence that the bike afforded us and the confidence that we built as our skills progressed.

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It is with that driving foundation and commitment to the sport that we introduce our GROM ARMY: seven of the most skillfully diverse and badass youth mountain bikers on the planet. They go bigger than your paycheck and won’t hesitate to steal your candy.

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The Groms trade their favorite Fun Dip flavors with Basagoitia

“Not only is riding my bike still a passion today, but riding with my son is the best part,” said Founder and CEO Brandon Dodd. “This was the most influential aspect in starting the company as quality gear and rider support for youth isn’t easy to come by.”

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bigquotesThese kids aren’t just the future of mountain biking, they are the NOW!
-Basagoitia
Team Manager Paul Basagoitia, who began racing BMX at age 6, handpicked the riders in the GROM ARMY.

“They can shred everything you put in front of them- from big mountain lines to backflips at your local bike park and they’re winning races.”

THE ARMY

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Finley Davies, Age 11
Dirt Jump
@finley2012davies

“All riders inspire me”

Luke Mallen, Age 12
Downhill
@thosemallentwins

“My goal is to work hard to become a professional rider. Right now, I am trying all different types of riding, but in the future I hope to race a lot of dual slalom, spend time in the desert riding with friends and travel around the world to race downhill.”

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Alex Mallen, Age 12
Downhill
@thosemallentwins

“My perfect day is to spend time with my family and friends doing what I love, which is riding bikes, skiing, fishing and jumping on trampolines.”

Max Clark, Age 12
Enduro
@max_rides_bikes

“My perfect day is no homework and a good MTB ride.”
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Finley Kirschenmann, Age 13
Downhill and Dirt Jump
@finleykirschenmann
“A rainy day in Whistler is my perfect day. Shred all day, ride Top of the World, then come home to chicken wings.”

Fred LaRiviere, Age 13
Downhill and Dirt Jump
@fred_romeo

“People love my scrambled eggs”
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Dane Jewett, Age 14
Enduro
@danerbomb“Always trust yourself and you will be able to do anything”

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Catch the GROM ARMY competing, creating edits and stashing their favorite candy in their fannies in the months to come.

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For more on the GROM ARMY, check out www.rideconcepts.com. Ride Concepts is a rider-owned bike footwear company based in Truckee, CA.

Author Info:
RideConcepts avatar

Member since Sep 7, 2018
25 articles

29 Comments
  • 5 0
 Man....that Outlaw team...some SERIOUS talent coming out of there. Its no accident that I-Street is a part of that. We need more parks like that built and less freaking tennis court BS or empty baseball fields sucking up maintenance money and water. Nearly every kid rides a bike but most have no place to legit ride one. To any parents, go meet with your Parks & Rec and find some open land. Its a lot of meetings and stuff but it'll work. You can spec out a rough concept in Google SketchUp (or get someone too) and have a sick bike park in 12mo if you play your cards right.
  • 2 0
 My kid is pretty interested in Outlaw and he's chatted with them some. I'm just not sure it's feasible (or that we would get the most out of it) living in the South instead of out West. Great program they're running, though with awesome vibes!

Totally agree on i-street. We're dying for some proper dirt jumps here. Due to the amounts of rain we get, though, they'd probably need to be in a covered park.
  • 1 0
 @Hogfly: We are in the PNW with lots of rain. There sure are a lot of jumps here...Storch just put some in at Coast of all places (super wet). The trick is to build the ramps out of pressure treated wood (decking can be standard wood). Then you just maintain the landings a bit are the lips are all demo'd. The BMX guys will want something ultra smooth but the DJ/MTB guys can land on anything halfway decent. This (video below) was one of two parks we've built in the last 12mo. Its smaller and the biggest ramp is only like 5.5ft tall at 55d angle...BUT the small parks open things up for new kids and are a great place for other kids to work on tricks etc. while being a cool zone to hangout in. Just need to find a place, push the Parks guys, get some funding and then the easy part is building it (takes a month or two or three).
www.youtube.com/watch?v=mQq11sQN4t0
  • 2 0
 @Hogfly: Hi there! Mom of Luke and Alex here ( @thosemallentwins) We are so grateful for all of the opportunities! Ride Concepts is an awesome brand, with equally awesome people behind it. As for the Outlaw team - Tyson Henrie offers training for kids all over the country - it just depends on what your child wants to do! Although we are based in Utah, we have kids on the team in Colorado, Washington and California. Please reach out to Tyson if you are interested!
  • 9 6
 Correct me @rideconcepts if I’m wrong but 7 riders, no girls? What girls don’t ride bikes or wear your shoes? I’m a dad of a 9 year old girl who loves mountain biking and this sucks and doesn’t do your brand any favours. Have a unopened pair of RCs downstairs that at this moment in time I feel like taking back. Hope I’m wrong about the kids (and I’m sure they are great kids) but having look at your website it seems this isn’t a grom army - it’s a boys army..... check out commencal to see how they did it right with their clash kids (hey look girls kick it as well).
  • 6 2
 I don’t think that’s a bias thing at all in RCs part. There are just simply fewer girls out there interested in riding (Hence odds are more boys will ride at a level to pull sponsors). I have two girls myself. The oldest doesn’t seem to be super interested in mtb really at all outside of just wanting to pedal about like any kid. She’s more of a traditional girl interest kiddo and that’s ok. My youngest, time will tell but there’s hope. She seems to have no fear.
  • 4 1
 @cougar797: would love to be able to agree with you, but whether it is conscious or unconscious it still sucks that a brand which talks about "diverse and badass" riders in the press release is demonstrating a really narrow view of what diverse means. Its also well proven that this is mutually reinforcing - you don't make girls visible in a sport and you are going to see fewer out there (whether in advertising, event coverage etc). Ride concepts sponsor some of the most amazing women riders (Rachel, Isabeau etc) so its not like they don't know any better - my daughter has met some of them at Crankworx and went away buzzing. The press release for the grom army talks about "hand picked" riders which makes matters worse IMO - Im sure there are some incredible girl riders in that age range if RC had looked - check out #ridelikeagirl - and Im sure there will be some suitable candidates! I love their gear, love helping teach kids to ride in my spare time and this is probably the first time Ive commented ever on PB. Just feel disappointed and hope that by commenting I've flagged it to RC as something for them to go away and think about.....
  • 2 0
 It certainly sticks out when, in bold, you're saying " GROM ARMY: seven of the most diverse and badass youth mountain bikers on the planet."
  • 5 1
 Hey @rcwellie: Thanks for the feedback. "Diverse" was meant in the terms of skills- these riders can literally ride just about anything. It wasn't meant in terms of gender, personalities, etc. Glad you know of our legit Pro Women's team though! We certainly did not intend to have any bias in the announcement of the initial group of riders for our Grom Army. It's simply the riders that we have been working with. As a new and small brand, (where nearly half of our staff is compromised of women) we are building as we go. Sure, we don't always get every detail right. When we launched the brand, we launched with a full line of women's and youth product right along side the men. How many bike or outdoor footwear companies can say that? Our pro athlete team was first announced with a small crew of male riders, then followed soon thereafter as we grew and were able to add premiere level female talent such as Caroline, Rachel, Isabeau and more (more being announced soon there as well!). Our influencer level team actually has more female riders than male. So, of course we are looking to add some girl shredders to the Grom Army. If anyone is interested and thinks they have what it takes, please contact us! - RC
  • 1 0
 @RideConcepts: thanks for taking the time to reply - good to hear you are committed to adding girl shredders to the Army. I hope they get the same kind of profiling that have gone with this awesome launch. Im sure there will be people out there who will hopefully be in touch - one suggestion though - why not be active in going and looking for some to add to the stable and perhaps be active in terms of the group you are working with? Maybe use those social media influencers and put a call out? You guys make great gear, support amazing women riders and would love to see that continue to flourish - would be awesome to see a new brand like RC leading the way and showing some of the big brands how it can be done..... thanks again for the reply and all the best....
  • 3 0
 @RideConcepts: Erice van Leuven and Sophie Gregory are killing it big time. Sophie is 10yro champion racer/freerider and is even closeby out of Utah I think. Those girls rock. I'm guessing there is more than a few on Kat Sweets girls DH team as well. Just gotta run them down a bit.
  • 2 0
 @rcwellie: perhaps we already are Wink
It's difficult when you're a young and small brand to keep up with production, designing, etc. let alone all of the other aspects of building, but we are trying. Just give us a little time... Thanks.
  • 1 0
 @Svinyard: Thanks for the suggestions!
  • 1 0
 @Svinyard: Great examples and there will be others out there as well! Erice lives here in Wellington, NZ and is amazing (and a great kid) - she was front of mind for me when I commented earlier - she is supported by Commencal and absolutely shreds. My daughter looks up to her and is desperate to get a Clash as a result!
  • 1 0
 @RideConcepts: awesome to hear! Now where did I put my transitions....enough of this internet stuff time to go and ride my bike :-)
  • 3 0
 Definitely some of the up and comers on the scene, there. All of these kids have pretty amazing instagrams that show some amazing riding.
  • 2 0
 Hey can i get sponsered, i just bought rc shoes and im 15 I just learnt to 1 hander
  • 1 0
 Nice job! If you put your mind to it you can do anything. ????????
  • 1 0
 Idk why it turned into question marks but it was a thumbs up btw.
  • 1 0
 We need a UK version. Oi PB, get on the case.

Head to Swinley Summit and see kids doing this

youtu.be/VHYp3KE9aaE

youtu.be/JzxG6YNmzqY
  • 1 0
 I mean, that's pretty mellow for what's coming out of the UK already. You guys already have Harry Schofield and Finley Davies. At 10 and 11yro...they are completely bonkers talented.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=OvUUOheyNME&t=99s
www.youtube.com/watch?v=qEDA0UmuAzo
  • 2 0
 @Svinyard: can't argue with you mate yes. There's incredible riders in UK who are only small.
  • 4 0
 diverse
  • 1 0
 @RideConcepts Who do we reach out to, to send our junior athlete's portfolio?
  • 1 0
 www.youtube.com/watch?v=z7dPBqi5wjA&feature=emb_title

This was the 12 year old yesterday sending some jumps Smile
  • 1 1
 Emoji changed to ?? Meh , they are the best shoes ever !!!
  • 1 2
 Best shoes ever ????







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