Katy Bond Named CEO of Rocky Mountain

Jun 1, 2022 at 9:25
by Sarah Moore  
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Canadian Katy Bond has been appointed CEO of Rocky Mountain. Bond joined Rocky Mountain in 2019 as General Manager and the privately held Canadian mountain bike manufacturer says that she has delivered record growth in the role. Company owner Raymond Dutil will now become Executive Chairman and Coach of Innovation.

bigquotesI have incredible respect for Katy and her leadership skills. With her deep expertise in brand management, product development and operations she is the right person to lead this organization in this new chapter.—Raymond Dutil

bigquotesI am proud to step into the CEO role. Rocky Mountain is a brand that has stayed true to its mountain bike roots and remains deeply committed to its riders and dealers. Our team is stronger than ever, and I am excited about what is to come.—Katy Bond

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Bond's focus will be to grow the Rocky brand, drive operational excellence and to ensure a continuous pipeline of innovative products.

Prior to joining Rocky Mountain, Bond was the Director, Product Development, Sourcing and Asian Production for Louis Garneau Sports. Bond has also competed in the BC Bike Race and SingleTrack 6. Rocky Mountain celebrated its 40th anniversary in 2021.


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179 Comments
  • 373 1
 Always good to have an actual mountain biker as the leader of a mountain bike company. Congrats on the promotion, and good luck!
  • 202 45
 At least she can afford Rocky Mountain bikes now.
  • 89 1
 @HB208: Downvotes be damned. RM obviously makes a great product, but their value proposition is, uh, less than stellar...
  • 34 0
 @MTBrent: can confirm their bikes are 10/10, but their value doesnt quite get the same rating
  • 43 1
 Maybe Katy can look to Devinci for some inspiration. Bringing back Canadian made aluminum frames with really good pricing is a serious selling point. As is, its really hard for me to consider another Rocky Mountain unless something significant changes in their approach.
  • 99 68
 Better than that, a MTB FEMALE CEO. Outstanding RockyMountain. Talk about setting an example.
  • 54 1
 Bond…Katy Bond.
  • 51 184
flag b45her (Jun 1, 2022 at 11:47) (Below Threshold)
 @noplacelikeloam: these days you never know whether it was on merit of simply a diversity hire though.
  • 55 37
 @b45her: STFU you moron! What an ignorant comment.
  • 42 94
flag BrambleLee (Jun 1, 2022 at 12:27) (Below Threshold)
 @noplacelikeloam: Sorry to see that you're being downvoted by a bunch of fragile men.
  • 30 11
 @BrambleLee: while it's good to see women at the top, CEOs get picked for monetary reasons, not "to set an example".
  • 7 1
 Is that always good? How so? The purpose of the company is to make money, this means that a suitable CEO is someone who's intelligent, ambitious, ruthless, experienced in business management, has good leadership skills etc. For creating the value proposition and the products the company uses product experts, engineers and designers.
  • 13 2
 @b45her: Can you think of anyone who would decide to drop $3-6K one brand just because they know the ceo of that company is a woman?
  • 4 0
 @danielfloyd: Right!?! I also think it’s great that they ultimately promoted someone from within their own ranks. It goes a long for the culture to show that kind of opportunity, although a distinctly unique one in this case. Rocky makes some great bikes, they seem committed to the sport, and they have great personalities representing their products. Looks like they’re set to continue on that path. Very cool.

I wonder how that guy at Canyon is doing.
  • 8 0
 @ratedgg13: that was rocky a few years ago about the time she started they went from reasonable value to boutique pricing. I ride one and like it but would buy a different brand next time just because the relative price doesn’t makes sense anymore
  • 3 2
 @sonuvagun: that would be sexist!
  • 6 2
 @noplacelikeloam: Hopefully she does a better job then Susan Wojcicki. What a nightmare she is.
  • 7 4
 @sonuvagun: Maybe not solely, but I can think of many people who given the choice of two similar products would take a deeper look into the company, how it's run, by who, their environmental impact, their gender and cultural diversity, etc.
  • 3 2
 @noplacelikeloam: Yass Queen
  • 3 2
 @cykelmastaren: maybe 20 years ago. In todays world a successful CEO builds long term sustainable value for both its shareholders and its people through more than just making a quick buck. If it was just about making dollars anyone could do it. Making a healthy business is hard, for good reason.
  • 4 0
 @cykelmastaren:
Ruthless and good Leadership Skills don‘t go together well imo. At least not if we are talking about this century.
  • 9 1
 @noplacelikeloam: Rocky doesn't have any shareholders. They are privately owned, and beholden to no shareholders. Not that there's anything wrong with that.
  • 14 0
 @b45her: Just like all those male CEOs. You never know if they’re there on merit or because they were in a college frat with the right people.
  • 5 0
 @Thirty3: Is there any particular reason to compare this person with Susan Wojcicki?
  • 5 0
 @rcybak: Privately held companies absolutely can and do have shareholders, investors and boards of directors. They’re just not listed on public exchanges.
  • 3 0
 @b45her: the first paragraph seems to indicate she got the position based on merit as opposed to an affirmative action/PR move..
  • 1 0
 @eurojuice: That's an objective point you have- weird that it's practically encouraged in some places.
  • 1 0
 @Mike-Jay: Fair enough, but without knowing your friends, I'm gonna go out on a limb and say they can be easily fooled by clever and unscrupulous spokespeople and PR departments. However, it would not be the first or last time I'm wrong about something.
  • 1 0
 thank god that mister Dayson isn’t flying the plane @eurojuice:
  • 2 0
 @sonuvagun: half of this comment section apparently.
  • 4 5
 @lumpy873: really?? dude she joined in 2019 just before the world shat its self over tickly cough. you could have put a potted plant in charge of a bike company in 2019 and it would have had "record growth" wonder who is going to get the blame for the record drop in profits that the whole industry is about to experience.
  • 1 0
 @b45her: do you have any ideas on what she did in the office? Yeah, for a 2 year period, everyone sold everything they had.. Getting product has been and continues to be a tricky proposition. Smart companies are already adjusting future orders as demand has dropped.. This will help some companies when it comes to the supply of components as the bigger players scale back..
  • 4 0
 @noplacelikeloam: who cares what gender the CEO is. Of they are the best candidate for the job then give them the job
  • 2 1
 @chrismac70: thats how it should be, however we live in the age of "diversity hires" its a sad situation.
  • 1 1
 @b45her: true, and I think if we give things a few years, we'll see how things pan out.. Some bigger companies can afford to play that game, but I don't think we'll seeas much of it in the bike industry.. Not as much room financially to experiment with things...
  • 1 4
 @chrismac70: totally agree. And that’s my point. Females just like males make great CEOs and it’s about time the old white men stop hiring people just like them and hire the best leader, whoever you are.
  • 4 2
 @noplacelikeloam: aww your virtue signaling was sooo close, but you said "white men" not "straight white men".
thats minus 5 twitter points for you I'm afraid.
  • 1 1
 @b45her: that was an impressively efficient psychological dissection.
  • 2 0
 @b45her: Right, it’s great that in the age of diversity hiring we know that more of the best people are getting the top jobs. It always used to be just the best people who fit a certain profile.
  • 1 0
 @noplacelikeloam: Are you for real? It's literally the only purpose of a company. Everything else is just means to reach that goal. Yes, the marketing these days is focused on "purpose" and sustainability, but that's only to fool your type of people to buy more stuff from them, to make the shareholders richer.
  • 1 1
 @cykelmastaren: You are living in the past matey, or the Simpsons. One of them. You cannot achieve sustainable value without putting broader values symbiotic with profits. If you just focus on profits, you'll end up with a couple of years of record profits followed by your staff and your customers walking away. Then you'll have nothing to sell and no one to buy, and that is how CEO's fail. There are so many case studies on this, its taught at most MBA programs and even TED talks, just google it.
  • 1 0
 @noplacelikeloam: You mean that they teach you in business school that there is another purpose than earning money?

The values are a mean to reach exactly that goal, to earn more money. I've worked a lot with implementing values in different turnaround cases for PE portfolio companies.

Ex-McK here. Which firm did you work for? KMPG I assumeWink
  • 130 3
 Yeh that’s awesome! But did have a little chuckle at the “delivered record growth since joining in 2019”..
  • 27 3
 cant imagine going from "general manager" to CEO in 2-3 years.
  • 2 0
 Good point, hadn't thought of that!
  • 81 10
 Conspiracy theorists gonna take this and run with it... SHE delivered record growth?? So she created covid, confirmed. (Grabs tin foil full face helmet)
  • 12 4
 lol similar to how the government boasted "record job growth" in 2021....... dang I should have taken credit for the sales boom at my last job during COVID....hmm
  • 8 0
 @lepigpen: I use a half shell. The front of the full face interferes with my signal.
  • 12 7
 Anyone that dealt with bike growth well in the past 2-3 years while dealing with constant infections in their teams is a great leader. Props to her for running a good ship.
  • 17 1
 I don't doubt their achivements with the company, but like, who didn't see record growth in the last three years? hahah
  • 26 1
 @jesse-effing-edwards: The difference is that last May her company was the only one that delivered bikes to our shop. Rocky has hit well above their weight class on the business side of things for a few seasons now. They got out in front, book production time, got creative with spec and delivered bikes. A lot of the big players are still catching up to RMB. The fact that they make good bikes is icing on the cake.
  • 7 0
 Yeah I think we were all thinking the same thing. Maybe more like "kept things running smoothly during record industry growth."
  • 1 0
 @dasbulli: Well, that does sound impressive!
  • 6 1
 @dasbulli: This is what I love reading. Someone who actually knows what they talk about. Thanks for chiming in and kudos to Katy, sounds like a badass.
  • 6 0
 @yoimaninja: Different organizations use different titling hierarchies so you might be thinking more in terms of the context you are most familiar with. I would assume that General Manager in an organization like Rocky Mountain implies full day to day control over the business and it's operations. She would then have reported up to Dutil as the owner of Rocky. Being given the title of CEO implies that Dutil is stepping back from any real active managerial role in the business and has enormous trust in Katy to deliver. In practical terms I'd assume that little would change in terms of her overall responsibilities.
  • 2 0
 Yeah pretty fortunate timing. But only fortunate if the correct decisions are being made. Take Shimano for example....
  • 2 0
 @foggnm: ‘Kept things running smoothly’ in the era of Covid supply chain issues for a small to medium sized bike brand is way harder than it sounds. Yes the sales opportunities were presented to them, but there will be a lot of brands out there looking at Covid as a missed opportunity because they weren’t able to supply enough to take full advantage of the demand. RM will be well aware of how they actually performed relative to the industry as a whole.
  • 3 0
 @wingguy: There's nothing "small" to "medium" about Rocky Mountain. They've been around for what ...30 years? And have a global market. And the bikes are manufactured by the same factory that does Nukeproof, Norco, Vitus, and others. So I'm just saying that pretty much all the bike companies had record growth. I was only pointing out the fact that the growth was not solely due to the management....and I think even they would recognize that.
  • 1 0
 @kmg0: you don't really need employees on hand to take payment though. The shop I was out saw a different employee out each week with sometimes multiple at a time, and not all returning. Fairly confident it had little to no impact on sales revenue, at least not compared to supply chain constraints.
  • 1 0
 @foggnm: I was gonna say I was running a small shop and we crushed it, even despite having an inventory shortage. I'd imagine for bigger companies it was way easier bc you have employees leaving (the great resignation and covid leave) and with supply shrinking you have carte blanche to jack up your prices. not sure how they're getting praise for having bikes in stock, that seems more of a factor of them being sufficiently stocked BEFORE lockdowns hit. I highly doubt they were cranking out new production runs in the height of lock down and post lock down seizures.
  • 1 1
 @dasbulli: probably because outside of canada and maybe the US they are a non entity, nice bikes but WAAAYY to pricey for a shop to even consider stocking them.
  • 98 0
 Bond…. Katy Bond.
  • 72 0
 Licensed to shred
  • 156 1
 Dr No Inventory
  • 28 0
 Ride and let ride
  • 35 3
 Live and Let Ride
Tomorrow Never Rides
License to Ride

Am I doing this right?
  • 15 1
 @Lanebobane: underated comment
  • 4 0
 @powderhoundbrr: Let me check the counter evidence: Moondraker...hmm...doesn't work, so I guess you are on the right path.
  • 1 0
 @Lanebobane: actual LOL
  • 6 0
 The Slayer Who Loved Me
  • 4 0
 @mi-bike: The Man with the Golden Growler
  • 59 1
 Great job Katy, would it be to much to ask if you could find out when my bike I ordered last September will arrive?
  • 90 1
 Thanks Katy, I literally just got a call from my bike shop and it showed up today!!
  • 44 0
 @powderhoundbrr: Wow, she's so effective so fast!
  • 18 1
 They gave it to Jesse Melamed
  • 8 0
 @powderhoundbrr: That was a rollercoaster of emotions reading that. New bike day!
  • 10 0
 @rrolly: I wish I had your bike!
  • 2 0
 @JesseMelamed: My bike wishes...
  • 41 9
 Congrats! Please hire back all the awesome local freeriders you guys canned!
  • 1 1
 I was actually thinking it ready this article and comments. "man, i wish Gully was back with this news."
  • 25 2
 Please bring back the freerider crew asap. Having them plus the EWS (legendary) crew is where its at. Also, can we please just make the Yellow/Purple Aluminum Pipeline that you had Wade on? I know, I know there is the slayer in Carbon etc...but that is NOT the same thing. That metal pipeline was one of the greatest bikes ever made. Mass produce that if you can, including in a XS and 24" too. Manitou suspension on those small ones too please. No one does youth free ride like Manitou/JUnit.
  • 10 3
 Oh also Womens freeride is off the chain in the NW. Why isn’t Rocky supporting some BC version of Hanna and promoting that? Hardy anyone will be Hanna of course but damn it’s Rocky and BC, where the ladies are ultra rowdy.
  • 3 23
flag DetroitCity (Jun 1, 2022 at 10:34) (Below Threshold)
 Record growth bro. The fastest way to show record growth is to spend less. Their bikes are shit now also. Designed by the marketing dept. Because record growth, bro.
  • 4 0
 @Svinyard: it would be pretty easy to field a Women's freeride team out of the riders based in BC. The hardest part would be narrowing it down to only a handful of riders
  • 4 0
 I was waiting for that purple bike to be produced, meh. Bring back alloy!
  • 7 0
 @Svinyard: vae verbeeck?
  • 11 0
 @Svinyard: have you heard of Vaea Verbeeck? She's sponsored by Rocky and is at red bull formation.
  • 7 0
 @DetroitCity: What you're saying about "growth" suggests you have confused revenue and profit.
  • 5 1
 @Corvcycleguy: I stand corrected! Vaea is awesome. Looks like she is still ripping a discontinued Maiden there too.
  • 5 0
 I read this line: "....to ensure a continuous pipeline of innovative products." And immediately thought of Wade's Pipedream. That thing was rad.
  • 5 1
 @DetroitCity: Lane, you don't always have to be an a*shole, you know.
  • 5 0
 @DetroitCity: The altitude is one of the best bikes on the market...
  • 1 0
 @HeatedRotor: Yeah I think the #1 & #3 EWS winning riders were running a horst links iirc. One of those was an Altitude.
  • 1 0
 @Svinyard: I dont even think it needs race results to prove itself - I wasnt a rocky fan untill i rode an Altitude as a demo - i paid a premium for my Altitude and dont regret it, pedals Well enough for your locals but will smash in a bike park.
  • 8 0
 @Svinyard: heard of Lucy VanEesteren?
Up and coming freerider killing it! Check her out.
  • 1 0
 @Svinyard: Rocky supports Vea Verbeeck and Lucy Van Eesteren as freeriders
  • 22 3
 Lower the prices, katy. Your RMs are the same or more expensive then Yetis..
  • 7 0
 Are we sure they aren’t as good as a Yeti? Yeti pricing is screwy too. Similar price targets but it lesser specs. I’m not sure Rocky is in that bracket yet.
  • 7 2
 I don't disagree bikes are expensive in general but why should RM not be in the same price range as Yeti? Both are positioned as "premium" brands, both made in Asia etc. I can see no reason why Yeti would be perceived as better value if the price and spec was similar.
  • 4 18
flag OnTheRivet (Jun 1, 2022 at 11:09) (Below Threshold)
 @bananowy: Yeti and Pivot are two of the increasingly small group of companies that still make high quality carbon frames. After the PON acquisition Santa Cruz is junk. Rocky Mountain has been known to be mediocre from the outset.
  • 13 1
 @bananowy: I don't consider Rocky a boutique brand other then their boutique prices. They're great bikes and l would love one but they're nothing out of the ordinary.
  • 10 0
 @Svinyard: I won't make an argument about ride quality but I will note that it's just cheaper to produce patent-free horst-link bikes than to ship a DW-link or invent & license your own suspension platform (Switch-Infinity). Would be nice to see those savings passed on.
  • 1 0
 Weird comment bug
  • 14 0
 Bring back the classic red/white maple leaf paint job as an option. Rotate it on an annual basis through a few of the top tier bikes, Instinct, Altitude, Slayer, and Element.
  • 14 5
 I really want to support Rocky, they are Canadian and make some really nice bikes... however price, reliability and color schemes (you have to pay for non-shit colors) keep me away. Katy has her work cut out for her. Smile
  • 9 0
 Awesome news! Now let's see that new slayer Smile
  • 30 0
 For her eyes only.
  • 9 1
 Delivered record growth since 2019? Hmm I wonder why!
  • 2 1
 With everyone complaining about lack of inventory did the growth come from something other than bikes? If you cut enough expense and then make a larger profit could that be the record growth? If anyone knows please chime in.
  • 3 0
 @shotouthoods: Lack of inventory is BECAUSE of the growth the whole industry saw, combined with the pandemic choking inventory everywhere. Pretty much every outdoor industry business saw record growth while simultaneously having massive shortages, due to that growth and supply chain issues.
  • 2 0
 @shotouthoods: I worked in a shop during the pandemic and yes there were huge shortages but customers were so desperate to get out they would buy anything and everything. “Can’t get the mountain bike I want so I guess a road bike will do…” type attitude from customers. Our £15 pound pumps were sold out so people were buying the £90 pump instead. Crazy times!
  • 2 0
 @Grealdo: Well it looks like if you were not able to show record growth during this period that maybe you were already on a downward path. Thanks for the feedback.
  • 2 0
 @shotouthoods: Agreed!
  • 8 1
 Yess Kathy!! Congratulations, this is such fantastic news! We’ll have to celebrate!
  • 4 1
 Fellow Canadiens is Rocky Mountain any good? I mean all bikes are good but how good are they as a company and their impact on the industry? Are they "Specialized good" or GOOD good? Big Grin
  • 6 0
 Not a fellow Canadian but former Rocky owner. Always had great interaction with them from questions, replacement stuff etc. I know that doesnt directly correlate to your question on their impact on the industry but they were top notch folks up there to the north. That being said....I owned one when they were more reasonably priced and not outpacing Yeti and Pivot with their pricing models.
  • 9 0
 They're great bikes, but value for dollar is awful. If you want great Canadian bikes for good prices, look to Devinci (at least their aluminum bikes, which also happen to be made in Canada).
  • 6 0
 This is your daily reminder that Rocky's website is bikes.com
  • 1 0
 Rewarding talent and recognising performance. Top work Rocky Mountain. Too many times grey suits seem to get the top spots. Makes me more interested in Rocky Mountain as a brand too. The diversity hire comment is really disengious.
  • 7 3
 She is one of a handful of women CEO's. Congratulations Katy!
  • 3 0
 "A brand that has stayed truck to its roots"
Been riding rocks a long time and I do not remember e-bikes in their roots.
  • 2 0
 She was part of the BCBR in 2017 when I did it with friends. She was a sharp and class act person. Glad to see good things happening to good people
  • 4 0
 Congrats Katy!
  • 1 0
 Rocky's Coach of Motivation should meet up with Treks 'Sparkly Bus' (it's an actual thing they refer to) and go on a day trip to see Mr Foxtrot Oscar
  • 2 0
 I love that third picture of her in front of like 30 micheladas.. she’s the type of boss we all need
  • 1 0
 Well... with CEO pay going down I would imagine profit margins are going up.
  • 11 12
 Has anyone ridden Rocky's latest ebike? They seem to be the only ones (besides Orbea) who are trying to break the mold and do something different. All other ebikes seem to be generic and boring.
  • 6 7
 I have a 2021 Powerplay Instinct BC Edition and it's great. My buddy that sells them is on the new one and he says it's even better.
  • 41 4
 @DirtyHal: So he sells them, and says it's great? You don't say.
  • 2 0
 Yeah, I own an alloy 2022 Altitude and it’s great. Unfortunately because they’re pretty much sold out everywhere I doubt we’ll ever get comparisons to other brands in group tests. I know my trail+ mode seems as powerful as Brose and Shimano’s boost mode when riding with friends.
  • 8 0
 @aaronjb: He also sells Specialized and Pivot ebikes and prefers the Rocky. Just an anecdote FWIW.
  • 4 6
 @DirtyHal: Why are we getting downvoted? Is it just the generic "all ebike related content is evil" crowd?
  • 5 1
 @hamncheez: I'd imagine that plus the fact that I dared to believe information from a good friend. Apparently if you sell something you automatically start to lie and embellish.
  • 2 0
 Cool she can get a thunderbolt!
  • 2 2
 Thunderball ! I corrected that for you.
  • 3 1
 Next I'm gonna buy Rocky Mountain and put actual rocks in it
  • 1 0
 I wonder if they will start selling the Growler in Australia. Can get fuse, torrent, Roscoe here but not the RM hardtail
  • 1 0
 LG has some pretty good dsigns and makes pretty good stuff actually. Bodes well.
  • 2 0
 Maybe the new Maiden can bring back the old Maiden....
  • 1 0
 We want more in sweden send more! Give us the license to shred bond!!!!

youtu.be/yy2qUkLJA6Y
  • 2 0
 Threaded BB’s and fix the pricing, and I might actually buy one
  • 1 0
 With that spec for that money… I love the bikes but…
  • 1 0
 Maybe she can steer the company in a less boring direction.
  • 1 0
 Congrats Katy! I am so happy to see this! I love my Altitude!
  • 1 0
 Make freeride great again
  • 1 0
 Her goal sounds unique...NOT.
  • 2 4
 Easy as piss to get good growth in great times. Let’s see her/he/them,Fido… delivering results when times tough is much different. She will be in for a ride going forth parson the pun.
  • 2 2
 We need more bike companies led by a riders.. Chapeau RM
  • 3 3
 Does she have BMX background?
  • 1 0
 Yew! Congrats Katy!!
  • 1 0
 Fantastic! Congrats!
  • 1 0
 Congratulations Katy!
  • 3 6
 Awesome in so many ways, good luck! Seriously, I'd be more inclined to buy a Rocky Mountain now.
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