TTT-NT-WT: Bontrager MTB. Keith Bontrager, born on Christmas Day, December 18th, 1954. Starting in 1965 with building lawnmower-engine-powered mini-bikes, Keith Bontrager was racing dirt bikes by 1969—racing dirt bikes and funding it by tuning up and repairing dirt bikes.
In 1978, Bontrager became attracted to cycling, and in 1979 he built his first road bike. In 1980, he built his first mountain bike frame and founded Bontrager Cycles in Sunnyvale, California. Sunnyvale has been listed by the League of American Bicyclists as a bronze-level Bicycle Friendly Community.
A long-standing legend of Sunnyvale is of a ghost that haunts the town’s Toys “R” Us store (now REI). A purported psychic, Sylvia Browne, claimed to have made contact with the ghost on the 1980 TV show That’s Incredible! and named him Johnny Johnson. Browne stated that he had been a Swedish preacher who worked as a farmhand in the orchard where the toy store now stands, and that he bled to death from an accidental, self-inflicted axe injury to his leg. My biggest nightmare.
In 1984, Keith cut 700C (ISO 622) 36-hole Mavic MA-2 road rims to the circumference of a 26" rim, re-rolling them to create a 32-hole 26" rim. The guy was next level.
In 1987, he designed and patented the composite fork crown. This used an aluminum fork crown that clamped the fork blades and the steerer instead of using welds or brazing. This design was used on the RockShox RS-1 suspension fork, and Bontrager’s own rigid fork, the Switchblade (!). Bontrager’s versions of the Switchblade, with bonded and riveted dropouts and brake bosses, led to a fork with no welding or brazing, thus retaining the strength gained by tempering the tubing.
In 1995, Bontrager’s business partner, Hans Heim, left to join Santa Cruz Bicycles and put his share of Bontrager Cycles up for sale. Trek acquired Bontrager Cycles and hired Bontrager as president. This action is what Travis calls the OG sellout.
Travis says—and I agree, based on my research (yes, it is research)—that Keith could have been a G. Fisher-type figure in American cycling had he held off a couple more years. Good for him anyway. Also, my friend Colin has a Bontrager.
- Tom Chapel
