10. December 2024

The start of our journey

ROTWILD racing history part 1

Mountain biking and competitive racing have been inseparable from the start. The foundation was laid back in the 1970s when a handful of California hippies started barreling down Mount Tamalpais on modified beach cruisers. It didn’t take long for the first competitions on these “clunkers” to emerge, with thrilling races like the legendary Repack Race captivating riders and spectators alike. These events embodied the spirit of this new sport: adventure, speed, and pushing personal limits.

Racing has become an essential part of mountain biking culture, reflecting the allure of this sport. Whether riding leisurely on singletrack trails or pushing to physical extremes in race mode, mountain bikes have it all. Our passion for cycling is a core part of ROTWILD’s DNA. For over 30 years, we’ve been building not only high-end mountain bikes but also bikes specifically for racing, across disciplines like downhill, cross-country, marathon, and enduro. We are unwavering in our mission to bring out the best in every bike – Ready for Racing.

“Racing, with its various disciplines and aspects, is always tied to the thrill of riding in nature.” —Ole Wittrock

From our early steps in downhill racing to the cutting-edge technology in today’s e-bikes, our journey has been shaped by challenges, setbacks, and triumphs. We’ve always aimed to elevate the riding experience and performance for our customers and athletes. This article looks back at our journey, what has driven us, and where it has led us.

The Beginning: A World Champion Bike from the Catalog

The ROTWILD story started like many great stories – with a stroke of luck. Founder Peter Schlitt recalls, “ROTWILD stumbled into racing by chance. A good friend, German top athlete Stefan Herrmann, was unhappy with his bike and asked if we could provide him with one. We simply gave him a bike straight from our catalog.” The bike, not designed for racing, was new and still had a paper band on it. Stefan Herrmann took it to the World Championships in Cairns, Australia, where this friendly gesture quickly catapulted ROTWILD into the mountain bike racing world.

Downhill world champion, multiple German champion and cornering technique guru in his own MTB riding techni-que school, which the Franconian has been running since 1997: Stefan Herrmann is one of the German pioneers in mountain bike racing, from whom many successful athletes have subsequently benefited. In 1996, he traveled to Australia with one of the first ROTWILD bikes and returned as world champion.

In a turn of events, Herrmann spectacularly won the World Champion title in the Masterclass on a ROTWILD bike. This incredible success showed us that our bikes were ready to compete at the top. “This was the moment that put us in the spotlight,” Schlitt recalls. “We were at a trade show in the U.S. when we received the news. Suddenly, we weren’t just a small brand – we had a world champion title.” This first adventure in downhill racing significantly shaped ROTWILD’s future and confirmed that we wanted to invest in racing.

Herrmann’s world title sparked something in us. We dove into racing with a commitment to elevate it to a new level, putting our bikes through rigorous testing and optimization. Thus, Team FIAT ROTWILD was born. Our collaboration with FIAT Transporter, then a market leader, underscored our professional commitment. Our athletes were not just riders but true development partners. Their feedback pushed our engineering team forward and helped refine each new bike generation.

From its foundation in 1996 until the last season in 2013, the FIAT ROTWILD team included around 40 riders from a wide range of disciplines and in varying line-ups. It made a significant contribution to popularizing mountain biking in Germany and establishing more professional structures in this sport. The cooperation between a bicycle manufacturer and a major car manufacturer such as FIAT as title sponsor was quite innovative for the time and attracted attention in both cycling and marketing.

The Wild West of Downhill Racing

Our goal was never to just build bikes. Our vision remains to build the best possible bike – one you could take straight into a race, perhaps even a world championship. This high standard is what we strive for with each new model. Downhill, one of the most challenging and thrilling disciplines, places extreme demands on equipment. Here, the gear must not only perform flawlessly but also withstand incredible stress, as the rider’s health is at stake.

“For the riders and us as a manufacturer, it was often like riding on a razor’s edge.” —Peter Schlitt

Early on in mountain biking, there were few standards, and riders were often test subjects for new technology, exposed to unpredictable risks. Danny Herz, a former racer and ROTWILD’s team mechanic for over 24 years, recalls, “It was a wild time. Riders were often like test pilots for everything. Testing standards came from trekking bikes, which had nothing to do with downhill.”

“There were hardly any reasonable standards. The testing standards that did exist were more suited to a trekking bike.” Danny Herz

Basic research in racing: By using strain gauges, we were able to measure in detail for the first time how forces and stresses are distributed within the frame under real loads. The strain gauge method was a revolution for the construction of lightweight mountain bikes, it laid the foundation for our know-how and ensured that our current frames can easily withstand the increased stresses of trail and downhill riding. Even today, competitive mountain biking remains an essential part of ROTWILD's product philosophy and development work.

Wir lernten täglich dazu, um die Bikes noch besser und vor allem sicherer zu machen. Doch auch mit fortschrittlicher Testmethodik blieb der Sport gefährlich. Danny Herz gibt zu: „Viele unserer Fahrer haben den Boden berührt, weil irgendetwas am Rad gebrochen war. Wir haben die Grenzen neu ausgelotet, und es gab immer wieder Schreckmomente.“ Alle Herausforderungen hielten uns nicht davon ab, unserem Ziel näher zu kommen. Immer wieder belegten Athleten aus dem ROTWILD Team Spitzenplätze und konnten sich mit den größten Namen der Szene messen. Die Fahrer und ihre Fahrräder standen an der Grenze des Machbaren, aber genau das machte den Reiz aus – und brachte unbezahlbare Erkenntnisse für die Entwicklung der Bikes. Und trotzdem muss man festhalten: Die frühen Jahre des Downhill-Sports bei ROTWILD waren nicht nur gewinnbringend und aufregend, sondern auch extrem risikoreich und Adrenalin pur.

By viewing the video you agree that your data will be transferred to YouTube and that you have read the Privacy policy.