Keith Bontrager

Keith Bontrager (/bɒnˈtreɪɡər/; born December 18, 1954) is a motorcycle racer who became a pioneer in the development of the modern mountain bike. Between 1980 and 1995, he was president of his own Bontrager Company, which continues to develop components for Trek Bicycle Corporation though Trek bought out Bontrager.

Bontrager started in 1965 by building lawnmower engine powered mini-bikes.

In 1969, he began racing , funding his racing through motorcycle repair work. Between 1975 and 1981 he designed, built and tuned motocross and road racing and drag racing motorcycles. Motorcycles he tuned won national road racing titles in production and 250 GP classes.

In 1978 Bontrager became attracted to cycling and in 1979 built his first road bike. With his motocross background he was attracted to mountain bike cycling. In 1980 he built his first mountain bike frame and founded Bontrager Cycles in Sunnyvale, California.

In 1984 he cut 700C (ISO 622) 36-hole Mavic MA-2 tandem rims to the circumference of a 26" rim, re-rolling them to create a 32-hole 26" rim.

Bontrager rims were the first lightweight yet strong mountain bike rims, albeit using a profile intended for road racing bicycles. Mavic provided MA-40 MTB rims for some time. Bontrager went on designing lightweight rims, manufactured by Weinmann USA. Several were introduced but never went into high production as the Weinmann plant suffered a fire.

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