THE CHROMAG STORY

Though relatively new to the full-suspension game, Chromag began as a hardtail builder 21 years ago. Mountain bike design was shifting in the early 2000s, and Chromag founder Ian Ritz realized the industry was no longer offering a bike that he and his Whistler, British Columbia, friends would want to ride on the steep, burly trails in their region.

It was an innocent-enough venture from Ritz, bringing home a handful of bikes from the shop he owned at the time and plopping them down in his kitchen one night. The plan was to sort out the redeeming geometry and features of each frame and morph all of it into a hardtail design that he’d want to ride.

The only numbers on Ritz’s mind were geometry-specific. There was no financial data being calculated about estimated sales projections, let alone any type of business plan to catapult Chromag into an industry player. In fact, the Chromag name hadn’t even existed yet.

Once Ritz settled on a design, he handed over the specs to Mike Truelove, who built that first 4130 chromoly steel frame, as well as the following 1000 frames: “We gave Mike [Truelove] the thousandth frame he made, then switched to Chris Dekerf for our handmade Canadian frames.” Dekerf, whose name may sound familiar, as he’s also a well-known custom frame builder under Dekerf Cycle Innovations, currently builds approximately 100 frames a year for Chromag.

Each model is offered as a Canadian-made frame at an accompanying premium price point, or as a Taiwanese frame. Unlike the usual trend from other brands that offer similar choices, Chromag’s handbuilt frames are an entirely different model name than the Taiwanese version. For example, the Rootdown hardtail is essentially the Primer, which is made in Taiwan.

That first frame was a success to Ritz, who rode it almost exclusively that season on the rock slabs and relentlessly technical trails in B.C. It didn’t take long for his friends and acquaintances to notice, and within a few months, he was on the phone with Truelove about producing more frames. The draw to Ritz’s design wasn’t just the geometry, but the durability built into the design to withstand that classic B.C. riding most of us were still barely catching glimpses of in the glossy pages of MBA.

Dubbed the “TRL,” which was short for “Trail” but eternally referred to as “TRL,” the prototype was a hit from its first ride. Though a bit fuzzy on whether the model or brand name came first, Chromag was an obvious choice that played on the chromoly steel frame, Ritz’s Evolution Cycles shop name, and the Cro-Magnon man that played on both. The motif also nodded to creating a hardtail in a time where full suspension was thriving. And that now-iconic bear logo? Ritz’s late mother designed it.

Once the frame was established as a local success, the next order of functional design was the contact points. Wide, durable handlebars; a comfortable, slam-forgiving saddle; and a short, stout stem were the trilogy of accessories that not only continued to be a hit for B.C. riders, but actually put Chromag on the global map as a product company. Fast-forward to many a new current offering, and the bars are still at the top of Chromag’s sales.

Similar to the frames, Chromag offers a mix of Canadian- and Taiwanese-made accessories, too. The locally fabricated Riza stem is made by a machine shop literally just a few doors down from Chromag HQ, and less-expensive, cold-forged stems like the HiFi and Ranger are made overseas. Much of the product is received, warehoused and shipped from their facility in Function Junction, British Columbia, just a few kilometers down the hill from Whistler. Design, engineering, studio photography, complete bike builds, customer service and warranty work are all done in the same building.

Currently, Chromag employs 23 people and is still growing. They’ve expanded into full-suspension bikes, with the latest offering being the 158mm-travel Lowdown, which we recently reviewed. “It’s been a long time in the works,” said Ritz about the Lowdown, and added that it was “an irresistible challenge” to design and produce a long-travel trail bike with a steel front triangle. It was also a complementing addition to the line of hardtails and shorter-travel trail bikes they’d introduced in recent years.

In addition to hardtails, hard goods and now full-suspension bikes, Chromag also offers an impressive collection of soft goods. Designed by Claire Buchar and Tree Frendo, the riding gear is decidedly varied from the typical clown-suit styles seen in Whistler Bike Park up the road. “We just wanna make the stuff that we want to wear,” said Rebecca Ritz, Chromag’s marketing director and photographer. As casual as most of their clothing options appear, they’re quite technical in fabric and design. Most options are made of synthetics, but Chromag also offers a few Merino wool pieces, too.

Chromag has a retail space that’s open to the public, and the company as a whole is a cornerstone of the local riding community. The most popular event each year is the Show and Shine, which coincides with their hosting of a Thursday night “Toonie” race series stop. The series in and of itself is worth mentioning, as a mere 2 dollars (Canadian $2 coins are called “toonies”) is all it takes to register for any of the weeknight races for riders with a Whistler Off-Road Cycling Association season pass.

Chromag’s event is known as the biggest party in town, often drawing in over 300 patrons. In addition to the race, there’s a 15-year tradition of finding the crowd’s favorite Chromag bikes and rewarding their owners with prizes. Those who don’t have Chromag bikes—or do but didn’t make the cut—still get free food, beer, music from live DJs, and usually a shot or three at a sketchy parking-lot jump, along with everyone else.