roteccycles;;;;;

Rotec Cycles is truely a labor of love. We know that Rotec will never make us rich, and we're fine with that because thats not why we're here. We do this because we love bikes, and we love to ride, and we love to make bikes that we love to ride.

Rotec recently did a little article with Dropmachine.com on what makes Rotec tick. Hope it shows a little bit more about what makes us special (besides the kick ass bike, that is.)

Well, my name is John Sullivan, my bros call me Sully and others....well who really cares!

As for what I do? I own Roteccycles and I do airplanes too, yeah that's right I work in the aviation industry. I paint airplanes. Its nothing spectacular, you get to paint something different every few days and you get to see those creations you painted, fly off.

As for the bike side of things? Well, Its not like being the Chief Designer or CEO or Product Manager means anything but in the end I guess I do design, manage and sell kick ass bikes or at least that's what we've been told.

2) So what is the RL9 all about, and what separates it from the rest of the bikes out there?

So what is the RL all about? Its about going fast and feeling good about it. And what separates it? Lawwill style...... I have to say though, they're many companies out there that say they are the best and that might be so but we think the Lawwill is the best.

This is all a game of hype you know, about what's the newest this link, the baddest that link, the greatest whatever link.....but I believe our link is, for all intended purposes the best FOUR BAR LINK and for that matter the best Lawwill ever produced.

The RL9 really is nothing new, its just a greatly improved version of a world-class design that works, period!

3) What makes Rotec Different then every other bike company out there?

Cohonies.......... It's true, you need a lot of these if you think you can make a dent in any marketshare that's bike industry inspired. And the fortitude to see it thru cause you'll never know if you don't make the effort.

Why not? The original Lawwill/Gary Fisher some 20 years ago was concentric and it worked and worked well.

Point being, none of the big manufactures that produced Lawwill's in the past followed Merts original concept of a concentric BB as a pivot location and because of that we feel they missed the boat. That was good for us, don't you think?

There were copycats back then but nothing that Mert himself put his name on.

Besides, good or bad, the concentric BB concept was a design that was part of Rotec's DNA, its history. That's not to say that the concentric is the end all rear suspension, but it does make for a great 4-bar link. It works perfectly with the re-invention of our Lawwill inspired downhill frameset.

5) Rotec is the only company currently using the Lawwill design. Why did you choose it, and why do you think its not more common?

Rotec's future is being written everytime one of our frames places at a race, everytime a rider gets off our frame with a huge smile on his face or when a ripper pulls over with a racing, pounding heart that makes him stop and think about what crazyness just happen.

As for our future? It's our customers, don't you think? In the end, all we can do is just give them the inspiration with our designs that make them want to ride in the first place.

Our future is also a new frontier, there are technologies that are just now coming into fruition and bear fruit they will. We see our new designs and concepts to be that "The New Frontier". Hang on peeps the rides going to get crazy!

7) What are the benefits or drawbacks to being a smaller company, as opposed to a giant one like Trek, Specialized or, of course, Giant?

That's easy, being able to connect with your customers, one on one. Getting their thoughts.....good or bad, heck even getting the off chance of riding with them at Whistler or even on a trail!

In the big picture?? For a small company like us? It's the almighty dollar and human resources. These have to be our biggest factor. Without a lot of either, it takes a long time to succeed.

There's alot of truth in the old saying that "It takes alot to make alot".

Thankfully, I've been quite fortune to have had help and inspiration from many friends both in the industry and out of the industry. To them and they know who they are, a grateful thanks bro's to all of them!