Grant Petersen

Last updated
Grant Petersen
Born1954 (age 6970)
Occupationbicycle designer
Years active1984-present
Notable workBridgestone XO series
Signature
Grant-Petersen-Signature.svg

Grant Petersen is a bicycle designer, author, and the founder and owner of Rivendell Bicycle Works. [1] He was U.S. marketing director for Bridgestone Cycle (U.S.A.), Inc. during the 1980s and 1990s, where he designed the XO series of bicycles. [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] He is known for promoting traditional bicycle technology and materials such as wide tires, fenders, leather saddles, and lugged steel frames with relaxed geometry over modern, lightweight, racing technology. [3] [5]

Contents

Early life

Born in 1954, [5] Petersen grew up near Berkeley, California. [3] He raced bicycles in his 20's, and at the apex of his career edged out fellow racer and Olympian Norman Alvis at the Mt. Diablo hill climb in 1982. [2] [4] He worked for a time at the Berkeley REI. [4]

Bridgestone

In 1984, Petersen began working for the U.S. bicycle division of Bridgestone Tires in San Leandro, California [4] in data entry and customer support. [3] He later became a marketing director and product manager [6] and in the early 1990s promoted the development of fat-tired road bikes inspired by emerging mountain bike designs. [3] From his time at Bridgestone, Petersen is known for developing the popular XO series of bicycles. [5] Bridgestone ended its U.S. operations in the fall of 1994. [2]

Rivendell Bicycle Works

In 1994 after leaving Bridgestone, Petersen turned down job offers from bike companies, Specialized and Trek, [4] to found Rivendell Bicycle Works out of his garage. [1] [3] [5] There, he continued to hone his ideals of traditional, high-quality, all-around bicycle designs. [3]

Author

Petersen has been a contributor to major bicycling and outdoors magazines and has written four books. [5] The first, Roads to Ride - A Bicyclist's Topographic Guide to Alameda, Contra Costa and Marin Counties, written in collaboration with Mary Anderson, his future wife, [4] was published in 1984 [7] (the dedication reads "Dedicated to B.F. Skinner - who must be the most misunderstood person of all time - and Bob Dylan. It's the least I can do and the only thing I can think of.") The second, Roads to Ride South - a Bicyclist's Topographic guide to San Mateo, Santa Clara and Santa Cruz Counties, with John Kluge, was published in 1985. [8] The third was titled Just Ride and was published in 2012. [6] The fourth was titled Eat Bacon, Don't Jog and was published in 2014. [9]

Personal life

Petersen is a regular bike commuter to his shop located in Walnut Creek, California. He married Mary Anderson in 1985 and has two daughters, Kate and Anna. [5]

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References

  1. 1 2 3 Black, Forbes (18 August 2008). "An Interview with Grant Petersen". Cycloculture. Archived from the original on 31 March 2022. Retrieved 19 April 2022.
  2. 1 2 3 Boulanger, Gary (19 July 2007). "Grant Petersen: Rivendell Bicycle Works". BikeRadar. Archived from the original on 3 December 2020. Retrieved 20 April 2022.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Yarnell, Kolby (July 2012). "Biking's Philosopher Crank". Men's Journal . Wenner Media. Archived from the original on 22 July 2012. Retrieved 20 April 2022.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Boulanger, Gary (8 September 2015). "5 Reasons Why He's Grant Petersen And You're Not". Bike Mag. TEN: The Enthusiast Network. Archived from the original on 8 September 2015. Retrieved 20 April 2022.
  5. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 "Grant Petersen - THE TALK: Evolution, Slump, and Comeback". IHMC . 20 May 2015. Archived from the original on 17 January 2019. Retrieved 20 April 2022.
  6. 1 2 Boulanger, Gary (2 July 2012). "Book Review: 'Just Ride' by Grant Petersen". Bicycle Times. Archived from the original on 25 January 2015. Retrieved 20 April 2022.
  7. "Roads to ride : a bicyclist's topographic guide to Alameda, Contra Costa and Marin counties". WorldCat . Retrieved 20 April 2022.
  8. "Roads to ride South : a bicyclist's topographic guide to San Mateo, Santa Clara and Santa Cruz Counties". WorldCat . Retrieved 20 April 2022.
  9. Boulanger, Gary J. (8 December 2014). "Drinks With: author Grant Petersen". Bicycle Times. Rotating Mass Media. Archived from the original on 16 March 2015. Retrieved 20 April 2022.