Name: Ryan Bontrager
Age: 33
Riding since...I started riding BMX when I was eight years old. At twelve I took up road racing and raced the Red Zinger Mini Classic a couple of times. Then I joined the USCF, did well in my home district and I got to go to a couple of junior development camps at the Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs. When I went to college I took up mountain biking and have been on the dirt ever since.
What do I like most about riding...I love being outside, single track, the freedom, and being with a group of like minded friends.
Where I most like to ride is...The Demo, and Santa Cruz.
Bikes in my quiver...At the moment I’ve pared my stable down to three bikes. I have a Rock Lobster road bike, a Rock Lobster Hard Tail Single Speed (that was built up here at Trail Head before I became an employee) and I have a Bontrager Race Lite. The ‘Lobsters were built in ’05 and the Race Lite was built in ’93.
The one I ride most is my...I ride the road bike the most because I commute in everyday, but the one I like to ride the most is my single speed.
My next bike will be a... A Yeti 575 or an IBIS Mojo… Those two bikes are AWESOME! I can’t decide.
What I like most about working at Trail Head...So many things; when I was a customer this was “my shop” for years. I always respected Lars and the staff here. I guess the thing that I like most is being an apprentice under Lars, and Ford, learning the finer details of Pro wrenching, and being able to work with the best stuff in the industry. What other shop would I get to work on the best components and with a group of guys like this? That’s why I work here.
The neatest thing about having riders as customers... The feed back we get, it helps me become a better mechanic. For example, today at the CCCX race a customer who Ford built up a set of 700X53c (haha 29er) wheels came over to let me know how much they had changed the performance and the responsiveness of his bike over the stock wheels. Knowing that the style of spokes we had helped him choose made that big of a difference, is something I’ll take to other customer’s bikes.
I'm best known by my customers for... being the wrench under the Neutral Support tent at the local Cross Country and Down Hill Races for Trail Head, and for being HRS/ Rock Lobster’s Cyclo-Cross Team’s Mechanic.
School/Family/background...I’m engaged (to Michelle) and we have two kids of the four leg type, weenie dogs named Tex and Cali. I was a Fire Fighter-Paramedic for a while, and then I worked in the high-tech industry for three different computer companies here in the bay area. I didn’t really enjoy it, it wasn’t my passion. So I went to United Bicycle Institute and took the Professional Repair and the Advanced (DT Swiss Wheel Building and Suspension Technician classes), now I’m here.
One last thing...I’m just stoked to be working here. This is the best shop in the bay area

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photo courtesy of MTBR's John Shafer