RockShox

RockShox Inc. is an American company founded by Paul Turner in 1989, that develops and manufactures bicycle suspensions. The company led in the development of mountain bikes. It is now part of SRAM Corporation.

History

Start

RockShox was founded by Paul Turner in 1989 in Boulder, Colorado, USA. It moved to California four years later when Steve and Deborah Simons bought out Dia Compe.

Turner raced motorcycles in his teens. In 1977, aged 18 he established a company that sold motorcycle components. He later worked for the Honda Motor Company as factory mechanic for their professional motocross team. This put him in contact with designers of suspension systems for motorcycles and other motocross industry people.

Simons is a former motocross rider in his teens and early twenties and entrepreneur. He developed heat sinks for Koni shock absorbers to lower oil temperatures and then in 1974 he designed a shock absorber for the company that became Fox Shox. He then established his own company Dynamic Enterprises which became Simons Inc. developing pneumatic upgrade kits for suspension forks. This led to his own fork design and manufacture. He had two patents on suspension forks, one which, for upside down forks, he licensed to motorcycle and suspension manufacturers.