Grant Petersen

Who is Grant Petersen?

Grant Petersen is a bicycle designer and the founder of Rivendell Bicycle Works. He was U.S. marketing director for Bridgestone Cycle, Inc. during the 1980s and 1990s, where he designed the XO series of bicycles.

Petersen is widely known in the cycling community for opposing complicated design and slavish prioritization of speed, light weight and racing-led fashion — over tradition, comfort and durability. The company specializes in bicycles intended for all sorts of riding outside of competition. In addition to lugged steel frames, signatures of this trend have included leather saddles, downtube or bar-end shifters in place of brifters, and the use of "moustache" and "cruiser" type handlebars.

Additionally, Petersen has authored two books. The first, Roads to Ride, written with Mary Anderson, was published in 1984. The second was titled Just Ride and was published in 2012.