Rock Creek Cycles
Eric Price Sampson started Rock Creek Cycles in 1980 in Superior, CO. Eric Sampson was one of the original small makers of mountain bikes, earning mentions in history books and early issues of the Fat Tire Flyer. When the 1982 mass market mountain bike invasion arrived, most small makers switched to more sensible careers, leaving almost no traces of their existence outside of print. It's likely that Rock Creek only ever sold a handful of frames.
Beginning around 1982, a sea change affected the sales of bicycles in America and Europe. The buyers switched from road bikes to mountain bikes…
About twenty small makers exhibited at the January, 1982 Long Beach bicycle show or advertized in the 1982 Fat Tire Flyers. These included:
From Frank Berto, Who Invented the Mountain Bike?, August 27, 1997.
Many of the above pioneers are not yet mentioned in this timeline as no examples of their bikes can be found. For Rock Creek Cycles, only a single example has been unearthed, at nine minutes and fifteen seconds into Wende Cragg's excellent 2024 documentary film Camera Corner.
There is another Eric Sampson in Glenwood Colorado who founded Sampson Sports in 1988 making bicycles and components. The two Eric Sampsons are unrelated.
The logo presented in the timeline is not Rock Creeks actual logo, which remains unknown.
Eric Price Sampson passed away in 2022.
Resources:
Eric P. Sampson, ca. 1985.
mykeeper
1980 Experimental
A very distinctive and unique frame. Shimano 600 RD-6100 rear (late 70's), unknown cottered crank (1970s), twin crowned duplex forks, duplex chainstays.
1980 Experimental
Photo by Wende Cragg,
from Camera Corner, 9:15.
Crested Butte, ca 1980.