mtb-timeline

Dorado

The Dorado bicycle brand was introduced by Rocky Cycles of Sunnyvale, CA. Rocky Cycles started in 1962 as a motorcycle part supply business by Olga Rocky and Joseph Piazza in Redwood City, CA. Dorado mountain bikes, which debuted in 1984, were often distributed by motorcycle dealerships. The year prior Dorado Imports was formed by Rick Wilson who had earlier started Corsaro in 1983, and helped launch Western States Imports. Dorado and Corsaro both shared the “Sherpa” model name with similar build and components. It's likely the initial Dorado bicycles were really the brainchild of Rick Wilson, and Rocky Cycles were the distributor and likely business partner.

Rocky Cycles went under in 1987 at which point the Dorado brand was reclaimed by Dorado Imports. At this point the Dorado logo changed and Rocky Cycles stickers were replaced by “Dorado Imports” with the same Tiburon, CA corporate address as Corsaro Imports.

Rick Wilson, the owner of Wil-Go, helped with the founding of Western States Imports, a major MTB importer and brand creator ¹⁾. A defining WSI quote: “Boxes in, boxes out. Everything else is marketing” ²⁾.

Dorados by Corsaro were often quality frames of Tange tubing made by Merida of Taiwan, with mid to high level components from both SunTour and Shimano. No decent 1984 pics have been found, nor any examples after 1993 and hence the timeline will go from 1985 → 1993.

In the early 80's, Rocky Mountain also sold a “Sherpa” mtb, with similar styling and paintwork. Rocky Mountains have a clear Tom Ritchey pedigree. Is too much of a coincedence to simultaneously have a Rocky Sherpa sold next to a Rocky Mountain Sherpa? Yet, the early 80's saw Sherpas from :

The 80's were the decade of Sherpas. Now, not so much, as it's borderline cultural appropriation to commercially use Sherpa as a brand name without compensation to the Sherpa peoples. In 2022, The North Face announced it was dropping the “Sherpa” line of clothing in favor of the anodyne term, “High Pile”. See: backpacker.com.

And yet, there are some Sherpa MTBs are still being produced in 2024: