RAAW Inside Out - Felix Weber

Inside Out is a series of stories showing the people behind RAAW. Over the past eight years, the team has grown from a one-man band to an eclectic collection of individuals that handles everything from the development of the bikes to getting those bikes out to you wherever you are in the world.

Each person contributes to the unique RAAW vibe, and we’re incredibly proud to have them be a part of the business. So proud that we’d like to tell you more about them, what they do at RAAW, and show you their personal bikes and the reasons why they built them the way they did.

Next up, Felix Weber, pizza aficionado and OG of RAAW.

Felix’s riding career started way back when he was a kid, and still probably 2 metres tall, but with curly drop bars. It didn’t take long for him to move up to the baggier ranks of mountain bikes in 2010, through the obligatory apprenticeship on a hardtail.

No spot of dirt was safe from Felix and his friends, who rode every single trail they could find in the woods, as well as set about stacking piles of dirt into jumps. After taking his Mum’s camera to shoot photos on one of these rides, documenting riding and bike culture through a lens quickly became a serious passion.

As is the case with most people for whom the biking bug gets a deep hold, Felix searched for a way after high school to combine his passion and work. After looking around European brands for a dual study program, and finding nothing that really fit, he instead enrolled in a business masters degree, specializing in the automotive industry and with his sights set on working for the German automotive giants of Audi or Porsche.

2011 was a pivotal year for Felix, who spent a year in Canada as an exchange student. Motocross, Whistler and dirt jumping late into the evenings were all part of the program, often while others partied a little too hard. During this time, his love affair for downhill really began. From 2012 to 2018 Felix was married to downhill. With the renowned German DH spot of Bad Wildbad just across the road from his university, it’s a miracle he was ever in classes.

During university, he kept shooting photos and video until one day he stumbled across a Madonna on the trails, back before it was released. Something must have struck a chord with the gentle German giant and before long he was in contact with Ruben, our lord and saviour, to enquire about working together. Quickly a deal was struck and Felix had a discount on a frame in exchange for a photo story. We weren’t joking when we said he’s an OG, as he was our first ambassador.

Over the years, the relationship between Felix and RAAW grew from strength to strength, with him crafting more stories and even our original printed catalogue, all decorated with his photos and videos. When something just feels natural and organic, it’s usually the right move, and towards the end of his degree, Felix was in the Kempten showroom discussing the future with Ruben. “Want to join us in marketing?” said Ruben. And the rest is history.

Felix’s role at RAAW has evolved over the six years he’s been here, and he now heads up the business side of RAAW. He makes sure we all get paid (thank you), our processes run smoothly and that we have a solid plan for the future. However, his intimate knowledge and involvement in all aspects of RAAW as it grew from a minuscule team to where it is today mean that he has a deep understanding of how RAAW ticks.

His day-to-day tasks are quite broad, as he also holds responsibility for sales, customer support and product management. Without Felix and his persistent drive to be better, we wouldn’t have as good a commitment to our customer service as we do now. He really values each and every customer, but also isn’t afraid to be firm if a customer gets a bit too big for their breeches.

To have a job that makes you genuinely look forward to coming to work every day speaks volumes, which is how Felix describes it. For him, RAAW’s company atmosphere is a healthy blend of focused work and just keeping things fun. But truth be told, he’s had more of a part in creating this positive team vibe than he’d admit to.

Despite the previous HQ in the Allgäu being a beautiful spot to have an office, when the company upped and moved to the Pfalz, Felix was over the moon. Hailing from this region, he knew that the year-round riding and culture were a great fit for the company. Part of that culture including half-litre wine schorles with disproportionate ratios of wine to schorle. But he was right, and every single time tyres touch that Pfalz dirt, preferably with a bit of moisture in it, it’s a gem of a ride.

When pushed for a favourite bike, Felix can’t overlook his original Madonna V1. Besides being a bike he absolutely loved the look of, it was the first bike that actually fit him. But, when we pull him out of nostalgia, he speaks pretty highly of his Jibb V2. The latest generation of Jibb allowed him to experiment with sizes, with him settling back on an XL after seeing that an XXL was just a bit outside his preferences. Since then, he’s not been interested in any other bikes out there. While most will think, of course, you work for RAAW, his Jibb V2 just does exactly what he wants and, in his big hands, is insanely fast.

Minimal upkeep here and there is all that’s needed to keep his Jibb a grab-and-go bike, that no-fuss essence makes it a special bike for him. Felix isn’t about a flashy bike that attracts attention, even though it was the original Madonna attracting his that led him to where he is today. Proven, durable and just right is how he summarises it, with a collection of parts that have proven themselves reliable to him over the years being his build. His Jibb V2 just does its job. A very German sentiment, but very true.

While fresh loam always tickles his fancy, fast and technical trails are something he really enjoys riding. Which is probably why he remembers Canadian Open to Schleyer to Goats Gulley laps in Whistler so vividly. But perhaps up there higher than any specific trail are the people and places he’s gotten to know through bikes. Downhill may have been a bride in his early riding career, but through RAAW Felix explains that he just enjoys the whole experience more now, not necessarily the tunnel vision of the fastest line and the most runs.

With a whole world’s worth of trails at his now, older, disposal, it’s still Canada that lures him the most, with a re-visit to the trails around Kelowna and to where it all started for him. Canada and its riding holds a lot of fond memories, with days in Whistler spent lapping A-Line until there was no more skin left on his elbows evoking a twinkle in his eyes. Back then, Germany wasn’t exactly known for its lift-accessed riding, so the madness of Whistler and Canada's other lift-accessed riding gave Felix a sense of being a proper mountain biker.

And that he certainly is. Quietly one of the quickest guys in the office with a steadfast and solid style on a bike. Rides with him are never not fun, with him often putting you first just to give you that bit of additional friendly pressure, more often than not on trails that he played some part in building.

While he tips his cap to Ruben for his contagious energy and passion for bikes and their development, we owe a lot of why RAAW is the way it is to Felix. He’s humbly been a part of it for a long time and helped shape it into a company that, unsurprisingly, represents so many things he cares about in a brand and its products.

With such turbulent times in the bike industry, we can thank our lucky stars for having someone as level-headed and diligent as Felix sporting the title of CFO. The good ship RAAW isn’t going down with him having a firm hand on the wheel.