RAAW Inside Out - Ruben

Inside Out is a series of stories showing the people behind RAAW. Over the past nine 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. 

This edition of Inside Out is a big one. Mr RAAW himself, Ruben Torenbeek.

Ideas can often be plentiful, floating around in people’s heads, even spending years being moulded and refined. But it takes a special kind of person to jump into the unknown and bring an idea to reality, especially when that idea is as big as a person’s livelihood.

After a long period of working at brands like Ghost, Acros, and Scott Sports, as well as testing bikes for Enduro Mag, Ruben had formed an idea so clear of how his ideal mountain bike would be, along with the brand behind it, that it became an itch he simply had to scratch. 

That bike was the original Madonna, and the brand was RAW Mountain Bikes. 

Ruben’s journey began in the 90s, when his uncle, an avid MTB fan, planted the seed of the sport in the young Dutchman, starting him saving every Gulden for his first MTB in 2001: a Giant Boulder ATX team. 

With a keenness to learn more skills and a dad who had a history in motorcycle trials, Ruben got quite into MTB trials. By then, the internet was in full swing, with websites like eBay opening the door to a bigger second-hand market. The nervous wait for his own trials bike, an Echo Pure, inbound from the UK, had him thinking he’d been scammed. But once it arrived, decked out in Chris King components, the front wheel never touched the ground.

Before long, Ruben and friends had scaffolding constructions and a skillset big enough to do trials demonstrations at local events under the bikedemo.nl brand. Perhaps it’s the Dutch culture that also helps empower, but Ruben had an entrepreneurial streak in him from an early age. 

Family holidays in 2006 to British Columbia fed his appetite for bikes even further. A poor Kona Stinky rental in Whistler had its knobs ridden off until the very last minute, with Ruben’s Dad holding the rental shop door open at 8pm for Ruben to drop the bike back off.

Downhill bikes played a big part in shaping this Hollander, with many years devoted to cramming as much stuff as possible into a small car, slapping number plates on, and touring around Europe in that addictive search for the perfect run against the clock. Never one to sandbag, Ruben raced in the elite class at IXS German, Swiss, and European cups. 

A thinker and tinkerer at heart, studies in design engineering led to influential roles at Ghost, Acros, and Scott Sports. During this time, he shaped the future of bikes like the Genius, brought the one-piece-cockpit concept to Syncros, and, as a test rider for Enduro Mountainbike Magazine, got to rag the living daylights out of other brands' visions of mountain bikes. Bikes like the Trek Slash and polarizing Pole Evolink all fed into the little mental notebook that, by now, was brimming with innovative ideas.

2016 rolled around, and the itch scratching began. As a no-nonsense engineer, Ruben grew RAAW’s roots deep into function from day one. The original Madonna prioritized durability, ease of maintenance, and used over 500g of hardware—an idea prior employers laughed at. But he knew he was onto something. Those foundations set RAAW apart and made people sit up and take notice when the first Madonna launched.

It was the climax of a rollercoaster ride, picking up the first frame at Genio, the chosen vendor. So many things need to come together to create a successful bike, let alone a business, that it was hard for him to fully appreciate the moment. Years of sacrifice—skipping riding holidays, eating only cheap pasta to save money, and sheer blood, sweat, and tears—all swept away with the first ride of the bike in Kronplatz. The bike looked amazing, and friends who had already placed their orders based on just a screenshot were overflowing with excitement to ride theirs. 

That first batch of Madonnas mostly went to Ruben’s immediate circle of family, friends, and industry acquaintances. The bike rode like an animal and was bang on the approaching wave of aggro 29ers that we now consider the norm. Looking at one today, all those years and iterations later, and it could still hold its own in many aspects.

As the brand organically grew, stoke from the riders spread like a wildfire, and people like Felix and Susi, Ruben’s now wife, joined the team, RAAW kept to its foundations of creating durable and sendable mountain bikes that everyone at the brand loved riding. It might sound like a phrase stolen from marketing jargon, but a lot of that copy was forged from the feelings and stories that flourished in those early years.

Ruben’s role at RAAW has changed dramatically since the beginning, going from a one-man band, developing bikes and sweeping floors, to being in charge of product and marketing. He also remains the owner, something he feels is an opportunity and responsibility he has to showcase how he thinks bikes should be designed, how a brand should be built, how it takes care of customers, and, ultimately, how he can guide RAAW in finding its own little space in the world of bikes. Not having anyone else, like investors or private equity firms, tell RAAW how it should do things remains a special aspect of owning the business for him.

That professional side of Ruben is undoubtedly why RAAW has succeeded. Wise beyond his years and with a well-screwed-on head, he’s always steered the good ship RAAW in a positive and wholesome direction. But it’s only a small side of him, and once the bikes are out, his inner kid, and terrible jokes, come out.

Always keen for a ride or another lap, he’s a man who we’re not quite sure where his riding limits are. You push him out on the trail, thinking you have him covered, only for him to find another gear in the Doppelkupplungsgetriebe and pull away. It’s never a dull ride with him, and now that RAAW has rooted in the P-Falz, rides in the endless rolling forests are some of the best, filled with dirt flying, dad jokes, and face-hurting grins. Especially with the hero-like dirt after a big downpour.

That’s probably why his Jibb V2 LT is his favourite bike. When samples of the frame arrived, Ruben bolted on his go-to components, which have really stood the test of time, and headed out to get it dirty. He was met with a bike that almost had him cancelling all others in the lineup due to its heady mix of being capable and reassuring enough to do just about anything, but at the same time so playful and inviting, giving buckets of feedback through to the rider and instilling, what is basically a collection of metal and rubber, with a soul.

It’s a mountain biker’s mountain bike for him, and, given the choice, he’ll pack the van with just the Jibb no matter the destination. A recent Squamish trip, high up in the alpine with the setting sun, firmly reaffirmed its capabilities and ability to plaster his face with a smile wherever he rides it. It was a special moment, shared with good friends and beautiful views, that he’s still finding hard to comprehend weeks later.

With the world as his oyster, and an eye on where he’s keen to explore next on two wheels, he simply replies that there’s nothing he looks forward to more than getting out for another ride in the local woods. This time, with his little boy, Finn, in the front seat. 

Riding bikes is the mandatory yin to his daily work-life yang. While deep down he does like to scare himself and push it on a bike, being out in nature, in that meditative state of mind that comes from only being focused on the two meters in front of you, helps balance out a life that can be overwhelmingly busy at times.

But through all that hard work and dedication, Ruben’s now built a eight-strong team of individuals around him to share the load and help shape the future of the company. His careful consideration of the right person for the role is only a close second to his ability to instill a strong work ethic, loyalty, and pride in the brand you’re working for. Skills that many managers or business owners miss completely, but that true natural born leaders and entrepreneurs have deep inside them.

We all owe a lot to this long-legged Dutchman for creating not only a brand that so many people can get behind with immense force, but also for creating an opportunity for a few to turn their passion into their profession. Thank you, so very much, for being Mr RAAW.