From Rockstar Pro To Businessman | The Story Of Peaty’s

Steve Peat is a legendary figure in mountain biking, renowned for his exceptional downhill career and playing a pivotal role in developing the British downhill mountain biking scene. In addition to his historical presence in downhill, Steve Peat also started a clothing brand called Royal and more recently Peaty’s which sells performance bike products such as chain lube and tyre sealant. Neil Donoghue recently interviewed Steve Peat to get to know more about his past exploits and his more recent accomplishments.

⏱ Timestamps ⏱
00:00 – Who Is Steve Peat
01:05 – Describe Steve Peat In One Sentence
02:27 – Steve Peat’s DH Racing Career
06:06 – Training & Partying In California
11:46 – Starting Royal Racing & Inspiring The Youth
15:08 – Trying To Win World Champs
19:21 – Steve Peat’s Involvement In Modern DH Racing
20:47 – The Making Of Peaty’s Products

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how would I describe Steve Pete to
someone who knows nothing about
him he’s one of the world’s best Dino
Racers
[Music]
ever a Pioneer for the British mountain
bike
[Applause]
scene fun loving party animal and a
businessman
during his racing career he launched
Royal racing the clothing brand and more
recently petties build as Performance
Products designed in the UK by world
champion biker Steve Pete
[Music]
[Music]
explaining him in one sentence is not
easy uh that’s a good one um definitely
like an oversized character isn’t he
he’s like he’s obviously a big a big lad
and then just with the confidence in his
in his Aura um he’s just like a big big
scary cartoon character that’s not scary
do you know what I mean like he’s he’s a
superhero cartoon character is he a
gentle giant um what I’ve seen he’s
always got attenion around him and he
takes the time out for everybody you
know and I always thought he was he a
great role model the the the the fun and
the professionalism and the business uh
I think that’s what’s really gave him
longevity and he’s just a likable guy
you know just you can see why people
want to be around him he’s got time for
everybody and he’s also interested in
you as well you know so um that’s what
always liked about Steve you
know I’m here in Sheffield the north of
England to catch up with Steve about his
racing career and talk about how he
manages to run successful businesses as
well as still being heavily involved in
Dino racing as the head coach of the
Santa Cruz syndicate
[Music]
uh My World Cup career was probably I
mean I went to World Championships
before I actually started racing World
Cup so did did one in ‘ 94 95 was my
first full season so what was that I
retired in 2016 so it’s 21 22 years
probably as long as anyone’s really
raced the highest level I
guess Min stands out I suppose but not
many people hang around for that long in
World Cup day no not really I think
Mina’s probably
passed me a little bit now but he yeah I
think he did he started later and he’s
still going now so yeah in my early days
of my career I just took every race that
came I sort of went to every weekend
just like oh this is really fun I’m
traveling with my mates I’m racing
mountain bikes I’m getting sponsored uh
I’m winning races it was just fun and I
was just ticking it off ticking it off
when I got the second place in 1996 at
panty coaster in Spain that sort of
ignited a little bit of a f as to be
like I just got second here I could
probably win one of these things one day
I feel really
thankful for getting into mountain
biking basically um I loved it it was my
hobby and it turned it did turn into a
job obviously at some point but yeah
like like I said before I was taking
every weekend as it came getting
sponsorship getting bikes getting
getting money eventually um but yeah I’m
just a local lad from from Sheffield
from chap toown in Sheffield and like I
still love hanging out with my mates so
I think a big part of it for me was
hanging out with my mates every weekend
having a laugh uh whether You’ done good
or bad you still went for a few beers
afterwards and had a bit of a party and
and enjoyed life basically at the end of
the year we raced World Champs in can’s
and I had quite a few teams approached
me there uh there was like Tre and and
um Gary fiser and the and GT and
I’d not been on much money I was on mbuk
GT the year before probably on about 10
grand I think and I said to Palmer like
I’ve got these big deals like what like
how much should I ask for like double
what I’m on now he was like no way B you
need to ask for
$100,000 I’m like there’s no way I can
go in there and ask for that he’s like B
just look him in the eyes and think of
me and ask for that amount of money and
I actually did it I went into these
meetings and I was I was quite shy at
that stage in my life I was quite shy
when I was younger and I went into these
meetings and then when they asked about
the money side of it I was just like
yeah $100,000 please like and uh I felt
so embarrassed doing it but um GT was
the one that I wanted to ride for and
they didn’t give me that amount of money
they came back with an offer that was
less but I snatched their hand off cuz
that was the team that I wanted to ride
for I mean I I must just say that the
dollar to pound ratio back then was
about 2 to one so it wasn’t as much
money as it sounded but um yeah I think
Palmer Palmer asked for those big
amounts of money so he could go and buy
more Cadillacs and have parties at
weekend and and uh and just have fun
with his life um hanging out with him
was some of the best years uh there’d be
me Kurt vores Randy Lawrence um Rob
Warner and we just had a laugh we we
were although we were racing and we were
serious and we trained trained hard we
enjoyed ourselves to the max as
[Music]
well G of California for me was to get
out of the British kind of winter go to
somewhere where you didn’t have to clean
your bike every day or like be out in
the rain and that just be a bit more
consistent training through that sort of
time
um GT were also in Southern California
so that was like quite easy for me to I
think when I when I first went there I
went there in 97 I just signed for GT
Mike King was a teammate and I’d been
talking to Mike and he actually said oh
if you want to come to San Diego come
come and stay for a month or two um so
that was that was start of 97 I went and
stayed with Mike King and realized how
Pro he was like he’d come from BMX and
they were all like Gym training like
really hard um so I could do all that
training and I did build up over the
years but at the same time it made me
realize training was a massive part of
it
so that that was the 97 season 97 was a
good season for me I was still mega fit
and and good but after that I’d learned
that I needed to be like in California
to to to get myself away from everything
at Sheffield and going out with my mates
at weekends and and uh and and the the
weather and the rain and all that sort
of stuff and just being able to be a lot
more consistent with training and
Ticking everything off so 97 was San
Diego 98 I decided to go to Huntington
Beach um there was a couple of BMX mates
there that I could go to sheep Hills
dirt jumps just down the road um you
could drive to lagona beach you could
drive up to Big Bear like all within all
within a couple of hours basically um
Gold’s Gym was just around the corner
we’d be there every day
um but at the same time I’ve always been
a bit like if I have a solid day
training I like to celebrate so it’s a
bit of a downfall maybe but um yeah we
we did train hard we were we lived right
next to a bunch of AA Pro BMXers in
America that were
obviously training the like the best
there was a lot of money in BMX at that
time so those guys were really
professional and really Pro about the
train and everything um there was a
couple of them that I was good mates
with that would love to have a drink and
stuff like that with me some some UK
guys that lived out there so yeah we’d
always we’d always have a good day
training or a good weekend racing and
then celebrate have a couple of days on
the piss SoCal was the place to be for
BMX with sheep Hills with the orange
YMCA track uh and a lot of the industry
was there as well so you got a lot of
guys from you know England there was
guys like myself Neil wood Jamie staff
that made the four move you had a lot of
top of the French guys there were some
of the fastest guys in the world at the
time Thomas aler that wrote for GT
Kristoff LEC that was a son and then
went on to
specialized um and so it kind of really
was the the hub for for BMX racing for
the pros and you’d get a lot of the
European guys that would come out during
the winter time uh and then obviously
that branched off to to a lot of the
mountain bikes and a lot of you guys
coming out as well so it really was bike
Heaven during those mid 80 mid 90s uh
moving into the 2000s it was just a
great place to be and ride a bike you
know Steve actually got on GT when I was
already on GT and and he’s like hey I’m
coming out to SoCal uh for the winter uh
so he came and stayed with me and Todd
lions for a couple days um and then I
kind of introduced Steve to a lot of the
the BMX guys um I think Mike King was a
GT guy at the same time so we kind of
knew that crew um and all the BMXers Lov
Steve you know he he really was
he was a celebrity to us as well because
he he brought in that the the fun um you
know professionalism but fun and just
just everybody gravitated towards him
all the all the GT BMX team loved him
and um yeah we liked him and obviously
all the friends you know that came out
and stuff it was uh it was just really
cool you know and I think I was living
with Neil wood at the time it was a
little bit of a Steve Pete trained hard
uh was fast but likeed to have a drink
or you know he like to have fun as well
and I think once we paired Steve uh and
Neil together they became really great
friends and it was kind of cool to see
those two guys in action you know I
bought a motocross bike out there and
obviously used that for training but fun
training for me um Randy Lawrence was a
mate of mine he’d been racing mountain
bikes for quite a few years and he ended
up being Jeremy McGrath mechanic uh
McGrath was always like my kind of hero
who was um Supercross Legend the king of
like
Supercross um but he was a really nice
guy and he was always had time for his
fans and stuff like that so I actually
tried to emulate him a little bit
throughout my career and just be be good
to the fans and all that sort of stuff
but luckily hanging out in Southern
California you got to meet all those
type of people um I was riding for Troy
Lee I I was mates with Randy Lawrence
and we’d go to the Super crosses and and
we’d hang out with those sort of people
so
although they were they were kind of
similar to me they’d like to have a bit
of a party at times but they were really
Pro about the sport that they were doing
and riding every day and I just put
myself in that sort of position where I
could ride every day but still enjoy
[Music]
myself Nick bis was a mate of mine he
came out to California and we sat down
and decided to come up with a clothing
company so we’re like well why don’t we
make some clothing and and sell t-shirts
and sell hoodies and stuff like that
like we can fund a bit more stuff uh and
then that grew and then we wanted to
start a race team and and call it the
Royal racing team um just to put like I
I felt from very early on that I was I
was getting good deals and I wanted to
put a little bit back into the sport
um yeah Royal racing was born I think
in the end of 98 99 maybe early 99
um and it it was really good I just it
was just something that you could put a
bit more focus in and do other stuff
I’ve I’ve always made myself busy maybe
too busy but I’ve always liked to do
stuff and and stay on top of stuff I
suppose and you went on to by people
like Mark Bowmont Brendon facl Josh
Bryson some of the world’s best riders
that have won World Cups when you
started racing at that age Steve Pete
the name comes into your vocabulary you
know pretty soon pretty early on you
only have to meet him for one minute to
realize that he’s like the kindest like
and most influential not in like just I
wanted to copy everything he did I
wanted to see how he put his gloves on I
wanted to see how he put his shoes on I
wanted to like sniff overol because he
sniffed over all you know want he’s just
like that he just he’s just that in the
nicest possible way was like just a bit
of a dad figure to me back then rather
than like a sports Idol if you know what
I mean he was more of a dad Idol like
everything he did I just wanted to sort
of Cy um apart from his whips um even
like now when I think like the sport lot
a lot of riders back then and now just
ride and that’s all they focus on is
just training riding winning which is
what you absolutely have to do but
sometimes I think they’re too tunnel
vision they don’t look what’s going to
happen after or what’s going to happen
around and and what’s going to happen
if that tunnel vision
that end result doesn’t doesn’t get you
to where you want to go there’s no other
paths which I think he without probably
directly teaching me taught me that a
lot yeah I think the way that I always
looked at it with with Royal racing and
helping younger Riders was I was at the
top of my game at World Cup now and I
was mates with the Nikos and the kavor
and Ren’s and Gregs and all all those
sort of top Riders and I felt that if I
could bring a younger Rider into this
Royal racing team take him to a World
Cup introduce him to the Nikos and the
kavor and all those sort of riders then
when when that rider was old enough to
race World Cups it wouldn’t be as
intimidating for him and it’ be easier
they they could like the way that I did
it moving to California living with Mike
King and realizing what I needed to do
to train and be at the top of my game I
was just trying to pass that sort of
info on to those Riders at a younger age
so that they be better when they
actually got to racing World Cups so
that was one of the focuses on
[Music]
it I’d had a quite a few second places
at World Champs um I’d been trying for
years I think for 16 years I went to
every World Champs thinking this is it
I’m going to win I’m going to this Now’s
the Time kind of thing um but yeah that
one in leier 2004 my runup to that race
was a little bit weird I’d broke a
collar bone five or six weeks prior I
think maybe six weeks and I’d had it
plated I’d had like laser surgery I’d
tried to come back as strong as I could
and I felt really good when I got to the
race I’d not got any Race speed CU I’d
not been racing the week before but I
felt really good on track uh ended up
qualifying fastest being last man down
the hill and I probably came into that
turn a little bit too hot um tracker
deteriorated a little bit and some and
roots and stuff come out my back wheel
kicked off a route and and span me round
um it wasn’t until after the race that I
knew that I was up a couple of seconds
on Fabian
and I knew I’d got a good chance I knew
I was on a good run on that race and
that one actually hurt it’s probably one
of the first times I climbed in the back
I was riding for orange at the time I
climbed in the back of the truck and
cried my eyes out basically
um and it hurt for a long time probably
hurt all the way until till I won World
Champs you take it off at
camra maybe a place you weren’t
expecting to win as The Story Goes
that’s the that’s the first World
Championships that I actually went
to where I’d not been able to train good
before it I’d got a bad back I knew it
was quite a physical track down bottom
of of the of the Hill um and I I went
there thinking I was just making up the
numbers I actually felt quite bad about
myself I’m like don’t think I should
really be doing this um I worked with ro
Dr Robert Copeland was a sports
psychologist from Sheffield and I told
him before I was going out there I don’t
feel like I should I should be going I
feel like I’m making up the numbers and
he was like oh don’t worry about it
just go out there and I’ll I’ll drop you
a note like just when you get out there
so we went there for two week like two
weeks full full sort of time and um he
sent me this email and the the basics of
it just kind of said tick something off
each day that you feel will make make
you feel better that make you feel more
confident so I set this goal of loads of
things to tick off one of them was not
drinking the Night Before the Race um
which Rob cop now laughs at cuz like me
and him obiously yeah like it was just
one of my goals and that was it it was
funny I actually called him went Rob
this is one of them
um but the whole time I was in Australia
just things were happening every day
that were making me feel better and I
just this confidence just like grew up
from actually getting that email from
Rob um my confidence just grew and grew
and grew I knew I was really fast on the
top part of that track there was the it
was the rocky Gully most technical bit
and I knew I could make up second second
and a half on that section um the rest
of the track in my qualifying run I had
a little slide out like at the Long
Bridge section Midway down um so I lost
time there so I didn’t qualify that
great and but I’d got everybody else’s
qualifying times from that bridge down
to the bottom the all the guys that had
gone fast so will longdon was team
manager at that time next morning me and
will went up there and he got the
stopwatch out and we went and ticked off
every section so I knew that I was as
fast if not faster than all the fast
guys down that bottom section of track
so my confidence was massive going into
that finals of that race um two weeks
before I think I was I thought I was
just making up the numbers but the
confidence grew there and I nailed the
top of the track I knew Greg was really
strong on the bottom of the track and
I’d probably lose a little bit to him
there and uh luckily I made a second and
a half up up top and I lost nearly all
of it at the bottom but managed to just
pip
Greg I definitely think the sport has
got a lot more professional bikes have
progressed Riders have progressed
training’s progressed um like it does in
every sport really um nowadays if if
there’s one Rider that starts winning
races and he doesn’t go to a party he
doesn’t drink beer or anything doesn’t
really in my eyes enjoy himself that
much outside of just racing uh then the
other Riders see that and they feel like
they have to do the same sort of stuff
so it’s it’s a little bit harder in that
sense but I think downhills in general
are quite a Fun Bunch so the crew that
we’ve got on the syndicut all all have a
laugh but they’re a lot more serious
than I was back in the day about every
aspect of getting faster we’ve got three
different Riders we got Jackson who is
Young and just Mega confident he’s he he
doesn’t really need that much he’s quite
robust um we got Lori who like he had a
few health issues last year so he was
like up and down a little bit so I’d try
and help him a lot more on that side of
it uh and then Nina Nina is can lack
confidence on a certain type of track
but I can see when that’s coming so I
can take it to one side like come on
let’s go let’s go work on this area or
whatever so yeah they definitely still
still come to me if they need something
[Music]
yeah Pete’s products started 7 years ago
now was it what would that be
2017 I was running the the SPs team team
um and I had a couple of riders on there
Tom Mak and Brinn Morgan
and I think they were doing shuttle runs
one day and Tom’s Tire popped off the
back of the truck just it just popped
off the rim while it was on the back of
the truck and it covered the back of his
truck in in sealant like the tailgate of
his truck and when he got to the top of
the hill I don’t know what what brand it
was but it had started to eat at the
paint a little bit on the back of the
truck so it made Tom think Tom Tom was a
a water scientist um he like did a lot
of testing on water and stuff like so he
was that sort of brain and he was
thinking like why is why is this
sealant so bad and so so bad for the
environment and all that kind of stuff
we want him and so him and Brinn then
started chatting and brinn’s a bit of a
designer and they they came and
approached me and said look we’re
thinking about doing some TIY and do you
want to do you want to get involved do
you want to like start a company with us
and see where it goes so obviously going
back to the old Royal days and all that
sort of thing like I’ve always like
tried to take a punt on stuff and and
see if something works and I could see
that being quite a good thing so yeah we
we went for it and started P started
Pete’s products in 2017 by riders for
Riders a lot of people a lot of
companies claim that but yeah we are we
are true to our word on that we we
employ people and ask them if they ride
about it before it’s probably the first
question in the in the interview process
but
um yeah for us it’s just we like to we
like to take a
product and design it around what works
for a rider somebody that’s out on the
trail every day and using it we’re not
just like designers that don’t go and
test our own stuff or anything we we
really make sure and put a lot of effort
into all the all the products to to make
them best we can so obiously the company
is now 7 years old and and growing a
little bit and it’s quite cool for me
to be able to put back into other teams
we’ve got a really good list of some of
World Cup teams now that uh use our
products and and supporters out of the
races and that’s that’s a massive part
for me we can go to any one of those
teams and ask them what they like about
the products what they think we should
change what products they would like to
see next um and that’s the that’s the
four of it World Cup racing is the
Forefront of it so for us at pet is to
be able to have like World Cup teams
there is absolutely awesome
[Music]
[Music]
[Music]
[Music]
cheers Steve good to catch up and uh
thanks for showing us around the woods
yep classic Steel City down track here
um actually got revamped years ago from
the money from the from the race so all
the money over the years has gone back
into building the trails in here so it’s
awesome to have these sort of trails on
our doorstep yeah amazing and you’re
back the day job looking after the World
Cup team then I am back to syndicut
duties um getting ready season’s going
to kick off pretty soon so ramping it up
ready for for Bill well good luck hope
you guys well cheers pul