Ingrid Doerr

The creator of Roach products has passed away. I understand she had been ill for a while and passed peacefully and quietly recently. I knew her from way back in the late 80’s from racing xc and later when she was making her iconic clothing and accessories and sponsored races. We lost a good one.

So sad to hear this. I was just thinking about her recently. 

I used to be a bike courier back in the 80's and fondly remember hanging out on the grassy area in front of the Bentall Centre on warm summer days and chatting with Ingrid. 

When she started Roach, I bought that top tube pad and a pair of shorts. The shorts are long-gone, but that tube protector is still around.

Thanks Ingrid! Rest in Peace.

So sad!

Back in the late 90s she made me a bunch of custom arm and leg pads. I went to pick up the arms from the Roach shop on Powell and the girl at the desk was like, 'here are your girlfriend's custom leg pads'. Lol.

Before Roach there were no baggies, no overshorts, no armour. Roach ushered in modern riding gear as we know it. For sure it was a bit coarse and sure wasn't stretchy or very breathable. But it was amazing stuff, visionary for the time, so durable and dignified compared to lycra. It epitomized riding at the time: it's scary out there so toughen up and try to make it home in one piece.

I saw Ingrid regularly in those days, from around 1998 to 2006. Think about the times you fell off the gerbil cage on CBC into that standing water, or sliding down that trough at the beginning of Firehose. For a solid decade Roach gear got me home a little less broken.

RIP.

I am really sorry to hear this.  Roach was, without a doubt, one of the best clothing/swag/armour companies out there, even today.  I still miss my Roach armour and I still have a pair of used only once DH pants personally made by Ingrid.  I have to suck in very little to still get them to fit....  Ingrid was a person of integrity in a world that had little of it, and a perfect example of this is what happened to Roach when RaceFace bought them.  Stupidest move to let a company go with such a brand recognition, and the name to boot...  I always liked Core Rat as well, but I think the "something extra" that Roach had is the likes we will not see again.  I wish Ingrid's family the best at this time.  The standard Ingrid set with Roach has been seldom reached since.  

I remember having to take my said DH pants in to get a small adjustment at the shop on Powell, and Ingrid did it on the spot, no charge.  Luckily, I never had to use the armour for its intended purpose, but I was witness to a then riding partner essentially slide all the way down the chute at the end of Per Gynt, on his Roach armoured prayer bones.  Not a scratch.

A profound loss indeed.

RIP. legendary gear. She made me a custom vest back in the day. Hate that I lost it. My condolences to her family and friends.

I met Ingrid when I first moved to Vancouver in the mid-1990's when she had her little shop at south end of the Cambie Street bridge.  There weren't a lot of women riding in those days and I remember going into the store and not wanting to dress like a dude.  So Ingrid made me a light-blue cordura skirt to ride in and it was the absolute BEST.  That Roach skirt (and that shin saving leg-armour) are inextricably wrapped up with my early days of riding and were part of some of the best adventures of my life.  

My impressions of Ingrid were always that she was one helluva women - at once soft, fierce and really fucking brave.  So sad to hear of her passing.  I wont ever get a chance to thank her for that skirt or to be able to tell her that wearing it made me feel so awesome and radical.  It kept me biking and biking makes me who I am.  

I wish her family and close friends the utmost of strength as they deal with their loss.  She is an inextricable part of the fabric of the mountain biking community and she will be missed.

Oh wow I totally forgot about those Roach skirts!

Just saw her this summer at the night market where she ran the beer garden. 

Such a great person. Such a loss.

I never met her personally but I did communicate with her about ordering this custom Kris Holm-esque leg armour, delivered to Victoria via Greyhound I remember.  You'll see a stem pad there too.  This would have been in 2004.  

Didn't know she did the North Van night market.

RIP Ingrid.

https://www.pinkbike.com/news/ingrid-doerr-founder-of-roach-clothing-has-passed-away.html