Hailing from Northern California, Taylor has honed his skills to vault him into the top tier of international slopestyle and dirt jump film and competition riders. His close proximity to the US office will provide Marin with a wealth of rider input on product. His charismatic personality on and off the bike will compliment Marin's existing riders Shaums March, Yuri Hauswald and Team Lost Coast Brewery while bringing a new face to Marin's growing gravity program.
In September a publication commented on Andrew, proclaiming him as "The standout slopestyle rider of the year". He backed up that statement with some solid results in 2008, including 2nd place at at Crankworx Colorado(also winning the Best Trick award), 2nd at Highland MTB's Claymore Challenge, 2nd at the Nissan Townhill Slopestyle in Italy, 4th in the Austrian King of Dirt, 5th at the Red Bull Bike at Ray's MTB.
"We are all really excited to have Andrew aboard", stated Marin Marketing Manager Mark Vanek. "Andrew's energy and enthusiasm for riding is awesome. I'm looking forward to seeing him grow as a rider on our bikes. Even after achieving all that he has done he still has a lot of potential-he's going to impress a lot of people."
In response to partnering with the Marin program, Taylor said, "This is honestly a great fit for both of us. I live about twenty minutes away from the Marin office, so it's easy for me to stop by the office to talk to the product designers and go on rides with everybody. I am stoked to be working with Marin, and I think there is a ton of potential behind our partnership."
Taylor will riding the Marin Wolf Ridge, Quake XLT and Alcatraz bikes in 2009; highlighting Marin's products in some of the biggest mountain bike events around the globe in addition to being on camera as a feature rider in the upcoming "Summer of Shred" film. The season is already starting to fill up with an international schedule of competitions and filming events with an upcoming trip covering California, Africa, Norway and New Zealand.
Andrew has also become the latest addition to the Adidas team. He recently returned home from a week at the Adidas headquarters where he and Summer Of Shred teammate Phil Sundbaum met with the Adidas marketing team and kicked off their involvement by riding down the 1976 Olympic Bobsled Track in Innsbruck, Austria on studded tires. Look for the clip on www.adiridas.com and www.summerofshred.com. Andrew's trip is currently being broadcast on Freecaster.tv.
Andrew will also be supported by Gravity Components, Camelbak, Kenda, Formula Brakes, The Hive, Xpedo and X-Fusion.
Marin Bikes, a designer and manufacturer of performance bicycles and bicycle accessories, is located in Marin County, the birthplace of mountain biking. Marin, founded in 1986 by Robert Buckley, who remains it principal owner, and the company's employee/owners are as committed to high quality service and customer support as they are to the lifestyle of cycling. Distributed in approximately 40 countries with international offices in Canada, Taiwan and Switzerland, Marin continues to pursue its original mission of providing quality performance and product innovation.
source: Mark Vanek