CLASSIC LEGACY

Our Mission

Innovation and leadership are at the core of Classic Rope's DNA

Since 1986, Classic Rope has pursued to technologically advance the team rope to improve quality, feel, and performance, helping ropers compete and reach their greatest potential.

Classic ropes are individually made to order using the latest blends of high-tech nylon and polyester fibers. We take great pride in the superior craftsmanship and competitive edge our ropes offer to the athletes who use them. Innovation is a catalyst for improving the way we do business and an opportunity that’s been integrated with every phase of the rope production process. We are committed to making the sport better for all ropers with investments in associations, events, and clinics to spur positive changes and advancements benefiting ropers around the globe.

Blends of the latest high technology fibers and nylons and poyester individually go into each Classic Rope

Each Classic Rope is handled by a skilled professional rope maker

The eyes of each Classic Rope are hand sewn

Classic Ropes are swung before they go to stores

Classic Rope uses high tech machines to manufacture their ropes

Evolution of Classic Rope

From Start-Up shop to Industry Leader

Beginning as a small start-up shop in Granbury, TX with a humble launch in the late 80's, we recognized early in an opportunity within the fragmented rope production market. Most team ropes at the time were "coil ropes" and the majority of the 32 rope companies operating bought rope from an industrial rope manufacturer and made 600-foot, pre-waxed, nylon strand coil ropes. These coils had to be solar aged for a year or longer until they were suitable for competition. After the ropes had cured, rope companies branded them and sold them as their own. Ropers had to shop locally from ropers with distributorship or at regional team roping events. Ropes were not carried in stores like they are today, and there was not a variety of selection.

Classic ropes were made differently from the beginning, using horizontal machines to make ropes in specific, ready-to-tie lengths. They were spun before they were waxed leaving the rope with a crisp, fast feel that set the rope's memory and body overnight, taking an entire year of sun-curing out of the equation. Classic ropes were tied within days of being made and could be used immediately. The first Classic Rope was the Classic Gold, a neutral colored nylon rope, the start of something new.

The MoneyMaker

The Standard is Born

An early turning point for Classic Rope was the creation of the Money Maker in 1987. With an opportunity to try some overrun polyester from a supplier, it was spooled into a rope, and after rigorous tweaking and testing, the Money Maker was born. This was the first nylon/poly rope on the market and the first rope that wasn’t a neutral tone having a green hue. The Money Maker was revolutionary not only because of its unique color, but because when the poly was added to the nylon, it allowed for the rope to have a smaller diameter while keeping a good weight. The poly also deadened the nylon, so the Money Maker had more tip weight, resulting in an overall more user-friendly, balanced rope. This provided a never-felt-before “feel” which quickly became the preference of professionals and amateur ropers alike.

The Sport of Team Roping

Bringing Organization to the sport

The landscape of team roping in the 1980’s looked vastly different than it does today and was not an organized sport. Groups of team ropers across the country competed in grass root/ backyard events. There was no unifying association or classification system, so most of the events were “open” to anyone who wanted to enter. Depending on geographic location, some jackpots had open, junior or senior mixed (team must include a woman or youth), and 40+ divisions. If a roping had a handicap system, it was based solely on opinion and could vary greatly from region to region. Team roping was offered at rodeos, but not always, and rodeos were not required to add equal money to the purse of the event. During this time, we did see the production of major jackpot events geared toward the now classified, “open roper”, at the likes of the Bob Feist Invitational and the George Strait Team Roping Classic. While new events offered a great opportunity for the professionals, there was a major void for a place for the amateur and beginning roper to compete. As a result, the overall number of active ropers across the nation was low due to the lack of opportunity for ropers at all levels.

Classic Rope team member Aaron Tsinigine winning the 2015 George Strait Team Roping Classic

Classic Rope team member Luke Brown won the Bob Feist Invitational using a Classic Rope

This made a high demand for a unifying team roping association, which resulted in the formation of the United States Team Roping Championships in 1989. The USTRC implemented a revolutionary classification system providing an opportunity to every roper at any skill level or age to compete against likely skill leveled competitors, changing the sport forever. We saw the growth opportunity the USTRC was offering the sport of team roping and jumped at the chance to get behind the organization in form of sponsorship. In addition to the sponsorship of the USTRC, we started marketing our ropes to the consumer through ads in publications like the Pro Rodeo Sports News and Roper Sports News. Classic not only sponsored events, we began investing in professional team roping endorsers, being the first to “patch” professionals. Along with this, we were also the first to utilize tail tags as a branding tool, indicating type, length and lay of each specific rope – an upgrade from the previously hand-written information on rope burners. All decisions made at that time were made with the evolution of team roping in mind; it was clear to us that team roping needed to grow and we wanted to support the sport in every way possible.

The Core

First of Its kind Technology

In 1998, the XR4 was introduced with the patented designed CoreTech Technology; the first nylon four-strand team rope with a core. The Powerline Lite, released in 2000, was the first polyester/nylon blended rope with a core. This release was followed by a series of new ropes, each one different from the next, not only by color but by material make and fiber blend. At our core, Classic vows that every new rope introduced will always be uniquely different from all others, fitting a specific need for feel and roping style.

Each Classic Rope is made with a Coretech core

The Fire

Restoration and Expansion

As the western industry grew and flourished, Classic Rope and Rattler Rope followed suit. The Highway 51 rope production facility in Granbury would be added onto nine times before a tragic fire would burn it to the ground. Early in the morning on November 30, 2015, the Classic and Rattler Rope Shop went up in flames. The fire would be recorded as one of the largest in Hood County history and despite the valiant efforts of firefighters, everything was destroyed. An investigation was made in attempt to find the cause of the fire, but results were deemed inconclusive. As ashes were still smoldering, plans were made to rebuild immediately. All employees of the facility were promised no loss in pay over the holiday season and immediately began the clean-up. Classic soon released a public statement: We Will Rebuild.

In 2017 the Classic Rope factory in Granbury, TX burned down

After only seven months, rope production commenced in a temporary facility and construction on the new, state of the art, climate-controlled, rope production facility would begin in the new Stephenville, TX location. Mid-summer 2016, we were able to produce only Heat’s and GT4’s for the first time and the new, 98,000 sq. ft. ‘rope shop’ would be fully operational by Fall of 2017. Under the leadership of Craig, Ken, George, and Dallas; 53 employees can now produce 34 different types, blends, and fiber constructions used in the 1,800-2,000 ropes made each day. Every effort was made to ensure Classic rope users would be reunited with their favorite ropes as soon as possible.

The Future of Team Roping

Investment in the Industry

Classic Rope is big supporter of junior ropings

More so than production, Classic Rope has invested in and supported the industry to not only grow in the United States, but to expand team roping and the western industry globally. It has been our greatest honor to have had a hand in helping clinicians, team roping producers, junior rodeo, and team roping associations grow to what they are today. The youth is the industry’s future. Together with our sponsored associations, employees, ambassadors, and clinician partners- we encourage kids to get involved and active with a horse early on, helping them realize their full potential.

The People Behind The Ropes

Our Most Valuable Asset

More valuable than our ropes are the hands that make them. We are a unique group of individuals actively involved in the sport and with horses, daily. We are a team of driven individuals, more dedicated and passionate about the industry than you can find anywhere else with the united belief that everything we do today, can be improved upon tomorrow. This philosophy runs deep throughout our culture and our desire to improve and advance our technology is what keeps us on top.

Classic Rope has a great staff of expert rope makers