The History of Mountain Biking 2014.bak

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FROM THE MAKERS OF
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THE ULTIMATE
OFF-ROAD ICONS
CALIFORNIAN
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KLUNKERS, REPACK
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BIRTH OF THE MTB
Revolutionary bikes, game changing
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Bike evolution
THE STORY OF MOUNTAIN BIKING AS TOLD BY THE PEOPLE WHO WERE THERE
GARY
FISHER
HANS
REY
STEVE
PEAT
BRETT
TIPPIE
CHARLIE
KELLY
JACQUIE
PHELAN
ROB
WARNER
RICHIE
SCHLEY
MARTIN
HAWYES
Editors letter | Welcome 3
I
was a relative late comer to the mountain bike party, buying
my first off-road machine, a Scott Tampico, from Bike Tech a
long since deceased Bristol shop in 1994. With that bike I
explored the (then) semi-legal Bristol trails of Ashton Court
and Leigh Woods, the Mendips, the Quantocks and the
mountains of south Wales. I ll admit scoffing at the notion of (first)
front and (later) rear suspension, until realising that my elastomer-
enabled comrades were not suffering whitefinger on rocky
descents and crucially riding a hell of a lot faster!
The immense buzz of hammering up and down trails hasnt
diminished over the years, due in part to todays incredible bikes
and purpose-built bike parks allowing us to ride faster and harder
than ever before. With the current vogue for slacker angled bikes
and increasingly popular enduro events, bizarrely, aspects of
modern bikes and riding now begin to resemble the early
Californian riders blasting down the trails of Mount Tam.
Richard Owen
Editor
WELCOME
MEET THE EXPERTS
Tym Manley As
founding father and
former editor of
Mountain Biking UK
magazine, Tyms
infamously mischievous
yet detail hungry and accuracy addicted
approach helped popularise the sport. His
influence remains just as strong to this day
having until recently been the founder and
editor-at-large of Privateer magazine.
Steve Worland has
worked in the mountain
bike industry since the
beginning and reviewed
over 2,000 bikes during
the past 25 years. Hes
contributed features on a regular basis to
most bike magazines, past and present. He
was launch editor of What Mountain Bike
and is author of The Mountain Bike Book.
Steve Behr is the most
experienced and well
connected bike
photographer on the
planet, shooting features
for MBUK since its
inception. His bottomless archive contains
every significant bike and rider since dirt
day one and his images are still creating
icons from the latest heroes. He earned his
place in the UK MTB Hall of Fame in 2013.
Jacquie Phelan was at
the heart of the Marin
county MTB movement,
and is an excellent rider.
She was national champ
1983-85, beating the
men, and rode for the US national team
1990-94. She co-founded NORBA and set
up WOMBATS (Womens Mountain Bike &
Tea Society), helping get women into MTB.
Guy Kesteven While
Repack riders were
revolutionising riding,
our Kes was ricocheting
around the woods of
Yorkshire. Since 1997
this rabid rider has reviewed literally
thousands of bikes for MBUK and What
Mountain Bike to make him one of the
worlds most respected velocipede voices.
Andrew Dodd has been
an integral part of the
MBUK staf since 2001.
Not only an expert rider,
Doddy also has an
exceptional knowledge
of the MTB scene and travels the globe
following the hottest of-road stories.
4 MTB history | Contents
EDITORIAL
Editor Richard Owen richard.owen@futurenet.com
Deputy Editor Elizabeth Elliott
Art editors Tina Glencross, Clif Newman
Designer Matthew Hammett
Staf writer Simon Lock
Contributors Martin Astley, Steve Behr, Wende Cragg, Andrew Dodd, Grant
Fielder, Gary Fisher, Aidan Harding, Danny Hart, Martin Hawyes, Glen Jacobs,
Charlie Kelly, Siobhan Kelly, Guy Kesteven, Brian Lopes, Tym Manley, Matt Page,
Steve Peat, Jacquie Phelan, Hans Rey, Richie Schley, Greg Tippie, Donna-Marie
Scrase, Rob Warner, Andy Waterman, Robin Weaver, Steve Worland
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06 The foundations of MTB
22 Repack races
26 MTB icon: Joe Breeze
28 Interview: Wende Cragg
34 MTB icon: Gary Fisher
36 The US scene
46 MTB icon: Jason McRoy
48 Evolution: Cross-country
52 MTB icon: Steve Peat
54 The UK scene
70 Evolution: Downhill
74 MTB icon: Anne-Caro Chausson
76 The story of suspension
86 MTB icon: Ned Overend88
76
06
46
Image: Steve Behr
Contents | MTB history 5
106
146
124
88
88 UK racing: A house divided
98 MTB icon: Hans Rey
100 Evolution: Freeride106
104 MTB icon: Froriders 104
106 Dirt jumping, street and trials
116 MTB icon: Jacquie Phelan
118 Evolution: Enduro
122 MTB icon: John Tomac
124 The 90s explosion
136 How bikes got better
146 The past 10 years
6 MTBs foundations | Mythical beasts
Forty years ago in California three men began the
mountain bike revolution. The story has been told,
retold, revised and embellished many times until
its become the official foundation myth of MTB
I
n 1969, at the end of the summer of love, the
hippy aristocracy who had been powering
Californias curious and surprisingly short
social revolution left the Haight Ashbury
district of San Francisco en masse,
disillusioned by the Manson murders and the killing
at the Rolling Stones free concert at Altamont.
Much that they had thought was leading to a bright
new future was turning rotten in their hands, and a
lot of them took refuge in the hills to get away from
the cops, the cars and the concrete not to mention
the hordes of latter-day hippies from all over the
world who were pouring into the Haight, reeking of
patchouli oil with flowers in their hair, begging
bowls in their hands and bad drugs in their blood.
Among the refugees was Gary Fisher, a seasoned
junior road racer banned for having long hair, who
had been hanging with The Grateful Dead and
running a light show that created the atmospherics
for bands throughout the out-of-control rock
creativity of the late 60s. Fisher was over it poor,
tired and disgusted, with a hunger to get back to
racing bikes again. His hippy days were pretty much
over, but the transition from full-on freak to a
founding father of the mountain bike was a hard
one emotionally. It had been a tight knit community
in the Haight and the Manson thing was personal.
You have to remember that everyone on the scene
knew Charlie Manson. Yes, and the Dead had
organised Altamont.
Into the hills
Fisher went over the bridge to the hills of Marin
County. Most of the refugees headed for the hills for
some clean air and recreation, and they took their
bicycles with them. Nature was hippy penicillin.
Nature worship and green politics mixed in much
the same way then, almost 50 years ago, as they
Writer: Tym Manley
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Mythical
beasts
do now, and bicycles were a part of all
that. The seminal bands, which created
modern rock in just a few years of mixing
blues, folk and cowboy music in the long,
wakeful months on speed and acid, were
also into bikes.
The Grateful Dead, who had been playing
the soundtrack as Ken Keseys Merry
Pranksters, doled out (then legal) LSD, and
sponsored and played at bike races. They
rode, well some of them did not Garcia,
as you can tell by his waistline even back
then. The New Riders of the Purple Sage
were bike inclined, The Quicksilver
Messenger Service too. Influential Marin
band The Sons of Champlin didnt ride.
They were more into borrowing boss roadie
Charlie Kellys car and wrecking it, which
CK insists is the main reason he bought
a bicycle. And he turned out to be very
FIRST THING I NOTICED
RIDING AROUND
MARIN COUNTY WAS
I WAS RIDING FASTER
THAN ANYONE ELSE
good on it. First thing I noticed riding
around Marin County was that I was
riding faster than anyone else, says Kelly.
It was my one athletic gift, and for a guy
who was a wimpy kid at high school, that
was something. So once I got a bike it
became part of my life. Which is what set
Charlie on the road to becoming another
founding father.
Kelly was a native of Marin. He was
Coaster Derby Champion of Mill Valley as a
cub scout, dammit, and he was brought up
in the same community as the third
founding father, Joe Breeze. Nowadays,
when the three of them are lauded for their
achievements, Kelly likes to point out that
not one of them graduated and that hes the
best educated, having spent a year at a small
college trying to avoid the draft. But he
flunked out and was in uniform almost
immediately. Not in the jungles of Vietnam
though his high IQ saw him drafted into a
military medical lab for the duration.
Phoenix and Gryphon
Leaving the army in 1968, Kelly decided the
only cool jobs were in the San Francisco
music scene so he became a roadie. The list
of bands he did shows with is a whos who
of 60s rock, and he once had a conversation
with Janis Joplin while she was naked but
for a pair of red shoes. What did they talk
about? I said, Where do you want these
drums? and she said, Over there. Hes
pretty sure the shoes were red.
Above: The Grateful Dead were part of the early MTB scene, sponsoring and playing at races
Opposite: Gary Fisher at San Rafael Reef, Utah
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Mythical beasts | MTBs foundations 9
I KNEW FROM
THE START THAT
BIKES WERE FOR
MORE THAN
RECREATION
Kellys parents wouldnt buy him a bike.
Maybe his soapbox cart handling skills
made them doubt the wisdom of it. Joe
Breeze was quite the opposite bikes were
part of the day-to-day life of his large family.
My dad was really into lightweight,
efficient vehicles and I knew from the start
that bikes were for more than recreation. I
always had the idea that bikes were part of
the picture. My closest brother was always
egging me on to ride over Mt Tam or up to
Russian River and back, which was 120
miles in a day.
The roads in the hills of Marin County,
just across the Golden Gate Bridge from San
Francisco, feel very special to ride. Off-road,
when they got to that, the terrain is
magnificent. Its semi-arid country, dotted
with thorny scrub and low trees offering
shade, and it smells like youre being shaken
in a bag of oregano. Watered around the
edges by the great wet fogs that are a feature
of the Bay area, it features extensive plains
of yellow waving grass like the back lots
down the coast in LA, which those cowboys
on TV got to ride when the world was young.
You can lose yourself up there, literally
even, because it goes on and on up the coast,
bounded by the topaz blue ocean. This is
wilderness. Prone to wildfires, it also has a
network of fire roads and it was on those
that the founding fathers were to start
riding off-road using the revived 1940s
klunkers theyd taken to using as street
bikes. (Americans call old cars, and almost
any dilapidated piece of machinery, a
clunker its onomatopoeic. Klunker with
the k seems specific to the proto mountain
bikes of this era.)
Restoring klunkers
Fisher thinks it was Breeze who discovered
the 1940s Schwinns had the perfect
geometry and fatness of tyre to ride off-
road. Breeze is the total enthusiast who
inherited his love of bicycles as well as his
engineering skills from his father. Dad and
his friends used to race cars and ride nice
European race bikes. From an early age my
conscious thought was to get out the
amazing secret of cycling to the world.
Clearly Breeze was destined to become a
founding father.
Today Breeze is so obviously what the
Brits think of as the upright American (his
friends say he has never been heard to use a
cuss word) that you cant imagine him as a
hippy somehow. But Kelly remembers
picking him up in his truck back in the day.
He had hair and a beard down here. At 18
Joe looked like the guitar player in ZZ Top.
One of his pleasures was to restore classic
old bikes of the 1890s to get people
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WHEN I WAS IN
SEVENTH GRADE SOME
GIRL SAW ME IN MY
OUTFIT AND SAID, OH
MY GOD! YOU FARMER!
involved with cycling through its heritage,
but in the 70s, not finding anything classic
enough to interest him, he had a go at a 1941
Schwinn and was impressed by its
capabilities on the Mt Tamalpais fire roads.
And how about the young Gary Fisher
was he really a full-on hippy? Yeah,
absolutely, when I was 16 or 17 I was. The
other night I went to a party given by the
archives of Timothy Leary. I went with
Mountain Girl, who was Garcias wife for 20
years. Shes my tight friend and Jack Leary,
Timothys son, was there. I went to jail with
Jack Leary. I was with the Grateful Dead. I
lived in the Dead house and me and Jack got
picked up on Haight Street for curfew
because we were underage and should have
been in school. I saw Jack for the first time
since we were in jail together and he said,
Holy shit! I own three of your bikes!
As a bike rider I remember going by
Keseys place and seeing all the Hells Angels
and everything, looking at them and saying,
Freaks! Yet there was a real similarity
between us, we were all outcasts. We
wanted to do what we wanted to do. We
knew what was right.
You knew what was right. How? Its like
a connection to the real world and nature
and everything. It was like you guys are
stupid thinking this is not right.
Meeting of minds
But in the 60s and early 70s cycling, outside
the ecological bubble, was hugely uncool.
Breeze and Kelly confess to walking miles to
school rather than be seen on a bike. As a
result, grown-up cyclists who rode because
they wanted to not because theyd lost their
drivers licence quickly became aware of
each other.
In those days you didnt have riding
friends, says Breeze, it was so rare. Any
time you saw someone cycling out between
towns youd say, Yo! Hows it going? Oh
yeah. Cyclists were outcasts. Absolutely!
Gary Fisher confirms. When I was in
seventh grade some girl saw me in my outfit
and said, Oh my God! You farmer! And for
the next six months I was ridiculed in my
school. Riding was a secret. I didnt want to
tell anybody. It wasnt any of their business
and I was already an outcast anyway.
Theyd both heard there was another guy
riding a race bike around the place, so Kelly
and Fisher were half expecting to meet up.
When they did it changed a lot of things. I
was a solitary guy with a nice 10-speed bike
before I met Gary, says Kelly, who
remembers their meeting with a certain
competitive glee. Gary had been a road
racer since he was a kid in 1963 and that was
why he was so pissed off when he met me
and I could hammer him off! Hed been
Left: Art Black at Repacks Camera Corner, 1977
Above: Charlie Kellys cycling memorabilia
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Above: Charlie Kelly on Repacks Camera Corner, late
1976, riding his fully modified maroon and white Excelsior
Right: An early Gary Fisher MTB
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GARY WAS SO
PISSED OFF WHEN
HE MET ME AND I
COULD HAMMER
HIM OFF!
doing the light show and been off his bike
for six months, whereas Id hardly been off
mine since I bought it and I could eat him!
Im so glad I made the most of it he never
let me do that again.
Curiously Fisher doesnt mention this
aspect of the meeting, but if he wasnt that
fit, he could always upstage you in other
ways. Heres Fisher: I was living with this
band called the New Riders of the Purple
Sage. I met Charlie out riding and we went
over to the Grateful Dead office to give our
opinions on the bands first album cover.
Thats how it was then. Later on we met
again and he said, I need a roommate, and I
said, Lets do it! Charlie lived above a place
called The Church in San Anselmo. Charlie
was boss roadie for The Sons of Champlin
and this was their practice space.
The next house they moved to was
more famous though: the legendary 32
Humboldt, Fairfax, CA, which was to
become the 22b Baker Street of biking.
Thats where I made my first off-road bike,
later on, when I was living with Charlie.
1974 that would be. (That bike was the
Schwinn Excelsior X. With a wide gear
range and heavy duty braking, it was
probably the first off-road bike that was
rideable up mountains as well as down,
although it weighed in at 42lb).
The network
At much the same time, the growing hub of
cyclists around the place had come together
and formed Velo Club Tamalpais in 1973,
which included most of the pioneers of the
mountain bike. It was a road-riding club for
alternative cyclists. People like Fisher, whod
been riding with the Belmont Bicycle Club
in classy Burlingame on the SF peninsula as
a boy, and was a promising junior before he
did the full Koolaid Acid test hippy thing.
Not great for fitness being a hippy, and in
those days racing cyclists were not
longhairs with a wild look in their eyes.
Fisher had his racing licence revoked for
having long hair, and he was intent to get
back to 1st Cat. Kelly was a founding
member of the Club. So too was Breeze.
The Club had its headquarters in the local
mansion, but its members met wherever
Kelly and Fisher were living and building
bikes. And that was getting serious by this
time. Kelly and Fisher liked to race bikes,
but they also used them as their sole means
of transport, which isnt the best use for
expensive Colnago, Tour de France-style
racers. It wore the bikes out and put them at
risk, which was crazy. Fisher solved the issue
by hooking up with some old friends
The year klunk
Barry Allen and the Larkspur Canyon
Gang had a fat tyre thing going in the late
60s, early 70s. Theyd get old bikes and ride
Above: Heavy bikes and steep climbs meant making it to the top of Repack Road was an ordeal in itself. Here Gary Fisher takes a moment to recover
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them till they died. Wed have races: any
route down a mountain. And there was
Derby night wed go up on the mountain
with beer and try to stop each other riding.
Anyone who fell off wed ride over his bike.
Hurt bikes were part of the process,
remembers Fisher.
He came back with some klunker frames,
which he and Kelly built up as street bikes
single speed, coaster brakes and fat tyres.
Other members of VCT did the same and it
was those bikes they started riding up on
the fire trails in the mountains. Meanwhile
Fisher was race fit again: I started racing
again in 71 and in 73 I finished second in
the Tour of Nevada City to become a
Category 1 USCF road racer.
To support his race habit Fisher had
started writing for Bicycle Magazine as a road
tester. He also worked in a bike shop, at a
wheel builders and for a guy called Fred
Wolf, moving furniture. It was from Wolfs
house high in the hills that they started to
explore the upland trails seriously. And that
meant modifying the bikes seriously too.
Single speeds with coaster brakes may ride
well off-road, but they dont stop easily. The
rider has his foot back mashing down on
the pedal, so the first thing you needed was
wide swept back handlebars, modified to
take the strain. Front brakes were essential
really on the downhills, and they had to be
drum brakes callipers wouldnt work with
steel rims on that sort or gradient.
Getting serious
Then Fisher found that by gently spreading
the chainstays of a klunker he could fit a
tandem hub in, and a five-speed derailleur,
and ride away from everybody up the hill.
Ever the competitor, Kelly fitted one too, but
he found the chain kept coming off on the
rough trails so added a second ring and a
front derailleur as a chainguide and then,
seeing he had 10 gears, decided to use them.
WE JUST WOKE UP
EVERY DAY THINKING
HOW WE WERE GOING
TO HAVE FUN ON
OUR BIKES
And so it started. Bike-mad people
passed through the house adding their
input, people such as Alan Bonds, who
made elegant klunkers and painted them
beautifully then (as he does now we
borrowed one of his modern versions a
couple of years back for Kelly to ride up
against Fisher on his latest 29er and Kelly
smoked it on the corners).
It was Bonds who produced state of the
art second- and third-generation klunkers
for friends and pioneers, while a loose
handful of enthusiasts went on exploring
the mountain trails on off-road bikes of
various stages of sophistication. Kelly
meanwhile, while tearing around the
country from gig to gig in the bands truck,
raided bike shops and dumps for the
Above: Alan Bonds going slideways
on his klunker at Camera Corner
Photography: Larry Cragg
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HISTORY IS BUNK
History is more or less bunk. Its tradition, said Henry Ford.
History is myth. The longer I live the truer that rings. Ive seen
quite a lot of my friends become mythical beasts, among them
these founding fathers of mountain biking. Its a very weird
experience. You were all there or thereabouts, when the myth
took of, you all kind of remember the same things, but how
much of it you actually recall and how much you have been told
you remember all becomes a bit of a blur, especially if you were
one Rizla short of a splif at the time.
We have many facts and dates about the beginnings of the
mountain bike but when it comes to picking the founding
fathers, why do we choose these three? Why not the Larkspur
Canyon Gang? They were riding Mount Tam from top to bottom
on klunkers and they sound like a fun bunch. Why not the
Morrow Dirt club? Why not Mike Sinyard of Specialized who
made the first mass produced bike and sold it around the world.
Why not any of the loose handful of fruitloops who keep
claiming they did it first?
Yes, Fisher and Kelly picked up the name MountainBike,
incorporated a company in that name and put it on their
machines, but mountain bike very quickly became a generic
name and other people were building bikes too: Charlie
Cunningham, the Koskis, Mert Lawwill For what its worth I
think its because the myth that Gary Fisher created around the
mountain bike is simply the right myth for the people who are
going to take to it, just as mountain bike proved to be the right
name try as they might the big spenders in the bike industry
could never get us to call them all terrain bicycles.
In both the name and the story we are dealing with the great
foundation myth of a group of people to whom of-road riding is
very important. People who feel utterly defined by this thing
they do. Whereas the contending stories might speak of
hedonism, commercialism or eccentricity, Fishers myth is about
green ethics, conservation and healthy living at one with nature,
about freedom and independence. Its our myth because we are
mountain bikers. We go out and battle against nature either
alone, or with close friends. Our struggle is against ourselves
and the terrain, which we choose carefully so that it puts up a
decent fight. Our tradition is to eat well, drink what we like, and to
not quite fit into the very largest Rapha top. We enjoy sex, drugs,
rock n roll. Our bodies are not temples. We are not roadies.
Pioneering freaks
To tell the truth, we dont even get on that well with roadies,
which is odd, the fitness levels, skills and machinery we are
fixated on being so similar. Its a matter of attitude. We are
content to take a toss with nature and put up with what we get.
We dont level out the bumps, nor do we expect a pit stop every
200 metres in case we should tacho a wheel or bend a gear
hanger. We like the risks and getting through against the odds
makes it all the better. We are one with those pioneering freaks
driven into the mountains by the heat of the summer of love.
Road riders are not. They get their buzz out of honing their
engines, bringing their hearts, lungs and beautiful hairless
stickman bodies to the height of eficiency, which they love to
test on a neutral surface with the sort of back-up that minimises
the efect of any failure of equipment or skill.
We are go-for-it Cavaliers. They are calculating Roundheads.
We are latter-day hippies. They are, well, accountants. Some of
them are. Not all, of course. Some became the founding fathers
of mountain biking.
forever for him on the climbs. He suffered,
but he always came back because he loved
it. I realised then this was for everyone.
Repack
Ive ridden the Repack track, on one of the
last mountain bikes Joe Breeze built, as it
happens. Its a wide fire road covered with
marble-sized rocks that has sweeping
corners, some water bars and plenty of
buckthorn waiting to rip your skin off when
you blow it. On a well behaved Breezer at
the pace I was going to take it, no problem,
but at the pace Kelly warped up to when he
saw Breeze riding away it can get quite edgy.
He blew his tyre out not quite catching
Breeze, but when I joined them it was
Breeze fixing it. Breeze is the go-to
mechanic. He was always the one to beat at
Repack too. Fisher still has the fastest time
on the course, Breeze the second fastest.
If you ride the course with those guys you
quickly see what it means to them. Kelly
gets very emotional pointing out the
various landmarks, like Prize Giving Rock
where he handed out the awards (mainly
smokables). Competitive edge still runs
vintage frames and particularly the forks
required. You had to find girls forks
because boys wrecked theirs beyond recall.
Primeval soup
This is the primeval soup from which the
mountain bike was about to emerge. All it
needed was a flash of lightning, which Kelly
provided by running an underground and
ever so cool downhill time trial series for
five years and calling it the Repack. Did he
have any idea what he was starting? You
dont think of your historical context,
laughs Kelly. We just woke up every day
thinking how we were going to have fun on
our bikes. Looking back, Breeze is equally
surprised. To us the mountain bike was
more of a lark, says Breeze, but, by golly, it
has got more people onto bicycles than any
machine since the 1890s.
Fisher had an earlier revelation that the
mountain bike could go big. I put these
bikes together for myself and Charlie and I
thought they were for athletes only. What
changed my mind was a rather out-of-shape
fireman by the name of Bob Burrows. Bob
came out riding with us and wed wait
Above: Fred Wolf with son ZuZu riding on the top tube
Opposite: Fisher (front) and Breeze on a recent Repack ride. Fisher still holds the fastest time; Breeze the second
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through the old veins too, and plenty of fear,
although it must have been a different order
of terror ridden full out on a heavy, bendy,
half-braked klunker, with the smoke
billowing out of that old coaster brake.
(They called it Repack because you boiled
the grease out of your rear brake coming
down and had to dismantle and repack it
after.) To go fast on Repack you had to
scare the hell out of yourself, says Kelly.
Breeze demurs at the terminology: Its
called exhilaration!
The Repack downhill is the last section of
the route of the oldest mountain bike event,
the Appetite Seminar, which still runs to
give you an appropriate level of relish for
Thanksgiving turkey. Bike riders being
what they are, it wasnt long before
everyone was bragging about their speed
down the last section and the racing began
to sort that out for once and for all. It kicked
off in a small way, among friends, around
the time the Sons of Champlin were
breaking up, putting their roadie out of a
job and giving him the chance to
concentrate on bikes. I was boss roadie for
10 years and then the guys started fighting
and, instead of making me rich, split the
band in 1977. Those were different times.
From 75 to 79 Carter was president and we
seem to have been the events that drove the
development of mountain bikes beyond the
modification of junk klunkers. Joe Breeze,
for example, made the first custom built
frames for himself and Kelly for Repack.
That happened outside our house on
Humboldt, says Fisher. One day Joe and
I were going through some of the old frames
and I said, Hey, what would it take to build
a frame?
I remember that, says Breeze. Thats
when we agreed on $300.
could get away with the Repack. After 79
we couldnt, says Kelly, resplendent still in
his Impeach Bush cycling socks.
Turning point
Fisher sees Repack as the great turning
point in mountain bike history. It was
down to Charlie and Fred Wolf that we
started taking it seriously they began
instigating rides and suggesting places to
go. Then Charlie putting on the Repack
events made all the difference because he
did it again and again and it became
legendary. All most people on the street had
ever heard about in cycling was the Repack
races. The races were a series of downhill
time trials, run down the fire road off Pine
Mountain on the flanks of Mount
Tamalpais. Very underground, very ad hoc
and very illegal, Kelly ran them on a need to
know basis from 1976 to 1979. They do
And I put it right in your hand.
That was a real cycling house, a lot of
good riders went through there, continues
Breeze. Kent Bostick, the Olympic rider for
one, and Otis Guy a whole bunch of us
moved through that house from our bike
club. It was all bikes all the time. We had a
mirror positioned so the only thing you
could see was your thighs!
Kelly finds that ridiculous still. I would
never have a mirror like that, but the
Bosticksaurus did.
That wasnt much to do with me, says
Fisher. Most of my time in the mid-70s was
spent travelling to bike races and preparing
for bike races. I used to breeze in and ride
the occasional Repack. I was lucky that the
times I won were important. Such as the
fastest time on Repack and The Evening
Magazine race.
So it was until, in 1979, Fishers
CARTER WAS
PRESIDENT AND WE
COULD GET AWAY WITH
THE REPACK, AFTER 79
WE COULDNT
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Olympic hopes were dashed. The coach told
him he was too old to make the team, which
was infuriating because his training
partner, Greg LeMond, was impressing
everybody as a future champion.
Fisher was hurt. If Id really put it
together Id have gone to France with Greg.
I couldve been a top line domestique.
Greg was head and shoulders above
everyone, I wouldnt have wound up the
Tour de France winner or anything, but
I wouldve been a tough bastard. To be a
top rider was my first ambition. I wouldve
been totally happy to have done the
servitude thing. Greg couldve won the
Tour a lot earlier if hed have had the right
team behind him.
MountainBikes
Fisher needed something new to put all that
energy into. The day after I heard, Charlie
and I started our company MountainBikes.
We had $650, we went and opened a bank
account and started trying to get quality
mountain bikes out. And they did. This
part of the story tends to get conflated with
the klunker part, but MountainBikes wasnt
anything like that. For a start, they had nice
frames mostly built by Tom Ritchey. True,
there was a mix of components on them
that had proved themselves off-road, but
with the paint jobs and the anodising, the
bling factor was very high. They were bikes
for rich Californian hipsters.
They were beautiful looking bikes, says
Fisher. We anodised and powder coated
parts. We made an all-black bike and a Tiger
bike. They were great off-road bikes they
still ride okay. They werent cheap either.
In the first year Charlie and I were selling
basic nice bikes for $1,320 but the owners
would ask us to do things to them and
theyd end up around $2,000. This was back
when for $400 you could get any Colnago
you wanted!
But it wasnt ever a basic bike, we had the
biggest stash of crazy stuff. We brought in
Ambrosia rims because they were lighter.
We had Japanese stuff. We brought in Dura-
Ace freehubs. Nobody else would dare use
stuff that light.
Fisher was already doing lighter, brighter
and more exciting. We did a bike for the
Alaska Broadway Show with every braze on
it plated and painted over and everything
gold anodised. And we did a series of all-
black bikes for a ludicrously top end bike
shop in Beverley Hills theyll sell you a pair
of trousers for $6,000, that kind of place.
Everything anodised, powder coated or, in
the case of the derailleur, painted. We made
some really nice stuff. Toms frames were
beautiful. We had the first race team. We
had Jo Murray and Tom Ritchey!
Around this time the press was getting in
I WOULDNT HAVE
WOUND UP THE
TOUR WINNER BUT I
WOULD HAVE BEEN A
TOUGH BASTARD
Above: The second catalogue from Fisher and Kellys MountainBikes company
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WE BROUGHT IN
DURA-ACE FREEHUBS.
NOBODY ELSE WOULD
DARE USE STUFF
THAT LIGHT
on the act, which, as usual, had good and
bad sides. It was a magazine article that led
to the first trip for the Marin riders to
Crested Butte for the Pearl Pass ride. The
first year produced nothing much, except
for putting a thousand miles on Joe Breezes
new driving licence, but the next year it
took off, and those pictures of Wende
Craggs showing everybody who was
anybody in mountain biking on top of Pearl
Pass came from that. The next year the pass
was even more crowded.
Enter the Jackal
On the downside, a magazine sponsored a
Repack race and when some guy broke his
wrist, he rejected a $5,000 offer of
compensation and decided to sue. He lost,
but that was the end of Repack for Kelly it
was spoiled and he could see where it might
go from there. That inspired him to set up
the National Off-Road Bicycle Association
to run mountain bike racing so promoters
didnt risk bankruptcy.
Off-road bike stories were everywhere all
of a sudden and Fishers talent as a publicist
came into its own. It needed a flash of
genius because, while its easy to see how
charging down mountains on bicycles
might become a cult on the sunny, sage-
scented, fire roads of Marin County, making
the magic work worldwide, in the sludge
and black sleet, the deserts, the jungle and
the dreary flat places, took a lot of
Californian magic dust. Fisher had plenty. I
was brought up in Beverly Hills, my
grandfather made films with Errol Flynn.
My mother was a nightclub singer who had
worked for Hal Wallace as a Hollywood
publicist. I learned how to deal with the
press and get publicity from her. It wasnt
hard. Charlie and I had a story that people
wanted to read. Riding bicycles off-road
and down mountains it was a story about
those crazy California kids...
Charlie quits
MountainBikes rode the wave of publicity
for a couple of years and then cashflow
problems set in. This wasnt Kellys idea of a
good life so he sold his share to Fisher and
walked away. The company became Fisher
MountainBikes. Ritchey became worried
too and for a while it looked bad for Fisher.
But he survived, setting up Japanese input
and finding new sources for frames. He
always said his was an undersized, over-
leveraged company, but he pulled it through
by force of will and by innovative design. I
will always remember watching a British
pro rider taking delivery of his first Fisher
Procaliber in 1987. He almost burst into
tears to find this production Yankee
machine was so much better than his
prestigious custom-built British bike.
Gary Fishers effort was always aimed at
making bikes for riders and he wasnt afraid
to experiment. He went for the holy grail of
light, long travel, full suspension bikes
THE LAGUNA RADS
The Laguna RADS are probably the most influential group of riders youve
never heard of. Despite boasting the likes of Hans Rey among their members,
this South California of-road fraternity is still something of an enigma. While
those in the north were intent on taking MTB to the masses, this group of
riders were intent on operating under the radar, much to the annoyance of
local park wardens. Having formed in 1983 there are now around 100 RADS,
aged between 30 and 75, all of who meet regularly at Laguna Beach before
heading out into local parkland, tearing down the trails and regrouping
around the fire pit to drink beer and exchange stories.
The RADS are held by many as the architects of freeride, despite being
unaware of it at the time, and also host two of the longest running MTB
events on the calendar, the RAD Challenge and the Leaping Lizard. Although
theyre now largely made up of middle-aged guys the standards are high, but
the emphasis on having fun is still as strong as it was 30 years ago.
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JOHN FINLEY SCOTT:
INVENTOR OF THE MTB?
Twenty-five years before Fisher and Kelly
established MountainBikes John Finley Scott
had built what, in his words, is best regarded
as a proof of concept idea for an of-road
bike that showed big tyres worked and low
gears paid of.
He set to work on it during his college
sophomore year in 1952/53, having decided
to see what he could do to build a bicycle
that would be fairly well adapted to riding on
dirt trails. The result was the 53 Varsity
(shown above), a bike he called the Woodsie,
featuring a Schwinn Varsity diamond frame
which he built up using steel rims to take
balloon tyres flat handlebars and multiple
gears. It was efectively the worlds first
known mountain bike. However, as Scott
acknowledged, there was a design issue as
the Sturmey Archer freewheel hubs he used
werent very strong and with the extra torque
of low gears he said he mustve gone
through three of four axles on this bike that
probably didnt accumulate 500 miles during
its operative life. It also weighed 46/47lb,
which Scott conceded made it hard to
transport let alone ride up a hill.
Meeting Fisher
While Scott went on to become a University
of California Professor of Sociology he
remained an of-road enthusiast and in the
early 70s got to know a young Gary Fisher
through Californias annual Davis Double
Century race, the route for which Scott
helped to develop.
Realising the value of his input to their new
business, when Fisher and Kelly started
MountainBikes, Scott was the first person
they talked to. He said they essentially
repeated the design of his Woodsie because
the components of of-road bikes changed
very little between 1953 and 1975. What
Fisher and Kelly did was refine it. I wasnt the
first one to make a multiple gear balloon tyre
bike, says Fisher. I perfected it, and I
developed it and I marketed it and I made it
this thing called a mountain bike popular.
Thats the whole story.
But Scotts involvement didnt stop there,
he was also MountainBikes first big investor.
For Fisher and Kelly to aford to build bikes,
customers had to pay upfront. This changed
with Scotts money, which was used to buy
mountain bike frames (handbuilt by Tom
Ritchey) and components from all over the
globe. Fisher could then sell completed
mountain bikes for around $1,500 each.
Scotts influence on mountain bikes is clear,
even though hes no longer around to tell the
story. He was tragically murdered in 2006.
Below: A young Dave Hemming riding a Gary Fisher
rigid MTB in the early 90s in the Yorkshire snow
Right: Gary Fisher is still heavily involved in the sport he
helped to create
ITS EMOTIONALLY
DIFFICULT TO REALISE
THAT I PLAYED A PART
IN SOMETHING THAT
HAS BECOME SO HUGE
that performed uphill as well as they went
down, moving on to champion a 29er that
rolled over everything but was almost as
nimble as a 26in wheeled bike. All with a
new geometry that puts the rider in the
middle of the frame. The delivery might not
be perfect the first year, but the ideas were
groundbreaking and usually right. Fisher
knows what mountain bikers need because,
as Kelly says, Gary was the best mountain
biker in the world before it mattered.
Olympic glory
Trek finally bought the Fisher company, but
Fisher remained in control of the brand long
enough to see a Gary Fisher sponsored rider
win gold in the first Olympic mountain
biking event in Atlanta in 1996. He still
works for it now as an ambassador and
product innovator. His ambition was to be
able to meddle with everything while being
responsible for nothing, but it didnt work
out that way. I think, in the end, you have to
be responsible for your name, for your
possibility, believes Gary. By that time, the
bikes the founding fathers had brought into
the world had been copied, tweaked,
re-engineered and improved until the
mountain bike was the universal bicycle.
On a domestic scale, back in Marin,
Kelly and Breeze are delighted by the High
School Mountain Bike League (properly
the National Interscholastic Cycling
Association), which has rejuvenated the
sport in the US. Breeze is actively engaged,
spannering for his local high school team.
Kelly is pleased, but finds the whole thing
difficult to get his head around.
Intellectually I understand that I had
something to do with the development of
the mountain bike, but its emotionally
difficult to realise that I have played a part in
something that has become so huge. The
idea that my daughter went to a high school
that has a team taking part in the sport that
we pretty much came up with how
emotional is that?
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I
first saw what later became known as
Repack from the back of a motorcycle
driven by Fred Wolf in 1973, poaching
fire roads. He had found a very steep
road that we drove up during an
exploration trip that took place before all
fire roads were closed to vehicles. Or maybe
a little while after they were closed. Some
time later, Fred and I and Peggy Madigan
spent a long day with our coaster-brake
one-speeds, pushing them up the steep hill
and coming down by a different route.
In the early 70s, my roommate Gary
Fisher and I were both road cyclists,
equipped with the best Italian road race
bikes, but these were not very practical for
local transportation, so we had put together
a couple of old one-speeds for running
errands. We were both members of Velo-
Club Tamalpais, and a contingent of club
members such as Joe Breeze, Otis Guy
and Marc Vendetti also took up using
old one-speeds for town bikes. With the
example of the Larkspur Canyon Gang and
their longtime practice of bombing down
Mount Tamalpais, it wasnt long before we
started hitting a few of the trails and fire
roads around Fairfax.
In 1974 a half-dozen riders went on the
first of what has become an annual ride, the
Thanksgiving Day Appetite Seminar. The
route we chose ended with a trip down
Repack, and it was shortly afterward that
someone applied the name that has become
one of the most famous in mountain biking
history. Its not a joke, its just the truth. One
trip down that hill put years of wear onto a
coaster brake, and if you did not
immediately disassemble it and repack all
the bearings with grease, the hub would
seize up very shortly afterward.
You couldnt use just any coaster brake
either. All the kinetic energy of the descent
is turned into heat, and the old brakes had
no means of dissipating it from the
Repack races
Writer: Charlie Kelly Images: Wende Cragg
Charlie Kelly was organiser-in-chief of the infamous
Repack races of the mid to late 70s. In this extract from his
website he gives an insight into what they were all about
Repack races | In Kellys words 23
Above: Joe Breeze swooping through Upper Dipper, Repack, late 1977
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relatively small surface area. The most
common coaster brake found on old bikes
is the New Departure. The reason they were
so common was that they were the most
cheaply made of the coaster brake hubs;
they worked very well under ordinary
conditions, but would explode halfway
down Repack. Bendix brakes were good, as
long as you found an old one, machined out
of a solid piece of steel stock. The newer
Bendix brakes were made in Mexico, and
the stamped hubs were no comparison to
the real thing from the 1930s. Mussleman
brakes were pretty good, but the gold
standard was the Morrow. You might even
get away with a couple of trips down
Repack with a Morrow before having to
maintain it. Good luck finding a Morrow,
though. I never had one of my own, and
made do with a series of Mussleman and
Bendix brakes. If you abused your coaster
brake by riding off-road, you had to be
familiar with the insides of it, because you
had to tear it down a lot.
Brake-neck
An entire generation of mountain bikers
has grown up and worn out several bikes
since those days, and few of them ever had
the opportunity to ride a coaster-brake bike
in the kind of scary terrain we learned our
skills on. Theres simply no comparison
between modern suspended bikes with
hydraulic brakes and multiple gears, and
the patched together, coaster-brake one-
speeds that first conquered Repack. Now
when I ride the same roads on modern
equipment, it astonishes me that I survived
all the rides I took on coaster brake bikes.
Some of these hills are challenging enough
even on modern dual-suspension bikes.
The first thing you have to learn about
coaster brakes (and no front brake) is that
stopping is out of the question. Fortunately,
because you have no front brake, the front
wheel rolls through and over just about
anything. As long as there is some road in
front of you, and as long as you can stay on
it, youre probably all right. Once we had
made a few trips down Repack, the skidding
tires marked the proper line through blind
corners. All you had to do was lock up your
brake somewhere near the top of the hill,
and point the front wheel down the groove
worn in the road surface. On turns you had
to brake with the outside foot while
dragging the inside foot, and sometimes
that meant letting off the brake briefly to
switch feet. That was a scary moment as you
had to take half a pedal stroke to set up the
pedal for braking on the other side.
The balance of a coaster-brake bike is
different from a modern bike, because the
braking pressure is applied a crank length
behind the bottom bracket, while a modern
cyclist balances himself on the bottom
bracket. A front brake throws the riders
weight onto the front wheel, which has
more braking power than the rear, while the
coaster brake rider tries to throw as much
weight on the rear wheel as possible.
The further you get down Repack the less
effective your coaster brake becomes. Its
not the hill, its the heat causing the brake to
fade. I had several rides where it was not
possible to lock up the brake by the time I
hit the bottom, and thats fairly serious on
Repack. You would certainly get a third-
degree burn if you touched one of these
hubs at the bottom of the hill.
Drum brakes
At a Marin County cyclo-cross race in 1974
several fat-tyre riders from Cupertino about
50 miles to the south showed up with
derailleur gears on their old Schwinns. Russ
Mahon was the driving force behind a
group of riders with ideas remarkably
similar to ours, but they had already gone to
derailleur gears. Gary Fisher was the first in
our crowd to follow suit. One day in 1975 he
came back to the house from the flea
market with a disassembled tandem, a
wreck really. But it had a huge, heavy, steel
drum brake rear hub set up for a freewheel.
Gary laced up a rear wheel and after some
frame bending got it to work on his old
Schwinn, and the improvement in
performance of his 50lb bike was enough
that within a couple of months tandem
drum brake hubs were the hottest item at
Marin County bike shops.
Since Gary and I were roommates, I was
among the first to follow his lead in
converting my bike. By the time the first
Repack races took place, most of the Fairfax
and San Anselmo riders had switched from
coaster brakes to derailleur gears and drum
rear brakes made for tandems, and drum
front brakes. These had the advantage of
providing better braking and a different
handling balance from coaster brakes, plus
you didnt have to let off the brakes to set up
for a turn because you could backpedal. The
disadvantage was that these brakes faded
too, and the grip required to operate them
while steering and hanging on paralysed
your hands. We used the biggest motorcycle
levers to get enough leverage.
Front brakes were not as easy to find. You
could get steel drum front brake hubs from
Sturmey-Archer, or you could use an old
Arnold-Schwinn drum front hub if you
could find it. Most commonly you found a
wrecked Schwinn 20-inch bike from the
popular Krate series, sold under names such
as Apple Krate or Lemon Peeler. These bikes
are super collectible now, but there were
over a million sold between 1968 and 1974
when the design was banned by the CPSC,
so they were easier to come by in the 70s
than vintage parts from the 30s. A Krate
24 In Kellys words | Repack Races
Above: Pearl Pass, Crested Butte
had an alu drum front brake, which was all
you wanted, and you threw the rest of the
bike away. They were drilled for 28 spokes,
so you added four more holes on either
flange to lace your 36-spoke wheel.
Downhill racing
As we took to the hills on fat tyres between
1974 and 1976, we found ourselves racing
on the downhills. It seemed that whenever
we started off the top of whatever hill we
had arrived on, every rider wanted to be the
first to the bottom. Whenever more than a
couple of riders wanted to use the same
road, it got pretty crowded and things got
heated as the aggressive riders didnt mind
risking other riders lives.
A few arguments about aggressive riding
techniques led to the idea of having a timed
downhill race, in order to settle once and for
all time which of a half-dozen riders was the
fastest, without having to contend with
other riders in the way. Repack was the
choice for a course because it was close to
Fairfax, and it had a gnarly drop of 1,300
feet in less than two miles. There might have
been a hundred dirt roads in Marin County
suitable for downhill racing, but Repack
had location, location and location.
Accordingly, on 21 October 1976 a few
riders assembled at the top of Repack.
Our timing system was an old Navy
chronometer with a sweep second hand,
and an ordinary alarm clock with a second
hand. I handled the starting and Fred Wolfs
wife Emma noted the finish times. There is
no written record of that race, because the
notes were made on a sheet of paper that
disappeared almost immediately, but Alan
Bonds, the only rider who didnt crash or
damage his bike, was the winner in 5:12.
Whatever genius might be ascribed to the
events of that day, they didnt seem very
important at the time. It was just what we
did that day, instead of taking a ride. There
were no plans for another race. That one
race was supposed to settle the question so
we could argue about other things.
It turned out that some of the
participants were not gracious losers. Alan
had come up with the ultimate strategy for
riding Repack, which was to stay on top of
your bike instead of under it, and with this
lesson in mind a few of the gang wanted
another shot at him. Accordingly, a few days
later we reassembled for another race, this
time recorded for posterity. Bob Burrowes
was the winner, and all races from that day
forward were recorded in one of two
battered notebooks that I still have.
Quick expansion
After our second race, the word got out to
other parts of the county, and by the third
event the Larkspur Canyon Gang was
participating, coaster-brake purists who
had not made the upgrade to derailleurs and
gears or even in some cases, front brakes.
These guys favoured inch-pitch chains,
authentically old stuff, and owned most of
the working Morrow brakes in the county.
A couple more weeks, and we were joined
by riders from across the bay, the Berkeley
Trailers Union (BTU). I dont know how the
word got out to them, because we didnt
know them until they came to the race, but
it didnt take long for the list in my book to
number a couple of dozen riders.
Within a month of the first running, the
event took the form that would last. Fred
and I purchased a couple of digital timers
for about $70 apiece, and just over a month
after the first race we started recording
times in 100ths of a second. I would call a
bunch of people from a list in the back of
my notebook, and we would assemble in
Fairfax on a Sunday morning, where we
would throw the bikes and a lot of people
into the back of a 1953 Chevy stakeside
dump truck for the trip up the hill to the dirt
road where you did another mile of pushing
your bike to get to the start.
It was a serious effort to get to the start. A
few pickup trucks and Fred Wolfs 53 pink
Chevy stakeside would head up the hill
loaded with bikes and riders. A couple of
miles of winding uphill from Fairfax, and at
the crest of the ridge is a place where a half
dozen vehicles can park. Everyone piles out,
and you ride and push for another mile or
so, dropping and climbing, with a couple of
hills that are a challenge to ride without
getting off even on modern equipment. Its
about 20 minutes of tough sledding from
the road to the starting line.
The alternative is to come directly up
Repack, and a lot of riders will do that just to
look at the course. Its a serious trudge with
a 50-pound bicycle, and 40-50 minutes of
hard work, but it gives you a slow-speed
look at the road. The record time for going
up Repack is 25 minutes, by national
Above: Bob Burrowes down in a cloud of dust on
Repacks Camera Corner
mountain bike champion Joe Murray,
riding a post-clunker-era race bike.
The timing and scoring system came
together after a few races, when we got the
real timers. At the top of the course I would
list the names of the riders in my notebook.
Everyone got a starting time, with two-
minute intervals between starts, usually
starting at ten minutes. I would start the
two clocks together, and give one to the
finish timer, often Howie Hammerman. It
had to be someone who could be trusted to
get to the bottom of the hill without
crashing and who was competent to handle
the timing once he got there. The finish
timer had no way of communicating with
us once he left the start area, so we had to
hope that a ten minute head start was
enough that he would get there while riding
prudently and set up shop without some
catastrophe. Once the race started, we
could send messages down with the first
riders, but there was no way for messages to
come back. Any major problem with the
finish timer would have wasted the entire
effort, but we never had a failure.
Once the regular racers established their
best times, they ran in that order, with the
fastest last. This meant that all the new
riders and the slowest rode first. Each rider
THEY CARED VERY
MUCH ABOUT A FEW
SECONDS ONE WAY OR
ANOTHER BETWEEN
FRIENDS ON REPACK
Repack races | In Kellys words 25
Above: Posters advertising the Repack races organised
by Charlie Kelly between 76 and 79
was given an index card with his start time
on it. After a rider left I would call for the
next starting time, and the rider would
show me his card, then put it in his pocket.
Because every rider tried to jump the start, I
would aways hold the rear wheel until the
zeros on the clock lined up. I gave them ten
seconds, then five, then go, and let go of the
wheel. Then I would get the split time as the
rider disappeared over the crest of the first
drop a hundred yards away, because that
usually dictated how the rider would do.
Two seconds one way or the other in the
first hundred yards was 30 seconds at the
bottom. After the last rider left, if I had
someone still at the top who would start
me, I would go for a time, but sometimes I
was the last one left and I didnt get a time.
At the bottom of the hill Howie would
note the finish time, check the riders card
and do the math and give him his time.
Then he would file the index card in order of
finish and wait for the next rider. As soon as
the last rider finished and his card was filed,
the results were in.
Intense competition
One aspect of Repack is hard to describe
adequately. As the riders went off, the crowd
at the top the hill dwindled. It wasnt a place
for spectators, just riders, so no one there
was there to watch, but to ride. The last
starters were the fastest riders, they were
the regulars and they all knew each other.
The last half dozen or so riders were the
ones this race was all about, the ones who
started the whole thing to decide what
seems never to be decided, and they didnt
care about any of the rookies who left a little
while ago, but they cared very much about a
few seconds one way or another between
friends on Repack.
At first it was boisterous, because the
rookies were nervous and showing off, but
the last half dozen didnt talk. It was the
thickest, most competitive atmosphere Ive
been part of, and it got quieter and quieter
and then the last one was gone and I was
alone at the top of Repack knowing that the
party has already started at the bottom.
I dont remember when I became the sole
promoter of Repack. It began as a collective
effort, but human nature is to let someone
else do any task they accept. I started
keeping the records and making the phone
calls to arrange races. I handled the entries,
the starting and timing, usually with my
friend Howie Hammerman acting as the
finish timer, eventually even arranged for
prizes and had posters made, and it became
my event. There was one race that took
place without me, ironically the race in
which Gary Fisher set the course record, but
I promoted every one after that. At the end
of the 78 and 79 seasons, I put on a big
banquet with awards for the participants.
Beginning of the end
The end of Repack was the race filmed by a
TV crew in 1979 for a program called
Evening Magazine. It aired locally and then
nationally, which meant it was seen twice in
the Bay Area, and our cover was blown. In
addition, one of the participants had broken
his arm and he had sued the TV station,
hoping to collect. He lost in court, but the
emphasis on liability effectively ended my
interest in putting on events where people
got sued.
Repack was something that a few dozen
people shared. No more than 200 people
ever rode a Repack race, and many of those
only rode the final races in 1983 and 1984. It
was a close knit group, a club without any
rules for membership except that you ride
the race. Do not tell me about your bike
riding. Ride the race and show me what
youve got. The loose club was centred
around this outrageous thing we were
pulling off, totally organised off-road
insane downhill racing without anyone
except the right people showing up. The
spectators along the road numbered in the
dozens and everyone knew the good
corners to watch from. There were prize
ceremonies and season-ending banquets. If
you had a time under five minutes, you were
a member of the most elite club around, the
Expert class at Repack.
The formation of the National Off-Road
Bicycle Association (NORBA) in 1983 made
insurance possible for racing, so Repack
came back for a couple of last hurrahs in
1983 and 1984. These two races were the
first-ever sanctioned downhill bicycle races
anywhere in the world, so Repack rightly
takes its place as the precursor to what is
now a World Championship event. We got
away with a couple of races, this time with
the help of a couple of moles in the Ross
Valley Fire Department who let us use their
sponsorship to sidestep some of the stickier
issues of land use and whose land this was
anyway. The last race, the first of a two-
stage event with a cross country race in
Santa Rosa the next day, saw a virtual
pilgrimage of all the racers of the day, who
wanted one timed trip down the legendary
hill on their resumes. 95 riders put a strain
on the system, but by then we had radio
communication, and staff meetings on
timing and scoring before the race. I hired
timers from the local running club, and
they handled it without a hitch.
We had a couple of NORBA races before
the bureaucracy realised what was
happening, but once they realised it they
demanded permits for this activity. Once
permits had to be applied for, there were no
more permits granted.
Charlie Kellys book Fat Tire Flyer will be published
in the USA by Velo Press in summer 2014
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26 Icons of MTB | Joe Breeze
A
lthough firmly established as
one of the founding fathers
of mountain biking, Breezes
involvement stemmed
from a strong belief in the
place of the bicycle per se in the future
of sustainable transport. His father, Bill,
was into lightweight efficient vehicles and
while that led mostly to building and racing
automobiles, Bill and his friends rode well-
engineered European race bikes at a time
when America had all but abandoned the
bicycle in favour of the car.
Breezes closest brother encouraged
him to cycle long distances from a very
early age, and he became one of a few who
understood that riding 200 miles a day was
quite possible and pleasurable and that
bikes were a viable means of transport, not
just a means of getting around town when
youd lost your drivers licence.
From an early age, says Breeze, my
conscious thought was to get out the
amazing secret of cycling to the world.
Restoration man
Restoring the beautifully engineered bikes
of the 1890s was one way, he believed, to
reconnect people with the bicycle, and it
was only when he failed to find a suitable
project of that vintage that, guided by a
friend who had messed around with that
style of bike off-road, he turned his
attention to a 1940s Schwinn that was to
become the proto mountain bike. Breeze
was among the first to find that the angles
and fat tyres of a bicycle built more to ape a
motorcycle than anything else were just
about perfect for riding the dirt fire roads of
Mount Tamalpais in Marin County.
Honing his engineering skills at high
school and college, Breeze came to know
neighbour Charlie Kelly who had also
become obsessed with cycling. He became a
founding member, with Charlie and Gary
Fisher, of Velo Club Tamalpais, an
alternative road cycling club, which
included most of the early pioneers of
riding old bikes off-road.
As a frame builder and serial winner of
Kellys celebrated Repack series of off-road
downhill time trial races, it was to Breeze
that Charlie turned in 1977 to build a
custom alloy frame to replace the old steel
frames, which he felt they were pushing
further than they could go.
For $300 history was made. Breeze built
up Breezer 1 and won Repack on it. Kelly
took number 2. In all Breeze made 10 for
friends and fellow racers. The Breezers
chromoly (steel alloy) frame, with bracing
lateral tubes, was bombproof and for the
first time there was a serious platform on
which an off-road bike could be built using
the equipment you wanted, rather than
stuff that merely would fit.
Through the 80s and into the 90s Breeze
developed the Breezer name into a
respected mountain and road bike brand,
confident that easy to ride mountain bikes
were fulfilling his underlying purpose. To
us the mountain bike was more of a lark, he
told me, but, by golly, it has got more
people onto bicycles than any machine
since the 1890s.
But by the mid 90s he had begun to feel
that mountain bikes were getting too race-
orientated and it was time to make a new
generation of user-friendly machines.
Starting in 1996 with the Ignaz Cruiser he
changed the brand until, in 2001, Breezer
was all about machines inspired by
European utility bikes but lighter and more
efficient. At the same time, knowing that
bike-friendly roads were key, Breeze started
working with government agencies and
voluntary groups to promote the
conditions in which the bicycle could be a
practical mode of transport.
He continues to do so now and also
works as a designer and product developer,
having sold Breezer to Advanced Sport
International in 2008, a move that gave him
the satisfaction of pulling all his work
together into a comprehensive range
featuring bikes of all sorts, including a new
range of Breezer mountain bikes.
One of the founding fathers, Joe Breeze loved cycling from an early age and has
spent his life in the pursuit of connecting people with bicycles
TWO-WHEELED PROPHET
JOE BREEZE
Writer: Tym Manley Photography: Steve Behr/Stockfile
FOR $300 HISTORY WAS
MADE. BREEZE BUILT UP
BREEZER 1 AND WON
REPACK ON IT. CHARLIE
TOOK NUMBER 2
Joe Breeze | Icons of MTB 27
Opposite page: Justifiably proud: from his first $300
Breezer, Breeze built up a respected road and MTB brand
Left: Breeze was a serial winner of the Repack races
Charlie Kelly held on Mount Tamalpais in the late 70s
Below: With a Breezer #1 at the 2006 Interbike show.
Made in 1977, it was the first purpose built MTB Photography: Wende Cragg
Wende Cragg was that rare thing in the
early days of mountain biking a woman.
Here she recalls the buzz of being part of it
Queen
Klunking
of
Writer: Elizabeth Elliott Photography: Wende Cragg
Wende Cragg | Q&A 29
Above: Cragg poses with her 1978 Breezer at Pearl Passs
false summit, 1979
W
hile the dawn of
mountain biking has a
reputation for being all
about a clique of blokes
intent on defying gravity,
it wasnt exclusively a mans world.
Foremost among the female recruits was
Wende Cragg, who, having taken up the
sport in the summer of 1975, participated in
many of the early Marin rides. She was the
first woman to ride Pearl Pass out of Crested
Butte and probably the first woman to ride
many of the California trails. Dubbed the
Queen of Klunking and inducted into the
Mountain Bike Hall of Fame in 1989, Wende
was drawn to the sport by the freedom of
exploring on two wheels. Armed with topo
maps and a camera, she traversed Marin
County on a fat tyred, 54lb klunker and
captured the true essence of those early
years on film, creating a treasury of slides
and photos. Her Pearl Pass collection in
particular has been instrumental in
showing who was there and what they rode.
What was your inspiration for taking up
mountain biking?
Wende Cragg: As a child, I imagined a life
of adventure and excitement. Having
grown up with Superman as my TV role
model, I believed I could fly! The middle
sibling in a family of eight kids, I grew up
fairly independent and curious, always
leaning towards the athletic activities of
my brothers. I loved to roller skate and
when skateboards first appeared, I was the
lone girl on the block to dare give it a try.
My introduction to mountain biking
happened quite by accident. My neighbour
at the time, Fred Wolf, was a childhood
friend of Charlie Kelly and introduced my
then husband and me to the idea. My first
few attempts were by trial and error,
however, and the overall experience was
somewhat of a letdown. Perhaps it was the
54lb that the bike weighed, or possibly the
fact that I was out of shape, but I needed to
be coaxed to return to the saddle, and
eventually discovered a fondness that
quickly became an addiction. Once I got
my bike legs, I routinely ventured out
alone with anticipation of my new-found
road to adventure.
What were the attitudes of the guys towards
you in those early days were you accepted
and taken seriously?
Wende Cragg: For the most part, all the
guys were encouraging and patient.
Obviously, I wasnt able to keep up but I
tried my hardest to not slow them down
too much. Collectively, they all took me
under their wing and coached me on
certain aspects of technique and form,
especially when it came to downhill
finding the right line and maximising my
position on the bike to take advantage of
aerodynamics, and so on. Certainly, their
encouragement was instrumental in
building my confidence and strength, and
their mentorship was invaluable in
inspiring me to go a little farther and
harder each time out. I was so fortunate to
have been part of this group of cycling
icons/living legends whove contributed
so richly to the development of the sport.
They were all visionaries, really, and
shared their knowledge and insight.
What were your main haunts?
Wende Cragg: Initially, I was limited to
the open space directly behind my house,
Tamarancho, which is now a destination
for singletrack riding. As I became more
and more confident about my skills and
ability, I began to explore Mount
Tamalpais and the Point Reyes National
Seashore. We had unlimited access to all
trails back then and I was on a campaign
to explore each and every one.
With the aid of my trusty topo maps
and unfettered desire to explore, I
quickly covered the county and
highlighted, in yellow, the roads and trails
charted out. Within a years time, Id
ridden almost all the trails and fire roads
within Marin County...
Did you plan your rides or did you just head
out and see where you ended up?
Wende Cragg: In the heady days before
rules and regulations dictated the
destination, the world was our oyster and
we could go anywhere. Exploration in the
beginning involved heading out with my
topo maps into uncharted territory, but
after gaining first hand knowledge of the
surrounding area, I was able to plan my
rides according to weather, degree of
difficulty or just plain wanderlust.
Oftentimes, a spontaneous group ride
would be organised within minutes after a
few phone calls and wed find ourselves
happily setting out for day-long rides on
the coast or mountain. An after event
would oftentimes follow too, usually a
group dinner or barbeque to celebrate our
victory of conquering a mountain
Above: Cragg riding across San Anselmo Creek in Cascade Canyon, April 1979
Right: Donna Degan rounds out a turn on Repacks Camera Corner, late 1977
THE GUYS ALL TOOK
ME UNDER THEIR WING
AND COACHED ME ON
ASPECTS OF TECHNIQUE
AND FORM
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somewhere, so there was a lot of
camaraderie that extended beyond the
riding itself and we all became fast friends.
Gradually, the circle widened and
extended to include others, including
women, who were somewhat reluctant to
straddle the bike. However, with a bit of
the encouragement that was pivotal in
getting me on a bike, a few were recruited.
What is it you loved (and still love) about
the sport?
Wende Cragg: Thats easy! The childlike
sense of wonder and flight, doubled with
the practicality of the bike itself. Id been a
hiker and had always been drawn to the
outdoors and everything Mother Nature
has to offer, but the bike allowed me to
broaden my horizons and investigate all
aspects that were sometimes overlooked. I
became quite knowledgeable about flora
and fauna, wildlife and weather in my
daily outings and integrated those into my
photography as well.
Also, Ive always felt that movement
was a gift and the choreography of the
AS PART OF A SERIES OF ARTICLES FOR EXAMINER.COM,
WENDE RECALLED THE OTHER WOMEN WHO PLAYED
A ROLE IN THE FAT TYRES DAWN
IN THE FEW short years that spanned the advent
of the mountain bike, several Marin County
women played a pivotal part in the pursuit of our
newly discovered pastime, klunking. As awkward
and daunting as it was, a small scattering of
girlfriends and wives accompanied their male
counterparts on those initial journeys. A trudge
and grunt ritual was usually required to
accomplish this however, as the lack of lower
gears and excessive weight of the carriage
prevented any serious time in the saddle. Simply
reaching the summit was reward enough; the
descent might have been viewed as a white-
knuckle horror show for the uninitiated lassie who
was along for the ride and/or moral support of
her mate.
The short list of crusaders, good sports
and cheerleaders:
Peggy Madigan One-time girlfriend of Charlie
Kelly, she was a road rider and most likely the first
woman in Marin to ride a klunker in 1974.
Denise Caramagno Former girlfriend of Charlie
Kelly, she was a passionate horse lover who found
her calling astride a steed of another kind. She
coined the term Fat Tire Flyer, the name given to
the seminal publication she and Charlie began in
the early 80s.
Emma Dodge Wolf Late wife of Fred Wolf,
goddess of the hearth and huckleberry pie artisan,
par excellence (RIP).
Carolyn Hurlbut Wife of Vince Carleton, shes a
steadfast and resilient trooper with a heart of gold.
Donna Dugan Wife of Les Dugan, a natural on the
bike who possessed an innate ability to find the
fine line, a dynamo on dirt.
Jacquie Phelan Married to Charlie Cunningham,
she burst upon the scene with panache
unequalled to this day. A ferocious and animated
competitor, she made her mark as the founder of
the WOMBATS [Womens Mountain Bike &
Tea Society].
Theres an old axiom that states Behind every
successful man theres a good woman, but in our
case we were standing aside them.

human body with a bike was a masterful
juxtaposition! Id found my calling
What bikes did you ride in the early days
and what do you ride today?
Wende Cragg: My first bike was a JC
Higgins. It was state-of-the-art at the time
and had five speeds and a rear drum brake.
I graduated to a 38 Schwinn Excelsior,
custom painted by Alan Bonds, and rode
that while awaiting one of the 10 Breezers,
which would eventually serve me well for
nearly 10 years. In 86, Joe (Breeze) created
a bike to fit and Ive been on it ever since.
Its definitely my favourite!
How involved did you get with racing and
promoting the sport?
Wende Cragg: Initially I raced, just for
fun, and still hold the womens record for
Repack (5:27) but it never seemed a good
fit for me. Also, I only enjoyed racing
against the guys! I didnt like the pressure
of racing against women, although there
were virtually no other women in the very
beginning, so racing against the guys was
done just for kicks. Promoting the sport
was a no-brainer my enthusiasm to
spread the word was tantamount to a
preacher. I always advocated the bike as
alternative transportation that benefited
everyone, and the mountain bike,
especially, seemed to be the perfect
vehicle, its fat tyres being preferable over
skinny ones.
Is mountain biking still as big a part of
your life?
Wende Cragg: Although I havent
straddled a saddle in a while, my passion
for cycling in general, and mountain
biking in particular, is still a commitment
I embrace. Im currently expanding my
INITIALLY I RACED,
JUST FOR FUN, AND
STILL HOLD THE
WOMENS RECORD
FOR REPACK
Facebook network to spread the word
about the new bike museum coming to
Fairfax next spring, so Ive been
connecting with other passionate riders
worldwide and still find it astonishing
how interested most people are in our
humble beginnings here in Marin. The
majority of my friends are still involved in
cycling in some capacity too.
You took a lot of photos on your rides
were you consciously documenting those
early days, knowing you were at the
forefront of something new, or was it simply
to have a personal record of fun times with
your mates?
Wende Cragg: It was never a conscious
effort on my part to document the people
and places that told the story, but more a
desire to use my new camera. I was
intrigued and compelled to pack my new
toy everywhere, but the additional weight
of the camera/lenses in my backpack
increased any struggle to climb, therefore
being even more of a detriment to the
group. All the shots taken were candid
Above: (L-R) Charlie Kelly, Joe Breeze (near bus), Denise Caramagno, Gary Fisher, Craig Mitchell, Peter from Tiburon and Kent Bostick on a trip to the sea aboard John Finley
Scotts double decker London bus, January 1980
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many whod had no interest in cycling
before. Honestly, in the incubation days, it
was possible to ride all day and not see
another human. Today, almost everyone
has a mountain bike theyre ubiquitous.
The global reach is what surprises me the
most though, and the infinite possibilities
for its constructive use. Yesterdays bikes
have little resemblance to todays
technology and, for the most part, I have
little interest in the latest suspension,
preferring everything old school.
I was privileged to have been a part of
this historic and somewhat eccentric
birthing. It was a time in my life when I
was receptive to an experience that would
alter the way the world saw the bicycle,
which just proved that the wheel could be
reinvented, and Im eternally grateful. I
sincerely doubt the rise in bicycle use
would have increased so exponentially
had it not been for the fat tyre. It was an
honour to witness the development and
evolution in such a personal and hands-on
way, and Ill always be indebted to those
who took me into the fold.
and personal, simply relating a time/
place/people. It was an age of innocence
and experimentation, coupled with the
sheer joy of discovering something new.
We were just having so much fun!
What do you think about how mountain
biking has evolved and did you envision it
becoming so big?
Wende Cragg: Lately Ive been going
through some of the images Id taken back
then. Everything looks so old and
antiquated, theyre considered vintage!
We obviously had no idea how huge it
would become and in its infancy there
were plenty of people who wanted to keep
it under wraps for fear of losing our access.
They were correct, of course, but it was
something that couldnt be contained!
The thrill was infectious and word
spread faster than anticipated, not just
through the bike community but as a
general curiosity. The idea of a bicycle
giving you access to areas that were only
accessible by foot was mindblowing. We
turned a lot of people on to the concept,
Top: Wende Cragg and Charlie Kelly riding their
Breezers on the trail blasted in the cliffs below
Monarch Lakes, Mineral King
Above: Family bike ride: Fred and Emma Wolf with their
son and daughter
34 Icons of MTB | Gary Fisher
W
ould mountain bikes
exist without Gary
Fishers involvement?
The answer is probably
yes. While he wasnt the
first to assemble a klunker, or build a frame
designed for off-road riding, Fisher was the
first to really join the dots and make the leap
of realisation needed to see the full potential
of this new breed of bikes. Without Fishers
guiding hand, mountain biking is unlikely
to be where it is today.
Lifetime on bikes
I met up with Gary Fisher in London in
December 2013. We began by talking about
how long hed spent riding and being part of
the bike scene. Man, Ive worked in the bike
industry since I dont wanna scare ya!
1964. I started racing a bike in 1962, so Im
happy to say Ive raced a bike for 51 years!
he proudly exclaims.
We continue and I ask Gary about his first
involvement with bicycles. Well, I saw it
there under the Christmas tree. It was a
Schwinn Spitfire and I was four years old,
says Fisher. Of course, it had training
wheels, but within about two months I was
able to ride the bike without them. It was
perfect. Once Id outgrown the Schwinn, I
moved on to a three-speed Raleigh Colt.
My third bike was a Legnano, a
10-speed, and it had Campagnolo
derailleurs and a pair of Magistroni steel-
cottered cranks.
I joined the Belmont Bicycle Club,
known as the BBC. The president of the club
was Larry Warple and he came from the
east side of London. What a marvellous
individual. He took me under his wing.
Ten-mile, 25-mile time trials and 60-,
80-mile long rides, he made sure I made
it home. I was 12 years old and this was
like a fabulous dose of freedom and
empowerment to be able to ride that bike.
It was later, while at high school, that
Fisher got his first taste of off-road riding:
It was 1967, it was a Larkspur Canyon Gang
and we had drumming circles. It was like,
Hippies! Youd go out and get a bike, youd
go to Good Will, youd go to the dumps,
youd pay no more than $5 for the bike, that
was the charm. You could go out and
destroy it if you wanted.
Anyway, I go out and ride with these
guys and it was incredible. I was already a
road racer and they knew I was a road racer
and they said, You gotta try this, and I tried
it and went, Wow, this is fun, but the
equipment was crap. You go out with six
guys and youd come back and three of
them would be dragging parts behind them,
not riding.
Stuff would fall apart and on top of that
80 per cent of the time you were pushing
your bike up a mountain or you were hitch
hiking, trying to get a ride up the mountain.
I grew up with the whole Fausto Coppi
thing, and Coppi was famous for saying,
Ride a bike, ride a bike, ride a bike. I wasnt
going to be a walker or a hitchhiker! The
rest is literally history and a story well told
elsewhere in these pages.
Radical thinker
During our time together its clear that
Fisher is a radical thinker and still holds on
to many interesting counter culture ideas.
But in addition to being a true off road
pioneer and founding father, Fisher is just as
importantly an inspiring and deep thinking
cycling advocate. The little secret that we
[cyclists] have, that riding a bike is so much
fun we cant stand it, I want to spread that
around a lot more. I dont feel were
appreciated like we should be, especially in
MTB. I watch the insane, wonderful,
marvellous things that people do at Redbull
Rampage or on the DH scene. Its so cool I
cant believe it. I want these guys to all be
paid well, I want this to be a big sport, I
think its really cool. If Id had the whole
school kid bike-racing scene when I was a
kid I wouldve been in heaven and I want to
spread that heaven all around the world. I
want kids to have this opportunity. I want
to leave this a better place. Its real simple.
A road racer turned off-road founder and cycling guru, Gary Fisher is arguably
the first name on anyones list of whos who in mountain biking
CYCLING GURU
GARY FISHER
Writer: Richard Owen
P
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w
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STUFF WOULD FALL
APART AND 80 PER
CENT OF THE TIME YOU
WERE PUSHING YOUR
BIKE UP A MOUNTAIN

Fisher is one of the most famous names in mountain
biking. Hes almost as well known for his individual style.
In his late teens he was banned from racing for having
long hair but rather than cutting it short he waited for
the rule to be overturned
Photography: Dan Milner/Trek
Photography: Steve Behr
Repack to Rampage the first
twenty years of the US mountain
bike scene
Writer: Guy Kesteven Images: Steve Behr/Stockfile
new
Brand
world
W
eve already looked at the
almost accidental birth
of MTB among the flared
jean gene pool of
Californias Marin
County. But how did this spark become a
fire that was to trailblaze across the world
and revolutionise the focus, technology and
profile of the humble bicycle and turn it into
the hottest must have lifestyle accessory in
just over a decade?

From Repack to retail
You dont have to spend much time in the
company of Gary Fisher to realise that hes
an irresistible force of inspiration,
innovation and self invention. Joe Breeze
might have sold the first complete bikes
based on his hand-built frames and Gary
Fisher and Charlie Kellys shop might have
just sold bikes based on Tom Ritchey-built
frames. It was the MountainBikes name
above that door that was significant though,
a literal sign of things to come when the
shop opened in 1979.
Thats because then as now Marin
County wasnt just the backwater hippy
commune you might suspect from those
early Repack Downhill racer photographs,
but an affluent area full of people used to
paying a lot of money for the latest thrill,
whatever form it came in. While most of
the hardcore Repackers were salvaging
bikes from skips and building a hand to
mouth life from supplying friends with
bikes and frames, Fisher and Kelly were
thinking big. While a Joe Breeze Breezer
would set you back $750, Gary and Charlie
were selling their Ritchey-made frames and
forks alone for nearly $500 and the
complete bikes for well over $1,000. Add a
colourful, attention grabbing, look at me
lifestyle element and this immediately
established mountain bikes as the perfect
playthings for the upwardly mobile middle
class, which shared a very similar
timeframe and technology-fed rise.
Innovate or die
Perhaps unsurprisingly then it was
entrepreneurs not engineers that took the
concept of mountain bikes from a single
shop to the entire world. Mike Sinyard had
already built himself a healthy Specialized
Bicycle Imports business selling Italian
cycling shoes and European and Japanese
Top left: An old Univega frame fitted with prototype suspension forks designed by Bob Girvin
Top right: A Univega Alpina, which outsold its more famous competitor, the Specialized Stumpjumper, by 5:1
Above: Cannondales SM-500 would set an industry trend in using oversized alloy tubing
Brand new world | US scene 39
equipment into the American market. He
spotted the potential of these new off-road
bikes almost immediately and bought four
Ritchey frame and fork sets in 1981 to use as
templates for the first Japanese-built
Specialized Stumpjumper bikes. Proof that
Sinyard was more entrepreneur than
engineer comes from the fact these first
bikes landed with overlong forks (the exact
reason for that depends on which yarn you
want to be wound in by) but the name and
the $750 price were right and Mike had
sold 500 of them within a year.
As the wry observation goes history is
always written by the victor and thats
certainly the case with mountain biking
history. While Specialized is largely
accepted as the pioneer of successful
overseas produced mountain bike sales, its
1982 Stumpjumper bike sales were less than
20 per cent of that of Univegas Alpina. The
Univega brand was the latest creation of
Ben Lawee, who after learning the bike
selling trade in New York, had grown his
buyout of a single Long Beach California
bike shop in 1959 into a successful multi-
store chain. Having been frustrated with
the quality and consistency of existing
brands he tried to import, he created the
Italian-made Italvega and then Japanese
Miyata-made Univega brands and he was
perfectly placed to exploit the birth of MTB.
Specialized and Univega werent the only
young brands seizing off-road bikes as a
way to outflank more established bike
companies. Treks west coast sales manager
(and later Klein brand manager) Harry
Spehar turned up at the 1983 Whiskeytown
downhill with a Trek touring frame
tweaked according to his Californian dirt
riding experience. It survived the race and
within a year Trek had produced and sold
almost 4,000 of its new 850 bikes and it
promptly developed an improved Reynolds
531 tubed Shimano XT equipped version
for the following year.
1984 also marked the start of a seismic
shift in mountain bike construction as
Pennsylvania manufacturer Cannondale
launched the SM-500 mountain bike
follow-up to its first bike, the 1983 ST500
tourer. The SM-500 Beast from the East
might have had to use a smaller 24in rear
wheel to work with the restricted tube
bending potential of Cannondales
oversized alloy pipework, but it introduced
what became the literal backbone of
mountain bikes to this day an alloy rather
than steel frame, joined together with
naked TIG welded joints rather than
heavier steel tubes sleeved together with
geometry restricting lug junctions. By the
other fat tube pioneer 1985 Gary Klein had
responded with the Mountain Klein,
weighing in at just over 25lb and with
square chainstays to avoid the problem of
crimping round tubes to get them around a
fat (for the time) 2.125in-wide tyre on a 26in
wheel. At the same time John Parker came
out of hospital after a motorbike race crash
and promptly swapped his motorbike for
his friends bike business, welded up three
frames and Yeti Cycles was born. Johns
future wife Linda who he met in hospital
chose the 1971 Chrysler auto colour
Desert Turqouise that was to become
Yetis signature livery. Bob Buckley of
Above: Specialized owner, Mike Sinyard
Right: US mountain bike pioneers Gary Klein, Gary Fisher
and Keith Bontrager, pictured in Germany in the late 90s
Below: The US designed, Japanese built Stumpjumper
SPECIALIZED IS
LARGELY ACCEPTED
AS THE PIONEER OF
SUCCESSFUL OVERSEAS
PRODUCED MOUNTAIN
BIKE SALES
40 US scene | Brand new world
Marin saw his opening at the other end of
the market and in 1986 the Marin Madrone
Trail was launched for $199 complete. The
Joe Murray designed bike still impressed
Mountain Bike Action magazine enough
that it put a picture of soon-to-be mountain
biking legend John Tomac riding it on its
front cover.
Offshore and off-road
While the European bike industry remained
firmly convinced of the righteousness of
road bikes, far eastern brands were quick to
see this untapped off-road market as the
perfect sales bridgehead for an innovation
invasion. Araya became the first
manufacturer to produce a specific
mountain bike product. Its alloy rims aped
the 26in diameter of standard beach cruiser
wheels and the final dimensions of Mavic
road rims being cut down and re-welded by
motocross mechanic and off-road rider
Keith Bontrager. A look at the spec of an
early Univega Alpina shows that the far
eastern parts programme was already
much more than rim deep by 1983. Those
Araya rims revolve on Sunshine Gyro hubs
and are shod in Cheng Shin (now Maxxis)
tyres. The crank is a Sugino Super Maxy
copy of the classic French TA touring
chainset. Japanese SunTour gears are
shifted by SunTour thumb shifters sat on
Japanese Nitto bars alongside Dia Compe
four finger brake levers (not the previously
default Magura motorbike levers) and they
pull Japanese Shimano brakes. 1983 also
saw SunTour introduce its MounTech gear
set, which combined with Dia Compe
brakes and Sugino cranks to create a
complete component set-up.
Within months Shimano introduced its
first complete, dedicated mountain bike
groupset in the shape of Deore XT. This
rapidly became the go-to mountain bike
parts choice, helping Shimano sales
outstrip those of SunTour by 1986.
Within 10 years of continuous innovation,
Shimano had ridden the mountain bike
sales wave into a dominant transmission
and braking supply position that it still
holds today.
Japans position as the go-to bike
producer didnt last long though, because
a massive crash in the dollar price against
the yen pushed prices of Japanese imports
through the roof. Luckily Taiwan was
already being geared up for mass
production and the whole industry crossed
the Taiwan Strait to create a whole new bike
manufacturing super power. Because
Taiwan was a totally fresh manufacturing
set-up in terms of top end bikes they
werent burdened with traditional
attitudes to materials and construction
either. That meant they were perfectly
placed technologically and economically
to seize the advantages of the latest TIG
welding and alloy tubing innovations, and
threaten to leave the old school, brazed and
lugged bikes looking like ponderous, rusty
dinosaurs overnight.
Material world
In fact the whole materials question was
becoming a massive deal for mountain
bikes by the late 1980s. Most builders
were using new, tougher oversized steel
pipe sets such as Reynolds 531 off-road,
Columbus Max OR and Nivacrom or Tange
Prestige. Some were even developing their
own off-road-specific tubes such as the
MORON (More On the ends) tubing
created by Scot Nicol and Wes Williams of
Ibis cycles. Soon innovators everywhere
Above left: Japanese components such as this SunTour AR rear mech were all over early bikes such as the Alpina
Above right: French brand TA also featured on early bikes with its touring cranks and chainsets
WITHIN MONTHS
SHIMANO INTRODUCED
ITS FIRST COMPLETE,
DEDICATED MOUNTAIN
BIKE GROUPSET IN THE
SHAPE OF DEORE XT
were grabbing tubes and welding torches to
build bikes to hit the trails on, and brands
including Ibis, Bontrager, Mantis, Fat
Chance, Salsa, Mountain Goat, Otis Guy
and others became the aspirational
alchemy aristocracy.
Titanium had already been
experimentally used in road bikes decades
before. Gary Helfrich at Chris Chances
innovative Fat Chance bike foundry can be
credited with many advances in titanium
tubing and construction technology before
and after he split from Fat Chance to help set
up Merlin Metalworks in 1986. At the same
time the Lynskey family-run Southeast
Machine company had started using their
decades of specialist titanium fabrication to
create bikes for themselves that soon
developed a cult reputation in their native
Tennessee. Both Merlin (or Kestrel as they
were called at the time) and the soon-to-be
Litespeed turned up to the 1986 Long Beach
bicycle expo with their titanium frames and
they immediately became the hottest news
of the show. Within a year both companies
were flat out meeting demand for their own
frames as well as filling orders for flagship
titanium bikes for other brands from all
over the world. By 1992 Litespeeed was only
second in line behind Boeing as a customer
of the titanium supplier Sandvik and a
titanium top to your brand range was a
must-have for most mountain bike
manufacturers as well as luxury road
brands such as De Rosa.
Interestingly the reason Merlin had to
change its name from Kestrel was because
another bike company had beaten it to it,
bringing its own unique construction
method to the party in the process. Carbon
fibre tubes plugged into steel or alloy
junction sections had been around for a
while and would continue to be a popular
semi composite short cut for brands such as
Yeti and Raleigh. However, Kestrel was the
first to produce a frame built of larger
moulded monocoque sections. It led with a
road bike but by 1988 it has released the
radical looking MXZ Nitro E stay frame and
together with brands such as Trimble and
Formula in the UK launched a whole new
era in mountain bike construction.
Big brands, small minds
While the upstarts and innovators in the US
and Taiwan were scrambling to grow their
share in a new sector of the bike market
that hadnt existed before, the established
manufacturers were wary of repeating
the rapid spike and fall in sales of the
preceding BMX boom. Despite being the
manufacturers of the Excelsior beach
cruiser that was the building block weapon
of choice for nearly all the original Repack
bikes, Schwinn had barely moved on by the
mid 80s. The 1981 King Sting and King
Sting 5 bikes were butt ugly BMX/cruiser
hybrids and its first 1984 Sierra and High
Sierra mountain bikes were more geared
to multi-purpose commuting and touring
use than technical off-roading. The same
complaints are clear in a 1985 Mountain Bike
Action magazine review of Schwinns
Top left: Chris Chance with a Fat Chance bike outside
the Massachusetts factory in the early 90s
Left: Kestrels CS-X was one of the early moulded carbon
fibre mountain bikes
Above: Ashley Korenblat showing off Merlins titanium
frames at the companys factory in Boston
new Cimarron flagship, which is criticised
for having handlebars that were great for
town cruising but made everyone look
like chickens trying to fly on steep off-
road climbs and disappointing centre ridge
tread tyres.
The other US bike mega brand Huffy was
even less interested, ignoring mountain
bikes in favour of extremely expensive
headline sponsorship of the US national
and 7-Eleven track and road teams, despite
the fact their riders made no secret of riding
Serotta custom frames. In fact it wasnt until
Huffy launched its lookalike Stone
Mountain bike in 1991 that it even paid the
off-road market lip service.
Huffy was responsible for some
acceptable off-roaders via its licensed
Raleigh US brand. The 1982 Trail Rider was
a half hearted Breezer shaped cruiser, which
still had one-piece cranks, a cruiser seat and
sidepull brakes but it was properly equipped
by 1983. The 1984 and 1985 Crested Butte
bikes got double butted steel tubing and
Shimano Deore XT equipment, but at
nearly 30lb they were no match for Kleins
benchmark featherweight. It was to prove
a costly missed opportunity, as within a
decade Raleigh, Schwinn, Univega and
Huffy were all in financial trouble with
multiple owners, eventually leaving them
scrapping for the lower end of the market.
BMX bandits
One group of bike manufacturers that
definitely didnt miss the trick were the
leading BMX brands. The 20in wheel wave
had been one hell of a ride but by the mid
80s it was about to hit the beach big time, so
the smart brands made sure they caught the
next surf heading into shore. Gary Turners
GT bikes and factory team had dominated
the glory days of BMX and several BMX
features are obvious on their original
Timberline. The Japanese-made frame was
fully chromed and featured a dropped
BMX-style top tube and high rise braced
bars plus a small signature wishbone
seatstay junction stub behind the seat tube.
Mongoose was another leading BMX brand
that launched a full chrome ATB bike in
1985, but used a more conventional frame
layout and bullmoose bars.
It wasnt until 1991 that GTs All Terra
brand really exploded into the serious off-
road segment. Its Zaskar frame used
oversized alloy tubing and introduced the
Triple Triangle seatstay overlap design that
replaced the wishbone stub and became a
GT signature feature. However, it was the
combination of the seriously light weight
and outstanding stiffness that made the
Zaskar a literal smash hit among racers and
aggressive trail riders alike. Following the
pattern of GTs BMX domination its
potential was fully exploited by the
manufacturers newly formed professional
race team. As a result GT hit the next phase
of MTB development with massive must
have marketing momentum.
Spring time
By 1992 GT was actually relatively late to
the full suspension party with its all
conquering RTS frame. In fact Brian
Skinner and Dan Hannebrink went into
limited production of their MCR Descender
using Kawasaki motorbike suspension in
1983. By the end of the decade Horst
Opposite: A welder sets to work on one of GTs now iconic Triple Triangle frames at its Huntington Beach factory
Above: GT founder Gary Turner took his BMX brand successfully into the world of mountain bike manufacture
ONE GROUP OF BIKE
MANUFACTURERS
THAT DEFINITELY
DIDNT MISS THE TRICK
WERE THE LEADING
BMX BRANDS
Leitner and Kalle Nicolai had taken the ball
and run with it, translating the commonly
used automotive McPherson strut design
into a light enough linkage system to work
on bikes. The introduction of their own
AMP Research bikes and Horst link bikes
from other system adopters such as Titus
and eventually Specialized coincided neatly
with the arrival of workable suspension
forks from RockShox, Manitou, Pace and
Marzocchi to complete the competent
suspension bike package.
Big brands such as Trek and Cannondale
took a while to sort out their own successful
suspension platforms and early innovators
such as Ibis, Klein and Fat Chance largely
relied on borrowed systems. This left the
door open for a whole new breed of
suspension savvy brands such as Offroad
Pro Flex, Turner, Mountain Cycle, Santa
Cruz, Intense and Foes to kick off their
history with full suspension bikes designed
to reduce the kicking from the trail.
Suspension travel replaced fancy hand
finished tubing as the focus of frame
attention as riders went harder, faster,
higher and more hardcore than any steel
frame could cope with.
Historically it was the US brands who
managed this second development hurdle
in mountain biking that went on to become
the strongest in the industry. GT rode its
RTS and LTS bikes into a dominant
position, Specializeds FSR family bikes are
still going strong today and Cannondales
Super V and Headshok bikes confirmed its
position as perennial left field innovators
that it still enjoys today. Trek hit the jackpot
when it combined its growing carbon fibre
experience with suspension in its late 90s
Y bikes and went on a pioneer purchasing
crusade that saw Gary Fisher, Gary Klein
and Keith Bontrager all under its broad
Wisconsin wings. Meanwhile brands such
as Raleigh, Huffy, Schwinn and Univega
as well as many of the small scale original
builders wheeled out half-hearted lash-
ups that were soon swamped by high
quality, high tech bikes from emerging far
eastern brands such as Giant. The European
market had also grown a crop of its own
brands including Scott while some US
brands such as Kona and Marin were
stronger in the UK and Europe than they
were at home.
To infinity and beyond
By the mid to late 1990s mountain biking
had gone truly global. Cross-country
mountain biking was an Olympic sport and
downhill racing was an international circus
with massive team budgets not just a race
down a Californian mountain with massive
flares. Taiwanese factories developed to
supply US brands had turned into leading
technological masters in their own right.
Beach cruiser botch jobs had become
cutting edge carbon fibre, titanium and
monocoque aluminium masterpieces
with state of the art suspension. In short
mountain biking was set ready to enter its
most mental years yet.
Above: MBUKs Justin Loretz puts GTs RTS-1 full suspension bike through its paces
Below: Treks Y-shape full suspension frames in the Wisconsin factory
ONE HIT WONDERS
ALPINESTARS MEGA
In 1991/1992 Motocross specialist Alpinestars
launched a concerted attack on the MTB scene
by seizing the latest boutique E stay designs and
bringing them to the mass market in a range of
materials. The Cro Mega was the cheapest and
most popular, with the Al Mega introducing
oversized alloy tubing and the titanium Ti Mega
as the flagship ofering. Excessive flex under
power dogged the Ti design though and when
E stay bikes fell out of fashion, Alpinestars went
with them, leaving fond memories of a brief
technological trend accessorised with printed
paint splatter shoes.
MOUNTAIN CYCLE SAN ANDREAS
A truly groundbreaking machine. Built around a
clamshell monocoque welded mainframe and
swing arm with bolt-on seat mast, Pro Stop disc
brakes front and rear and Mountain Cycles own
motorbike style Suspenders upside down fork, it
was a truly visionary vehicle. Its instantly iconic
impact ensured Mountain Cycle lasted longer
than most one hit wonder bike brands with a
series of increased travel frames extending its
lifespan into the downhill/freeride era. None of
them were as successful as the San Andreas
though and Mountain Cycle didnt last far into
the 21st century.
MCR DESCENDER
The original full-sus downhill mountain bike
designed by Brian Skinner in 1983, refined by
Dan Hannebrink and for one batch at least
made by Yeti Cycles originator John Parker.
Basically a big BMX with a motorbike swing
arm back end, the Descender still packed up
to 6in of travel (depending on shock and size
of bump stop) as well as early Shimano disc
brakes. It was Skinner taking a development
job at Shimano that ultimately ended the
Descenders run.
NISHIKI ALIEN
Strictly speaking there were several Nishiki bikes
at various prices but this radical-looking elevated
chain stay bike designed by Mantis bikes
innovator and industry legend Richard
Cunningham was a true icon of its time. E Stays
proved to create more problems than they
solved though and the suspension revolution
soon left the Alien looking out of place.
SLINGSHOT
Who needs a complex arrangement of pivots
and shock absorbers when you can just cut the
top tube of a frame in half, slide in a section of
car leaf spring and then replace the down tube
with a lightly sprung cable? Well actually 99.9
per cent of riders would probably stick with the
pivots and shock, but for those curious 0.1 per
cent the Slingshot was and still is one of the
most distinctive solutions to putting suspension
between the trail and rider.
THE PURPLE PATCH
While the meat and veg of mountain bike
stop-and-go componentry rapidly became
dominated by SunTour and then Shimano,
there was no shortage of options to trick
out your mountain bike in the late 1980s and
1990s. In the same way that anyone who had
ever welded two pipes together seemed to be
making E stay frames, so it seemed that anyone
with a lathe in their workshop and some alloy
billet from their daytime aerospace job was
making brightly coloured components for
mountain bikes.
Ringle, Nukeproof, Pauls Components,
WTB, Grafton, Cook Bros, Caramba, Answer,
Gripshift, Control Tech, Syncros, Onza, Hershey,
Hope, Middleburn, X Lite and a whole host of
others exploded onto the scene in a shower of
computer carved purple anodised glory. Many
of the ones that were worth their salt are still
with us in some form today, but mostly now
made in a massive factory in the far east, not a
small shed in southern California.
Far right: The Alpinestars Cro
Mega with elevated chainstays
Bottom right: The Nishiki
Alien, also with E Stays, was
designed by Mantis Bikes
Richard Cunningham
Below: The Slingshot with a
cable replacing the downtube
46 Icons of MTB | Jason McRoy
Left: Riding his Specialized bike in Specialized kit in
North Yorkshire, 1995
Above: McRoy in a candid pose on the cover of MTB
Pro in April 1995
Right: JMC looked rad whatever he was doing. This shot
was taken on the set of MBUKs 1995 film DIRT
I
ts 18 years since Jason McRoy ( JMC)
was tragically killed in a collision
between his motorcycle and a lorry.
In that time British downhilling has
gained massive respect on the
international circuit, thanks in no small
part to his pioneering spirit.
McRoy was born in 1971, and after a
promising start to his cycling career with
BMX, he switched to mountain biking at the
age of 17. Competing at both XC and
downhill, he soon picked up sponsorship
and in 1991 he made it onto the British
Downhill team for the World Champs in
Italy. He was soon riding for the MBUK
team and was consistently in the Worlds
squad, but suffered from bad luck with
mechanicals in many big races.
The early years of downhilling during
the late 80s and early 90s were largely
dominated by US riders. Then the Euros like
Franois Gachet, Jrgen Beneke and Nicolas
Vouilloz started to win everything, but not
much was happening from UK riders. Dave
Hemming won a silver medal in the junior
downhill at the Durango Worlds in 1990,
but no one had made any breakthrough
internationally since then. It was a big deal
to look at the results and see that a UK rider
had got anywhere near the top 10 in any
sort of international DH event and no-one
was getting offered a big-time sponsorship
deal with an international team.
DH specialist
That changed when McRoy started to
concentrate solely on racing downhill. In
93 he saw an opportunity and went for it,
taking a risk and competing on the
international circuit with his dad Jim in
support and a bikes and bits deal from
Hardisty Cycles. He started to get noticed
with a top 10 finish at Cap dAil, and posted
the fastest time at the Vail Grundig. But it
was his second place finish at the infamous
Kamikaze event at Mammoth Mountain in
California that allowed him to carry on
competing in the Grundigs and got him the
attention that led to his breakthrough deal.
It may be apocryphal, but legend has it that
when Specialized asked him how much he
wanted to sign with them he wrote a figure
on a napkin, folded it over and handed it to
them. They looked at it and said, We have a
deal. Or something along those lines.
JMC signing for Specialized showed the
UK riders coming up behind that you could
concentrate on downhill racing and not
have to race cross-country as well. And if
you did that, worked hard, competed in the
World Cup events and put yourself in the
mix then the big results and big deals could
follow. Rob Warner and Steve Peat both
looked up to McRoy and followed the path
that he pioneered. Both went on to sign for
big teams and win World Cups. It might
have happened eventually anyway, but they
both acknowledge the debt they owe to JMC
for showing them (and the other UK riders
that followed) what was possible. It took
courage and conviction for him to go for it
as he did British downhillers have a lot to
thank him for.
McRoys Specialized career was beset by
injury and mechanical issues, a continuation
of the bad luck hed experienced previously.
However, while riding on the track at the
Manchester velodrome as fitness training
following a broken wrist, JMC attracted
attention and was shortlisted for the
Atlanta Olympic track team. It was not to
be. In August 1995 his Harley Davidson
collided with a lorry on his way home to
Cheshire across the Peaks. British mountain
biking lost one of its shining lights, but his
memory and inspiration lives on in those
that followed his trailblazing path.
This mountain biking star and pioneer of UK downhill blazed a searing trail to
international success, but tragically his life and career were cut short
FREE SPIRIT
JASON MCROY
Writer: Steve Behr Photography: Steve Behr/Stockfile
IT WAS HIS SECOND
PLACE FINISH AT
KAMIKAZE THAT GOT
HIM THE ATTENTION
THAT LED TO HIS DEAL
Y
ou might not think it as youre
burning up that agonising climb,
but MTBers have never had it so
easy. It wasnt always ultra-light
carbon frames, big 29 inch
wheels, suspension and hydraulic disc brakes.
To get to the glorious state MTB is in today,
generations of riders had to tough it out in a
low-tech sport with no history facing a world
of non-believers.
First gear
In the early 1970s, a group of Californians set
about changing the way we thought about
bicycles. They brought a new and thrilling
dimension to bike riding that soon spread
throughout the world.
Most of this motley crew razzed around the
trails of Marin County on the old Schwinn
Excelsor bike known as a Klunker. They
made a few modifications, including bigger,
burly tyres, motocross bars and levers, drum
brakes and gears to cope with the wild terrain
these guys were beginning to explore. This
tight group of friends even formed their own
race championship the Repack series.
You may recognise the names Charlie Kelly,
Gary Fisher, Tom Ritchey, Keith Bontrager,
Mountain biking has moved on a lot since its humble beginnings
40 years ago. We discover what has shaped the discipline of cross-
country and the bikes we love today
The evolution of XC
Writer MBUK
Photography Steve Behr/Tom Moran
beginning
In the
Cross-country | Evolution 49
Muddy Fox
The first European mountain
bike brand. It caught the bug
from our friends in the USA.
Specialized
One of the worlds biggest
bike brands, Specialized
delivered the first mass
produced mountain bike back
in 1982 and has stayed at the
forefront of bicycle innovation.
Shimano
Leader in innovation and
design, its been producing
quality groupsets for many
years.
RockShox
Established in 1989, RockShox
was the first company to
produce a commercially viable
suspension fork that worked.
Its delivered some of the
greatest suspension
products mountain biking
has ever witnessed. It was
bought by SRAM in 2002.
Scott
One of the first brands to
successfully produce a fully
functional, full suspension bike,
Scotts created some of the
most intelligent suspension
designs around.
Opposite page: A mass start at
the Malvern Classic, 1991
Above: Henrick Djerniss Ritchey
P22 Team look at that stem!
Left: Tim Gould crossing the line
at the Malvern Classic, 1991
BRANDS THAT COUNT
Joe Ritchey and Mike Sinyard. Not only
could these guys rip it up at Repack, but
theyre the godfathers of mountain biking.
It was thanks to these riders that the sport
was born. And as their bike-building skills
improved, the bikes popularity increased,
so it wasnt too long before the first
mass-produced mountain bike was being
rolled out.
Getting competitive
That bike was produced by Mike Sinyards
company, Specialized, and it was called
the Stumpjumper. It emerged in 1982,
turning heads across the globe its wide
tyres and multiple gears meant it could take
some serious off-road abuse.
As the sport established itself, the riders
competitive natures started to play their
part in the evolution of mountain biking
50 Evolution | Cross-country
1976 The Repack race series
begins to take root in Marin
County, California.
1979 Gary Fisher and Charlie
Kelly set themselves up
building and selling bikes
under the company name MountainBikes.
1982 Specialized introduces the
Stumpjumper. It was the first mass-produced
mountain bike to show what was possible.
1983 NORBA is formed by Gary Fisher and
Joe Breeze. Its still working today with more
than 30,000 members.
1988 John Tomac cleans up at the NORBA
races, winning XC, DH and slalom titles.
1990 RockShox Inc releases its first 1in
travel suspension fork known as the RS1 to
enable mountain bike riders to go faster
over rough terrain in more comfort.
1993 Bob Fox of Fox suspension makes the
bold move into the MTB industry and begins
to design and build shocks
for Cannondale bikes.
1995 Scott Bikes releases
the Endorphin, its first
carbon hardtail. Frame
weights tumbled down.
TIMELINE
Left: Julien Absalon: still one of the riders to beat in anything XC-related
Above: Gary Fisher practising what he preaches
they all wanted to prove themselves on this
new breed of bike. Joe Breeze helped
establish NORBA (National Off Road
Bicycle Association) in America and
developed their very own race series.
Races then had mass starts, huge climbs
and tricky descents to test both skill
and endurance. By the late 1980s, Ned
Overend, Juliana Furtado and Brit Tim
Gould were really starting to make
names for themselves in the world of
cross-country mountain biking.
By the 1990s, the first suspension forks
were cropping up. Paul Turner and Steve
Simmons founded RockShox Inc in 1989,
and by the following year the first 1in travel
suspension fork the RS1 went into
production. Doug Bradbury of Manitou
and British company Pace Racing soon
followed suit.
Fork in the road
By the mid-90s, XC racing was booming,
both domestically and on the world stage.
The UKs Raleigh team fielded a formidable
line-up, with riders such as David Baker,
Paul Hinton and even the legendary John
Tomac wearing their colours.
In the UK, mountain biking started to be
defined as XC or DH race weekends would
include both events and most riders would
compete in them on the same bike. But as
the sport began to become more specialist,
so did the bikes. Although full suspension
was becoming popular, nearly all cross-
country riders limited their use of
suspension to keep things light, putting the
emphasis on making the most efficient
bikes possible. New materials were slowly
being implemented to achieve these goals
and soon riders had the choice of steel,
aluminium or titanium.
By 1995, Scott had mass produced its first
fully carbon hardtail, the Endorphin. Gary
Ford piloted this bike to victory after
victory and it was clear that carbon was
here to stay. Then, when XC mountain
biking became an Olympic sport in 1996, it
was introduced to millions of people, and
the industry exploded.
Technological advances
Soon, XC riders started using full sus bikes
more often, and by 2000, Cannondale had
BIKE PROGRESSION
The first bicycles considered to be mountain
bikes were the modified Schwinn Excelsors
from the 30s and 40s. Wide bars, chunky
tyres and gears were the norm by the 1980s
and companies such as Mongoose and
Raleigh got bitten by the MTB bug.
Frame technology improved and by the
early 90s bikes were made from steel,
aluminium and titanium. Suspension was
beginning to take of and the more expensive
bikes would boast a simple, short travel fork
as standard.
In the late 1990s, full suspension was all
the rage and the manufacturers kept upping
the stakes, trying to reduce weight and
maintain eficiency.
The world of hydraulics helped suspension
and disc brakes become more afordable and
improved overall riding capabilities massively.
Today, manufacturers have really been
pushing the all-mountain, do-it-all bikes that
have just enough travel, a good selection of
gearing and a comfortable ride.
Looking to the future, will we come full
circle? Will we see events such as the Malvern
Hills Classic come back, where everyone
competes on the same bike for all the events?
The bikes are certainly capable, but are you?!
Cross-country | Evolution 51
1996 XC makes its debut at
the Atlanta Olympics. Bart
Bretjens and Paola Pezzo take
home the gold.
2000 John Tomac retires,
leaving legends in his wake hes the only
rider to have podiumed in both XC and DH at
the same World Champs.
2001 Fox begins to make suspension forks.
2004 Julien Absalon takes his first of four
XC World Cup titles and his first Olympic gold.
2009 The UK is now flush with trail centres
and miles of purpose-built MTB trails. With
numerous events in XC and enduro, and riding
for every skill level, the sport couldnt be in a
healthier state.
2012 The London Olympics saw Jaroslav
Kulhavy pip Nino Schurter to the gold in a
sprint finish, while
on the World Cup
circuit the inclusion
of XCE in place of 4X
was raising more
than a few eyebrows.
2013 Having seen
29ers pick up wins, 2013 saw Nino take the
World Champs gold on a 27.5-inch wheel bike.
RIDERS WHO COUNT
Ned Overend
Overend was the first ever
XC world champion. He still
works alongside long-time
sponsor Specialized.
John Tomac
JT has won in both XC and
DH, helped companies push
new boundaries and been a
role model to thousands.
Gary Fisher
Saw the potential of an old
beaten up klunker bike. Hes
one of the godfathers of
mountain biking.
Juliana Furtado
Winner of the first XC World
Champs race in Durango in
1990, Furtado took XC to
another level.
Tim Gould
When Gould began racing
XC in the UK, everyone paid
attention. He was consistently
at the top of his game.
Julien Absalon
Absalon won four overall
World Cup titles back to
back and has two Olympic
gold medals to his name.
Nino Schurter
Added the 2013 Worlds to an
already impressive palmares.
Nino is a big fan of the 650b
wheel size.
Below Tom Ritchey was one of XC MTBs early pioneers
Above: John Tomac at the DH Worlds, Colorado, 1994
WEVE SEEN SUCH FAST IMPROVEMENTS IN
TECHNOLOGY THAT XC RACE-WINNING
HARDTAILS NOW WEIGH AS LITTLE AS 8.8KG
of riders to bid farewell to their front mech
all together.
Going for gold
XC competition has evolved adding a long
distance, marathon format to the existing
Olympic-style events. Marathon races
would see riders compete on a 60-120km
route rather than doing laps of a 5-10km
course. Bikes changed accordingly,
designed to allow riders to stay in the saddle
for longer, with 650b and 29 inch wheel
sizes becoming increasingly popular.
In 2012 the World Cup introduced the
Cross Country Eliminator (XCE) discipline
in place of 4X, much to the dismay of riders
and spectators. Heralded by officials as a
potential Olympic discipline of the future,
XCE works the same as 4X in that heats of
four riders sprint round a spectator friendly
1km long course, with the top two finishers
progressing to the next round. Bike setups
have adjusted accordingly, with Brian Lopes
customising his Ibis to cope with the pace.
produced the bizarre-looking Raven. It had
a full carbon front triangle with sweeping
lines and an aluminium rear end, plus a Fox
rear shock and Cannondales own Lefty
fork. It may not have been a race-winning
machine, but it went a long way towards
showing the public that suspension could
be efficient enough to ride uphill as well. It
wasnt long until we saw World Cup
victories on bikes with as much as 100mm
(3.9in) of travel front and rear. Systems such
as FOXs new iCD have given riders the
ability to lock the fork or shock out at the
push of a button.
Over the past 10 years, weve seen such
fast improvements in frame technology
that cross-country race-winning hardtails
now weigh as little as 8.8kg (19.4lb).
Hydroforming means our bikes look
amazing and the strength-to-weight
ratio is better than ever. Weve ever-more
options to pick from without losing
performance. SRAMs new 11-speed
transmission has led increasing numbers
52 Icons of MTB | Steve Peat
S
heffield born and bred, Steve Peat
started riding bikes at a very early
age and was hooked from the
start. Peat was racing most
weekends through the early
1990s, competing at both XC and downhill
on the same bike. It soon became clear that
his talents lay in the downhill arena and he
was offered sponsorship first by a local
cycle shop, Langsett Cycles, and following
that a deal with Kona. In 1993 he won the
UK downhill series on a Kona hardtail.
After a short time on the Saracen and
MBUK teams, Peaty secured a deal racing
internationally for GT Bicycles and spent a
few winters in California. The first year I
went out there was when I signed up for GT
and stayed in San Diego with Mike King
[DH and BMX world title winner].I saw
what JMC [Jason McRoy] had achieved
and wanted to follow what he was doing.
Mike taught me a lot about being more
professional, looking after sponsors, and
actually training. I decided to step it up a
bit. That set him on the path to winning
World Cup races, something he has
continued to do consistently since then.
He then switched to the Orange team,
and further success. Peaty won the World
Cup overall in 2002 and 2004 with them,
and then again in 2006 with the Santa Cruz
Syndicate, his current sponsor.
It took him a while to win the coveted
title of world champion though. After a
string of silver medals he finally added gold
in 2009 after a dramatic win by 0.05secs
over Gee Atherton in Canberra.
Glittering career
Over his racing career Peaty has had over 50
World Cup podiums. In addition to the
World Cup overall wins and World
Championship medal he has been British
champion nine times, European champion
twice, and won 17 World Cups. What is it
about Peat that makes him such a successful
DH racer? His relaxed manner belies the
steely determination running through him.
Hes very laid back and easygoing, but hes
also very determined, says Peats wife,
ex-World Cup downhiller Adele Croxon.
He has in the past been distracted by his
mates and having a good time, but over the
years hes developed a system to allow him
to continue enjoying himself and doing
serious training at the same time. He has an
ability to blank things out that might
distract him, or things that he doesnt like,
and get on with what matters: winning and
having fun. Hes had a lot of fun over the
past 20 years of international racing, and
hes also won a lot.
Peat has also mentored younger riders
throughout his career. Neil Donoghue,
Marc Beaumont, and Brendan Fairclough
all started their international careers under
his wing, and Josh Bryceland is still a Santa
Cruz team-mate. Hes always been keen to
help riders progress, and for the past few
years hes run the Steve Peat Syndicate, a
race programme that provides training,
support and equipment at a very
advantageous price for a lucky team of
aspiring downhillers and enduro riders.
Hes also had successful long term
relationships with many of his sponsors,
some of the longer ones being with Crud
products, Troy Lee Helmets, Lizard Skins
and Royal Racing clothing, which he
helped to set up. And he fits in perfectly
with the Santa Cruz family. Steve is the
consummate professional, says Santa Cruz
head honcho Rob Roskopp. Everyone
enjoys watching and being around him. He
brings the whole Syndicate up a notch.
And Syndicate manager Kathy Sessler
points out that Steve is a master
tactician. He knows just what to do, where
to do it, what not to do. He exudes a
calmness, kindness and understanding
Deserved praise for a top bloke and a true
legend of mountain biking, but rather than
resting on his laurels, Peaty is hard at work
and looking forward to next season. Wont
Back Down, a documentary covering his race
career has just been released.
The UKs most successful downhiller ever just wont back down, as a film documenting
his career is released and he prepares for another year on the world cup circuit
UK DH LEGEND
STEVE PEAT
STEVE IS A MASTER
TACTICIAN. HE KNOWS
JUST WHAT TO DO,
WHERE TO DO IT,
WHAT NOT TO DO
Opposite top: Steve Peat (middle) with Brendan
Fairclough (left) and Josh Bryceland at The Bike Show,
April 2005
Opposite bottom: Sharing the winners podium with
female champ Karen Van Meerbeck at the 1996 National
Downhill Championships
Above: Posing with his Orange 222 DH bike
Right: Showing off his jumping skills in 1997
Below: Riding his 2013 Santa Cruz V10 on a trail around
Wharncliffe in South Yorkshire
over-hyped
over here
a
n
d
Oversized,
A few years after Californians invented mountain bikes, the
comfortably fat beasts began to gain popularity in the UK.
We take a look at those early days
Writer: Steve Worland Photography: Steve Behr/Stockfile
56 Early days | UK scene
Above: Jeremy Torr Mountain Biking Weekend, Telford, 1987
I
f you see its starting point as the
coining of its description, the
mountain bike is just over 30 years
old. Its ubiquity in the UK has grown
to a point where, for a long while, it
simply became the one bike most people
bought and rode, even if they never
ventured off road, let alone up a mountain.
The mountain bikes comfortably fat tyres
and fundamentally functional fun image
conspired to revitalise the bike industry
while at the same time revolutionise our
social attitude and physical aptitude
towards bikes, from both a fashion and a
purely practical point of view. More than
that, the technology that evolved with
MTBs was to influence some pretty radical
developments in every other type of bike,
from utility shoppers to Tour de France
winners. The mountain bike, almost by
default, slowly became responsible for the
reinvention and popularity surge of every
other type of bike.
The bright sparks
You have to wonder how different things
might have been if that original mountain
bike spark hadnt ignited back in the 1970s.
People have obviously been riding bikes off
road for way longer than the brief history of
mountain bikes, but it was only in 1979
that Californian Gary Fisher and business
partner/housemate Charlie Kelly combined
all of their cash (said to be $300) to form the
company called MountainBikes. They tried
to protect this name, in many forms,
without success and it wasnt long before a
small handful of UK-based meddlers were
trying to call it the ATB (all terrain bike)
instead of the MTB. But the MTB tag stuck.
On paper the mountain bike has existed
since late 1979, even if it took a few more
years for the UK scene to really kick off.
Mountain bike history is the stuff of
myth and legend. Its the tale of a troubled
adolescence, of mismanaged education, of
deadend love affairs and finally of inspired
maturity. Its the story of a gifted child born
in the glimmering ashes of hippy flower
power, reared by one of the most unlikely
families you could ever hope to meet then
leaving home to discover the world with
nothing more than a vague notion of what
it was actually created for. It could have
gone terribly wrong. But the spirit that
coincidentally nudged the whole thing into
action all those years ago was an enduring
THE MOUNTAIN BIKE,
ALMOST BY DEFAULT,
SLOWLY BECAME
RESPONSIBLE FOR
THE REINVENTION
AND POPULARITY
SURGE OF EVERY
OTHER TYPE OF BIKE
UK scene | Early days 57
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Above: Shimano MBC Wendover race, 1988
Above left: The
Rough Stuff
Fellowship founders
Bill and Nellie Hill on
what is now the
Pennine Bridleway
Above right: Albert
Winstanley, Bob
Harrison, Gerry Swift,
Bert Williams and
friends early 1960
Left: Fisher and
Kellys MountainBikes
logo and address
Below: Charlie
Kelly in Marin
County, California,
summer 2000
one. As long as we need to escape to the
canyons of our minds, the mountain bike
will always be one of the best ways to do it.
While Gary Fisher was for a long time
content to be seen by the bike buying public
as the inventor of the mountain bike, there
have been many arguments in various
founding father peer groups as to whether
Fisher had a rightful claim to paternity. Of
course, it doesnt really matter, and Fisher
knows that, but its interesting to look at the
way the whole thing started.
Aspects of the UKs off road scene were
already established before Fisher and Kellys
attempt to protect MountainBikes as a
brand. European off road riding in pure
race form was cyclo-cross. In club form
the UK was served by the Rough Stuff
Fellowship, a spin-off from the Cyclists
Touring Club. Rough Stuffers were the ones
with strange handlebars, strange mudguards
and strange facial hair. Not much has
changed over the years, but now its the
MTB single-speeders who occupy that anti-
fashion sub culture with strange facial hair.
British Cleland
Kids everywhere have always cobbled
together bikes to ride off road. Any one of
them could have been the inventor of the
MTB. Bikes such as the Raleigh Bomber
emerged from what was left of the British
bike industry in 1981 before anyone in the
UK had heard about the early US pioneers,
and UK rough-stuff pioneer Geoff Apps was
already there with his late 70s Cleland
Cycles creations.
Okay, it was the US pioneers on the
converted beach cruisers who laid claim
to the commercial invention of mountain
bikes, but there were lots of bike tinkerers
around the world creating their own trail
bikes. During the 1970s UK pioneer and
early days MTB event organiser Geoff Apps
GEOFF APPS, UK FOUNDING FATHER?
UK pioneer Geof Apps championed a
whole host of ideas under his Cleland
Cycles brand that were unusual, perhaps
unique, at the time but would later achieve
acceptance. His brakes were at the hub
instead of the rim, he liked high and wide
handlebars and his frames were created
with very high bottom brackets, small
chainrings and protective bash plates for
clearing obstacles. To some this will all
sound very familiar in terms of what
modern MTBs achieve, but Cleland bikes
were built for relatively slow speed, almost
trialsy, riding over the sort of terrain that
modern riders like to attack at warp speed.
In historical terms, perhaps the most
interesting fact was that Apps favoured the
smooth roll of slightly bigger 650b wheels
instead of the 26in wheels that had quickly
become the standard on the early US
designed MTBs. Actually, a 1979 model
Cleland Aventura was designed around
700c (the Euro road bike size) wheels with
studded Nokian tyres. It could well have
been the first 29er mountain bike. A few of
the US frame builders were experimenting
with bigger diameter wheels at the time
too but they never caught on, mainly
because of limited tyre supplies but also
because Japanese rim supplier Araya
started to make lightweight aluminium
rims in the 26in size so all the tyre makers
at the time simply took that as their
starting point.
Above: UK pioneer Geoff Apps back in 1995
Below: The Cleland gets a workout along St Abbs Head
Above: Geoff Apps Cleland was on of the first MTBs to
be made in the UK
Top left: A Schwinn Excelsior klunker bike outside Joe
Breezes house
was slowly evolving his bikes into early UK
MTBs. In 1979, when pigeon messages were
the only way Brits couldve know what
Yanks were up to, a Cleland frame was built
to cater for Geoff Apps unique short
upright designs and ride demands.
So, while Apps Cleland bikes were
mainly intended for relatively slow speed
technical riding, mainstream MTBs quickly
started to focus on higher speeds. Geoff
Apps was certainly one of the founding
fathers of mountain biking in the UK, but
without the mix of coincidences and drive
that might have made him and his bikes into
a commercial success. Cleland was wound
up in 1984, but Telford-based frame builder
Jeremy Torr of English Cycles, who made
frames for many of the early Clelands,
eventually made an English badged version.
There are still quite a few around today.
Torr also founded, with Max Glaskin, The
Mountain Bike Club, which took on the
social role of running the first truly national
series of competitive mountain bike events.
The Mountain Bike Club newsletters were
the launch pad for illustrator Jo Burt, who
would go on to create a career based on a
mountain biking sheep called Mint Sauce.
Setting the scene
The balloon-tyred Schwinn Excelsior was
generally regarded as the bike that was the
basis of pre-MTB off road activity in the US.
It was created in the 30s and was strong
enough to take a pounding in the early 70s
downhill races of Californias Marin County
Larkspur Canyon Gang. The late 30s
Excelsior with drum brakes was popular
but the strap-on cantilever brakes from 50s
touring bikes were the most sought after
items. The rear coaster (back pedal) brakes
of the old cruisers would heat to grease-
THE BALLOON-TYRED SCHWINN EXCELSIOR WAS
REGARDED AS THE BIKE THAT WAS THE BASIS OF
PRE-MTB OFF ROAD ACTIVITY IN THE US
Above: Breezers were much stronger and l ighter than the old Schwinns
burning point on a long downhill. The
Repack descent of Marin County MTB
legend was so called as you had to repack
coaster brakes with grease after every run.
In the mid 70s the Marin County off-road
crowd started putting gears on their
klunkers. A market for converted multi
geared klunkers emerged and enthusiasts
began collecting truckloads of bits from
backyard bike shops in neighbouring states.
A restored klunker with good brakes and
gears sold for around $400. But the Repack
DH race was the killing field for klunkers. It
forced new innovation. The bikes got
stronger, the brakes and gears got better.
During 77 and 78 Joe Breeze built some
frames for the growing enthusiast off-road
market. They were called Breezers and they
were much stronger and lighter than the old
Schwinns. It was the beginning of a custom
market. Fitted with an eclectic mix of parts,
including Phil Wood hubs and bottom
brackets, Dia Compe cantilevers, Magura
motorbike brake levers, TA cranks (double
or triple), SunTour thumb-shifters and
Shimano or SunTour gears, Breezers sold
for $750. Joe Breeze was probably the first
guy to build an MTB from scratch.
Motorbike builder and racer Mert
Lawwill, who would later design some of
the most innovative full suspension
systems for MTBs, was also an off-road
pedalling enthusiast. His multi-geared
Lawwill Pro Cruiser, built in 1978 and sold
in the hundreds, was based on a frame made
by the Koski brothers of the Cove Bike Shop
in Marins Mill Valley. The Koskis had a
reputation as the specialists parts centre for
the new breed of off-road riders.
In 79 Gary Fisher ordered three custom
frames from Tom Ritchey, a 20-year-old
racer and frame builder. Ritchey had ridden
the Repack race, so knew what was needed.
Gary then ordered nine more, at $450
each for frame and fork. In Marin the
market was booming. Fisher and Kelly
set up MountainBikes, the first company
devoted purely to MTBs, and Ritchey
continued to make all the frames. The bikes
sold for about $1,300. As the market grew,
Fisher and Kelly started buying frames from
other builders. Then rim makers Araya and
Ukai introduced 26in alu rims. It was the
turning point. The new rims resulted in a
big weight saving and greatly improved the
power of the now popular Mafac cantilever
brakes. When good tyres started to appear,
JOE BREEZE
WAS PROBABLY THE
FIRST GUY TO
BUILD AN MTB
FROM SCRATCH
Top left: Mafac cantilever brakes were a much
sought-after addition to early Breezer bikes
Top right: A Magura motorcycle brake lever helped
increase stopping power
Bottom left: As more riders added gears, the SunTour
VX became a popular rear mech
Bottom right: SunTour shifters were also popular
Left: Charlie Cunningham with his drop bar MTB
the early Ritchey-built mountain bikes were
down to 28lb in weight, not much different
to MTBs today.
At the 1981 Long Beach cycle show, 15
custom builders exhibited mountain bikes.
In the same year Mike Sinyard from
Specialized Bicycle Imports bought four
Ritchey-built MTBs. They used the design
as the basis for an order to Toyo, their
Japanese production facility. Those first
Specialized stumpjumpers were soon in
shops. However, due to a mix up about fork
length on the bikes Sinyard bought from
Fisher and Kelly, the forks on that first batch
of stumpjumpers were too long, creating a
very laid back geometry. Still, no one knew
what was right or wrong in those early days.
Five hundred of them sold in stores in 1982
for $750 a piece. This was about the same
amount of bikes that Fisher, Kelly and
Ritchey had assembled and sold between
them in 81.
The amateur bubble was about to burst.
Corporate bike companies were all looking
for a way of jumping onto the MTB
bandwagon. The Japanese were sending
groups of be-suited spies over to ask
questions around the stores and the
blossoming race scene. US-based Univega
was one of the first on the corporate
bandwagon. Its Alpina Sport, made in Japan
by Araya, sold 3,000 in 82 for $500 a piece.
The number of custom builders coming
into this market was increasing too,
although many would say that 82 was
their last high profile year. The likes of
Joe Breeze, Mert Lawwill, Scott Nicol
(Ibis), Steve Potts (WTB), Erik Koski
(Trailmaster and Koski Engineering),
Charlie Cunningham (Indian/WTB) and
Jeff Lindsay (Mountain Goat) were entering
the market as relative small-fry in a giant
melting pot of corporate ambition.
In 83 Shimano launched its first,
still revered, Deore XT groupset. SunTour
introduced Mountech, triple cranksets had
become normal and the Japanese started to
make progress in a componentry industry
once dominated by Euro manufacturers. By
the end of that year Tom Ritchey was back
on his own and Fisher bought Kelly out to
create Fisher Mountain Bikes, looking
towards far eastern production as a way
of climbing out of his companys debt.
MTBs quickly became big business.
Economies of scale created two markets
mass produced bikes and custom bikes. The
builders who were to survive in the small
scale custom market were the ones who had
sound business sense and an eye for detail
that was both innovative and worthwhile.
The US market gathered steam and Euro
manufacturers started dabbling in
mountain bike culture and manufacture.
Theyd had their fingers burned by the
storm in a teacup of the early BMX years so
were cautious about the MTB trend. The
Euro market was all but dead as far as
profits were concerned.
Muddy Fox
The company that led the MTB scene in
Britain was Muddy Fox. The unlikely
pairing of a Scottish marketing man Drew
Lawson and a Cypriot accountant Aristos
Hadjipetrou set up Muddy Fox in 1982. At
the time there were thought to be around
200,000 MTB owners in the US, but people
in Europe hardly knew of these new fangled
fat tyred beasts.
Muddy Foxs first bikes were built in
Japan by Araya, far better known as rim
makers. Muddy Fox was initially just a
model name, the brand being badged with
the destined to die name of S & G
Distributors. This became Muddy Fox,
which is said to have been a bizarre mis-
translation from Japanese to English of joy
bike. The French version of the MTB was
called funny bike for a couple of years
before VTT (velo tout terrain) took over.
Elsewhere in Europe, the mountain bike
label stuck. Muddy Foxs paw print logo was
taken from an Old English Sheepdog in a
pub near the office one night. But despite its
almost comedy beginnings Muddy Fox
aimed high. 450 was the average price for
its early bikes but there was a limited edition
1,000 bike built just for hype. Public
interest in MTBs was reflected by the fact it
had several orders for the 1,000 bike. But
they still didnt do too well until early in
1985, when a switch to Taiwan assembly
introduced the 300 Courier. It proved to be
a watershed. 300 was acceptable to most
people, cyclists or not, and suddenly bikes
were no longer an outmoded transport of
the social underdog.
In 87 Muddy Fox sold 20,000 bikes.
Unfortunately the push into the price-led
big production mainstream market resulted
in frames that, while theoretically perfectly
well designed in terms of geometry, and fun
to ride, were decidedly average in build
quality. Drew Lawsons London-centric
marketing resulted in low budget mountain
bikes becoming the must-have thing for the
new breed of cycle couriers as well as
fledgeling trail riders. The Courier was
marketed more as a fashionable all-purpose
bike than as a thoroughbred mountain bike
and, as with the other leading UK brand
Saracen with its Tufftrax, the Muddy Fox
Courier made the mainstream media sit up
and take notice. Eye catching advertising
campaigns included shots of a bare backed
Jacquie Phelan, the US MTB race champion
at the time (her back was decorated with a
line of the distinctive Muddy Fox paw
S & G BECAME MUDDY FOX, SAID TO HAVE BEEN
A BIZARRE MIS-TRANSLATION FROM JAPANESE
TO ENGLISH OF JOY BIKE
Above: The Muddy Fox Courier was marketed as
an all-rounder rather than a specialist MTB and
took off in the UK
Opposite: Muddy Fox founders Drew Lawson and
Aristos Hadjipetrou
prints) and later a slightly shoddy TV ad
showing a TV couch potato bursting out of
his couch on a mountain bike and pedalling
off towards the horizon of freedom. The
original Muddy Fox business set-up failed,
possibly due to the reliance of marketing
style over building substance, but the
brand has been relaunched several times
since and still exists, with a range of bikes
at lower price points than even the original
cost-led offerings.
Early Muddy Fox offerings hit the
mainstream in the UK market three or four
years after the US mainstream market
started to become established. It was at
about this time that cycling mags started to
sit up and take notice. Muddy Fox owned
Bicycle Action mag for a few years but it was
independently run and featured mountain
bikes alongside every other bike type.
Ridgeback
UK company Ridgeback was among the
first to see the commercial potential of
mountain bikes in the early 1980s. Richard
Ballantine and Richard Grant had shipped a
few Ritchey MTBs into the UK in 1980 but it
took another few years for UK brands to
start realising that this was going to be
more than just a US flash in the pan. While a
lot of riders had learnt their skills by riding
bikes in the woods as kids, the only vaguely
formalised interest until now had been via
cyclo-cross as an off-road race discipline
and The Rough Stuff Fellowship for off-
road touring along bridleways. The
Ridgeback 601 was released in 83, and it
was probably the first production mountain
bike in the UK. While a few MX-inspired
bikes, such as the Raleigh Grifter and
Bomber, had emerged during the 70s,
Above: The very first Ridgeback bike, built in 1983
Right: A Ridgeback Mountain Sport circa 1998
Bottom right: A yellow and blue Ridgeback 601LX from 1990
Photography: Ridgeback
Photography: Ridgeback
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the Ridgeback 601 was among a new wave
of genuinely trail-worthy machines to come
equipped with triple cranksets to provide a
wide range of gears as well as cyclo-cross/
touring-style cantilever brakes, properly
knobbly tyres and a smattering of
lightweight parts (such as aluminium rims)
to keep the weight lower than might have
been normal on the heavy steel-clad bikes
that came earlier.
The lugged frame was hefty compared
to modern MTBs but the long relaxed
geometry and good mud clearance made it
better for general off-road use than the
tracking bikes that had come before.
Ridgebacks were far eastern built and sold
at very affordable prices. They influenced
lots of the UK custom builders who were
soon producing copies.
Dawes
Dawes started way back in 1906 and is best
known for its touring bikes. Like many
other UK bike companies during the 80s
and 90s, it was sold (several times) to bigger
parent companies. But in the early years of
British mountain biking Dawes built a
selection of very nicely put together all
terrain bicycles (there were many old
school elements within the UK bike
industry who really didnt want to refer to
these new fangled American contraptions
as mountain bikes).
The Dawes Countryman and the Dawes
Ranger were well respected early offerings.
The Ranger was usually equipped with full
length mudguards and a rack (and possibly
a dynamo too) and its still well regarded by
riders who related to the more casual nature
of mountain bikes. It was built using
Reynolds 531 tubes for the frame and fork,
possibly the first Reynolds all-terrain tubes
and a bit of a learning process for them as
well as Dawes.
The back end was incredibly long,
reputably for all terrain stability, but
probably more because Dawes based this
26in wheel bike on a classic long wheel
base touring bike made for bigger wheels,
and it wasnt easy at the time to put bends
in chainstays to accommodate fat 26in
tyres. Early frames looked big because
the top tubes were horizontal. The fork
construction was based on a Dawes tandem
fork (Dawes made very good tandems).
Despite the fact that Dawes resisted the
initial interest in mountain bikes they
were eventually among the best, and
earliest, of the UK pioneers.
RIDGEBACKS WERE
FAR EASTERN BUILT
AND INFLUENCED
LOTS OF THE UK
CUSTOM BUILDERS
This page: Still going
strong today, Mountain
Biking UK has seen a lot
of action in its 25 years
Mountain Biking UK launched into the fast
growing but still relatively innocent MTB market in
1988, although Mint Sauce cartoon strips
appeared in Bicycle Action before illustrator Jo
Burt jumped ship along with a few riders who
could write to join Tym Manley and Chris Turner,
the guys who launched MBUK.
A young John Stevenson joined the team
about a year later, with Nigel Jackson doing most
of the early bike tests. Nigel handed over that task
to Steve Worland and Nigel was later badly hurt
when hit by a car during a long haul tour of South
America. Hes still around, and still an active rider,
but he never really fully recovered from the head
injuries he sustained.
The early UK MTB scene was driven by a
strange cross section of individuals who, five
years earlier, wouldve had almost nothing in
common. Very few of them wouldve been
riding bikes if the MTB hadnt come along. The
likes of Muddy Fox and MBUK were marketing
the mountain bike in ways that captured the
essence of an increasingly style conscious,
adventure seeking and technically savvy
generation. Bike couriers and commuters were
choosing the MTB for its durability and comfort,
and at the same time a rapidly blossoming MTB
race scene was drawing in fresh riding talent as
well as a fair few from other sports disciplines and
a lot whod barely ridden before.
THE EARLY DAYS OF MOUNTAIN BIKING UK
Above: Team Raleigh training in the Peak District in the early 1990s
Right: Tony McLaughlin riding a Saracen Tuff Trax in 1989
Saracen
Saracen started in 1987. It was among the
first of the UKs mass market mountain
bike brands and became a market leader in
the early 1990s. The focus was on good
quality frames, built in the far east then
painted and assembled into complete bikes
in the UK rather than delivered complete in
big boxes. Actually, the first frames of
what became Saracens were built in the
UK. The Saracen brand was once owned by
Blumels, better known for its pumps or
mudguards. Evans Cycles (F W Evans at
the time) also had its name on a few
early Saracens, which were designed by
Evans employee Gary Smith. But the brand
was soon acquired by brothers Paul and
Rick Stanforth.
Those early mass-produced Saracen
frames were excellent in build quality
and had a reputation that was enhanced
by the clever use of real adventures in its
marketing: cousins Nick and Richard Crane
took their Saracens up and down Mount
Kilimanjaro at a time when the likes of
Muddy Fox was focusing its marketing
efforts on the London street market. The
Tufftrax was launched in the mid 90s. It
wasnt by any means ground-breaking in a
design sense, but it completely defined the
UK standard for sub-400 bikes, offering a
full Shimano groupset and a build so tough
that it was once said you could drive a tank
over it and hardly scratch the paint. While
Saracen was seen as value led to most riders,
its intuitive feel for the mass market led it to
set many trends. After going distinctly
down-market for a while in the early 2000s,
the brand was re-launched by new owners
in 2009.
Overburys
Overburys was until fairly recently a bike
shop with a frame building workshop in St
Pauls Bristol. As a frame brand it gathered
an almost legendary status in the early days
of UK mountain biking. It was responsible
for custom building what were probably
the very first fillet brazed raised
chainstay frames in Europe. Raised
chainstay (e-stay) frames were becoming
popular at the time because they avoided
issues of chains jamming up and slapping
up and down on the frame in rough
conditions, and you could take the chain
off without splitting it.
The Overburys builder was Andrew
Powell and most of his frames were fillet
brazed using Columbus or Reynolds tubing
for both frames and forks. While the e-stay
frames were attention grabbers, and often
painted in wild colours, it was the
Overburys Pioneer that became the classic,
both among racers and more casual trail
riders. It was one of the first UK MTB frames
to be built with a sloped top tube for
standover clearance and to have the top of
the extended seat tube sleeved and
supported by the skinny fast-back seat
stays. And this was before Kona and a
others had started to make this sort of
design popular. A few other UK custom
builders mimicked this design too.
The early Pioneers ranged from ready to
race models to fully equipped models for
luggage laden world tours. They were also
very reasonably priced, starting at about
500 for a complete bike. There are still a
fair few of them being ridden around Bristol
but any that crop up for sale in decent
condition fetch close to original prices.
Raleigh
The contribution of UK super-brand
Raleigh to mountain bikes was to become
a bit of a damp squib. It was actually, albeit
possibly coincidentally, one of the first
brands to launch a British mountain bike
SARACEN HAD A REPUTATION THAT WAS
ENHANCED BY THE CLEVER USE OF REAL
ADVENTURES IN ITS MARKETING
Below: A rider on Overburys bike in matching kit, at
Penshurst, Kent in the early 1990s
in the form of the Raleigh Bomber in the
early 80s. It was promoted as probably the
meanest bike on the streets and came with
fat tyres, a high and wide cowhorn
handlebar and an option of a single gear or
a three-speed Sturmey Archer hub gear.
While it looked to have been created in the
mould of beach cruisers being converted
into off-road clunkers in the US around the
same time, the fact is that Raleigh knew
little or nothing about what was happening
off road in the US at the time and the
Bomber was created as a kids street bike
in the same mould as its Chopper, Grifter
and Chipper. It even had a speedometer on
the handlebar.
A look at Raleighs history reveals that
the 1980s was an interesting business
chapter for it. In 1982 the Huffy
Corporation licensed the rights to make and
distribute Raleigh bikes in the US. While
Huffy started to tune in to the early MTBs in
the US, releasing the Trail Rider in 92 and a
whole range based on a Crested Butte model
in 84, Raleigh UK was still focusing
predominantly on kids bikes and road
bikes. Even with another change of
ownership, back to TI (Tube Investments)
and then on to the Derby Corporation later
in the 80s, the mould was set for Raleigh
USA to operate separately from Raleigh UK.
The US operation was eventually to
sponsor mountain bikings first real
superstar John Tomac, at the same time as
producing a range of genuinely innovative
frames, while the UK never really went far
beyond seeing mountain biking as a fad that
would pass. Even its cross-country MTB
race team was run very much along the
lines of a road team for too long, before it
finally realised a little too late for its new
far eastern manufacturing-based business
model to reap dividends it was slowly
being left behind by the true mountain bike
innovators. Like so many others from the
long-established UK bike industry, Raleigh
has gone threw several re-births in the past
few years.
Above: Adrian Carter, who formed Pace Cycles with
MacDonald after they took up mountain biking
Left: Richard Thackery puts an RC100 through its, ahem,
paces at Margam Park in the early 1990s
Going international
As the early UK brands started to become
established, the UK importers and cycle
shops were looking to the US for new bikes
and componentry bearing the presumed
exclusivity of US branded products that
the home brands such as Saracen and
Ridgeback would never quite capture for
some. The US market leader Specialized
began importing bikes into the UK, closely
followed by the likes of Gary Fisher,
Cannondale, Marin, Trek and GT. By the
late 1980s almost every major US brand
was represented in the UK.
In the late 80s, several of the more
traditional IK custom frame builders were
climbing onto the MTB bandwagon in a
small way, but like the small builders in the
US they would struggle to successfully
become big scale. But via word of mouth
marketing, the likes of Dave Yates,
Bromwich, Overburys, Roberts and several
others who emerged from the road scene
were putting out quality frames in small
numbers. But the hype still surrounded the
US brands. At the top of the market the likes
of Fat Chance, Merlin, Salsa, Ibis, Manitou,
Rocky Mountain and Bontrager were
approaching frame building from an
enthusiast riders point of view, often
working in tandem with top MTB racers to
develop their designs. The frame designers
and builders were becoming back street
heroes to countless riders and interesting
new top end componentry designs were
starting to emerge, allowing you to decorate
your frame with something a little different
to the mainstream groupsets.
In 1988 Yorkshire based Pace Research
Cycles arrived and quickly became the
focus for a magazine blitz on a UK MTB
success story. Formed by Adrian Carter and
Duncan Macdonald, both competitive off-
road motorbikers, Pace was very much like
a UK version of US innovators Manitou.
Parallels were manyfold motorcycle
background, a frame that used box section
aluminium tubes at a time when steel
frames were dominant and, within just a
couple of years, a suspension fork that could
rival the dominating RockShox brand.
The early 90s were rapid development
years for suspension forks. At the 1990
Durango World Championships both
Manitou and RockShox launched what was
quickly to be seen as the suspension fork
revolution. Pace was the first to make a fork
that came close to 3lb in weight but demand
for its products would always outstrip
supply. Like so many other MTB cottage
industry firms, it was destined to stay small
compared to the likes of RockShox, but its
product range was unique. Its first
generation RC100 frame, designed in 1987,
has almost the same geometry as the now
widely mimicked long top tube, short stem
Gary Fisher Genesis geometry revolution
of the late 90s.
Very few other small brand frame makers
were to make the grade during the early
years in the UK. In fact, even the Pace
frames were never a commercial success.
The suspension fork was its success story.
Other UK component manufacturers, such
as USE, Hope, Middleburn and Crudcatcher
climbed aboard the bandwagon, but the
main impetus of the mountain bike market
by the mid 90s was mass sales of far east
produced complete bikes and copycat
accessories. In Europe the UK pattern was
being reflected. Lots of frame building
concerns were springing up and the big
road-biased parts manufacturers
increasingly turned their attentions
towards MTB kit.
As the mountain bike scene has
increasingly diversified into so many
different bike and rider types, many of
those early pioneer companies have
floundered or simply disappeared,
although most of the best have been
acquired by bigger corporations who still
focus some of their marketing or product
development on the guys who started it all.
The Trek/Bontrager combination is
probably one of the best examples. Most
of the early UK and US pioneers are still
around, but few of their products bear any
resemblance to their offerings from the
early years. And of course, thats a good
thing. The MTB market will continue to
evolve in both expected and unexpected
ways, as it always has.
BY THE LATE
1980S ALMOST EVERY
MAJOR US MTB BRAND
WAS REPRESENTED
IN THE UK
R
emember being bumped so
much your teeth hurt? Using
old brakes that required the
length of an airstrip to slow
you down? Looking back to the
early days of downhill racing, its a miracle
those guys and girls survived, with their
pogo bikes, shonky brakes and skinsuits.
Thank God they did, because what
developed from those days has left our
sport swamped with technology and at the
cutting edge of cool.
The very first mountain bike races the
Repack series, in California in the late 70s
were essentially the first timed downhill
runs on record. Fast-forward to 1988,
increase the speed by about 40mph and you
have the Kamikaze DH run at Mammoth
Mountain. This was the real beginning
for downhill. It was from here that Tomac,
Overend, Herbold, Furtado, Henderson
and our own Jason McRoy shot to
worldwide fame. Speed was high, crashes
were frequent, and media coverage
plentiful. The bikes were still very basic. It
wasnt until the early 90s that suspension
was seen regularly.
A bit more bounce
As the race scene hotted up, technology
advanced and full suspension bikes became
more common. With Americas NORBA
series, the UKs BMBF and the Grundig
World Cup series all holding specialist
Over the past 25 years, downhills come
an incredibly long way. We look at the
bikes, riders and technology that shaped
the sport we love
The evolution of DH
Writer MBUK Photography Steve Behr/Tom Moran
beginning
In the
Downhill | Evolution 71
BRANDS THAT COUNT
Hope Technology
Hope has been building some
of the highest quality bike
components for 22 years. Its
early hydraulic brakes broke
the mould, and while it now
covers a vast spectrum of
parts, the quality is still of the
highest standard.
GT
Backing Nico Vouilloz was
a good move way back in
the early 90s. GTs first full
suspension bikes were
ground -breaking and
theyre still innovative now.
SRAM
SRAM is now the owner of
some of the best MTB brands
in the world. With companies
such as RockShox and Avid,
suspension forks and disc
brakes have become more
afordable, giving everyone
the chance to run them.
Intense
Jef Steber stunned everyone
with the M1 nearly 20 years
ago. This bike was so
successful that even players
such as Mongoose and Giant
started using them.
Sunn
These guys built the best
downhill bikes for the best
downhill racers in the world.
Theyre the most successful
company in terms of race wins
to date, thanks to Nico,
Chausson, Gracia, Gachet,
Jonnier and Pascal.
Fox
Successfully building quality
rear shocks since 1993 and
making the bold move
into forks in 2001, Fox has
shown how to put the quality
into the manufacture of
suspension units and
continues to improve year
after year.
Specialized
From the Stumpjumper back
in 82 to their full carbon
Demo 8, Specialized has been
involved from day one and is
now as influential as ever.
Opposite: The first oficial DH World Champ, Greg Herbold, cutting a dash in 1990
Above: Brit Dave Hemming took silver at the 1990 DH Worlds
1976 The Repack race series
takes root in California.
1988 The Kamikaze at
Mammoth Mountain
captures imaginations and
gets mountain bikers
adrenaline pumping.
1990 The first official DH
World Champs was held in
Durango, Colorado and won by the legendary
Greg Herbold.
1992 Former BMXer Dave Cullinan storms
to victory in Bromont, Canada.
1993 RockShox releases the Mag 21 with
2.5in of controlled travel.
1995 Nico Vouilloz takes his first senior
world title and begins his partnership with
engineer Olivier Bossard.
1996 Shaun Napalm Palmer takes a wild
ride into second place at the World Champs in
Cairns. Anne-Caroline Chausson begins her
winning streak in the
womens field.
1998 Toyota sponsors
the British National Series
and its televised on
Channel 4. The RockShox
TIMELINE
72 Evolution | Downhill
DH events, more money came in and the
manufacturers began to make the bikes
more DH-specific.
One classic design re-badged by Saracen,
Kona, Sintesi and Iron Horse was the
Verlicchi. It was American Dave Cullinan
(the first DHer to race a full sus bike and
win), who really made the public take note
of the Verlicchi frame. It was designed to
work around the Marzocchi fork and shock
and boasted a whopping 2in travel, a single
pivot and flexy swingarm.
Suspension soon picked up pace.
RockShox increased performance and
travel with forks such as the Mag 21, Doug
Bradbury masterminded the Manitou FS,
Marzocchi continued to develop its range
and a small American company called
Mountain Cycle released the San Andreas,
the first 6in travel bike that worked. By the
mid-90s, GT had firmly established its RTS
range and new, improved braking systems
were just around the corner. GT also had
another trick up its sleeve Nico Vouilloz...
French domination
Vouilloz clinched his first senior World
Champs title in 1995 and never looked back.
He joined Sunn Chippie, a team that would
change the way we looked at DH bikes. In
1996, Sunns Anne-Caroline Chausson
began her winning streak and Sunn became
unstoppable, employing the genius Oliver
Bossard to help with all things suspension-
related. While he set about building the
most cutting edge bikes in the world, Nico
went on to take 10 world titles, and
Chausson bagged a staggering 12.
Another milestone happened in 1996
too. A brash, tattooed American turned up
to the World Champs in Cairns, Australia
and really rocked the boat. Shaun Palmer
blasted down the course at Smithfield
aboard the American-built Intense M1
and into second place. Palmers M1 came
with a custom stars and stripes Troy Lee
spray job and looked amazing.
It wasnt just his bike making people take
note though. Palmer despised skinsuits and
BIKE PROGRESSION
DH bikes today couldnt be more diferent to
the simple XC bikes they evolved from. The
scene started out with fully rigid bikes most
riders would race downhill on a Saturday and
then pop the saddle up to race XC on Sunday.
The early 1990s saw some of the top guys
have a crack at producing full suspension
designs. The popular option for many
companies was to simply rebadge the
Verlicchi frame, using Marzocchi forks and
rear shocks. When Marzocchi released the Z1
fork in the mid-90s, minds were blown and
expectations raised. Jef Steber introduced
the Intense M1 and no one could believe
how well the rear end worked. We still see this
design cropping up nearly 20 years later.
By the late 90s, Rock Shox Boxxer forks
were available and we could all go out and
buy disc brakes. Travel was beginning to
increase and riders were using up to 8in at
the rear of the bike. With damping
technology advancing so quickly, designers
were able to manipulate linkages and give us
bikes that could isolate forces, maintain a
stable pedalling platform and remain active
under braking. Technology such as the world
famous DW Link could be seen on every
other bike and it was all about shocks with
ProPedal and bikes with virtual pivots. With
motocross giants Ohlins lending a helping
hand to Cane Creek, shock technology
developed considerably and DH bikes
became more user friendly, now tuneable by
the riders themselves.
Travel-wise, things seemed to have
peaked, with most riders settling between
8-10in. Geometries have become slacker,
bikes longer and lower and bars wider. Rigs
below the 35lb mark are now the norm with
air sprung forks and full carbon frames
keeping the weight down. The use of power
metres in training and video analysis have all
helped riders gain a competitive edge, while
dropper posts are also brought in for certain
courses. 650b wheels are also starting to
appear, with Scott and Lapierre both notably
experimenting with bigger hoops.
Top left: Tomac railing an early Giant ATX 990 in his trademark custom painted helmet
Above: Myles Rockwell chasing down JMC at the Reebok Dual Eliminator
Boxxer fork hits the shelves.
2001 Greg Minnaar claims
overall victory at the World Cup.
2002 Sam Hill wins his first
junior world title and Chris
Kovarik wins the first Fort Bill race.
2006 Its a British double as Tracy Moseley
and Steve Peat take the overall victory for the
World Cup series.
2007 Ruaridh Cunningham becomes the
first Brit to win gold at the DH World Champs
(juniors), while fellow Brit Katy Curd comes
second in the junior womens.
2008 Gee and Rachel Atherton become the
first Brits to win the DH Elite World Champs.
Rachel makes it the double by winning the
World Cup overall as well.
2009 Steve Peat finally brings home the gold
from the World
Championships in
Canberra, Australia.
2011 Danny Hart
takes World
Championship gold.
2013 Greg Minnaar and Steve Smith take
World Champs and World Cup overall titles
on carbon frames. A sign of things to come
Downhill | Evolution 73
RIDERS WHO COUNT
Greg Herbold
MTB Hall of Famer Greg was the heroic racer
who won 1990s inaugural DH world
championships. He now works developing
products for SRAM.
Dave Cullinan
Wowed the hillside at Bromont in 1992 with
his wild jumping skills. Where others were
getting bucked, DC was launching the lot. He
had an impressive career and his smooth,
fluid style continued to entertain.
Shaun Palmer
The pioneer of MX kit in downhill. Palmer and
his flat pedals tore into the sport and
changed it forever. Palmer brought the rock
n roll into DH.
Anne-Caroline Chausson
Twelve-time world champion and one of the
most talented bike riders ever. Anne could
have easily qualified for most of the mens
events with the times she was posting.
Steve Peat
Steve has raised the profile of the sport
around the world, showing how to be a
professional athlete at the race and a party
animal in the bar.
Nico Vouilloz
Nicos 10 World Champ titles go some way to
proving how fast this guy is. The most
professional rider on the circuit, Nico also
helped develop some of the best DH bikes
ever produced. He still works for Lapierre and
competes in the Enduro World Series.
Jason McRoy
JMC was the first Brit to get an international
deal and put the UK on the downhill map.
He was sadly killed in a road accident in 1995,
aged just 23, but to this day, he remains an
inspiration to everyone
Sam Hill
The most technically gifted rider of the
current generation, this Australian has
bagged the World Championship gold
five times, and surprised everyone signing
for Chain Reaction Cycles/Nukeproof
ahead of the 2013 season.
insisted on wearing his baggy moto gear.
There was suddenly a rock star feel about
DH and soon Rob Warner and Steve Peat
became engulfed in this whirlwind. Salaries
grew, as did attitudes and the bikes were
starting to resemble what we ride today.
Disc brakes became common, tyres were
being made specifically for DH and
suspension started to work well.
Over the past 10 years, bikes have come
on leaps and bounds and with such a
progression in kit development, riders
and courses have stepped things up.
Tracks got rockier, rougher and crazier, and
Schladming and Fort William soon became
regulars on the World Cup circuit.
Rise of the Brits
In 2002, the world witnessed Sam Hill for
the first time and since then he has wowed
the crowds with what is possible on a DH
bike. And who could forget our very own
Steve Peats long career? Peaty finally
bagged a World Championship gold after 16
years of trying. 2011 saw Danny Hart take
the gold with a legendary run in the wet at
Champery, which had spectators and
commentators frantic with excitement as
he took the title by 11 seconds. Nowadays
Brits on the podium isnt such rarity, with
family Atherton regularly among the
medals in both the World Champs and
World Cup series.
Far Left: Palmer was all about aggression he
chose and the bike went
Left: Cully was without a doubt the smoothest pilot
on the piste
BIKES HAVE COME ON LEAPS AND BOUNDS AND
WITH SUCH A PROGRESSION IN KIT DEVELOPMENT,
RIDERS AND COURSES HAVE STEPPED THINGS UP
74 Icons of MTB | Anne-Caroline Chausson
Above & left: At the first first UCI 4X World Cup, Fort
William, 2002. Chausson was the series winner
Opposite: Racing as a junior for Sunn Chipie in the 1994
World Championships
D
espite being the greatest
female DH rider of all time,
the highlight of Anne-
Caroline Chaussons career
came not at the DH World
Champs where she dominated for a decade,
but on the BMX track. In 2008, aged 30,
Anne-Caro stood on the top step of the
podium at the first ever Olympic BMX event
at the Beijing Games. This return to 20in
wheels demonstrated the technical ability
that had helped her make the transition the
other way from BMX track to downhill
trail so easily back in the early 90s.
In those days Anne-Caro was riding for
Sunn Chipie, a company run by Max
Commencal (now Commencal Bikes).
Commencal suggested she had a go at
qualifying for the Junior DH World Champs
in Mtabief in 93. Shed never competed on
an MTB before but, despite a few falls,
Anne-Caro qualified for the finals. At this
time there was no full suspension bike, she
says. I think it was a good time to move to
DH. The technique required and the format
makes it totally different. You need to train
different, think different, but I adapted
myself pretty fast.
A 15-year-old Anne-Caro cruised to
gold, turning on the style and leaving the
rest of the field in her wake. Little did the
onlookers that day know, but this would set
a trend at the World Champs for many years
to come. The following year she bagged
another junior gold and in 95 she was
confident enough to enter herself into the
elite category, despite still being 17.
However, she found her path blocked. The
organisation told me I wouldnt race with
the elite class for the final, says Anne-Caro.
She won the juniors at a canter and her
time wouldve been good enough to win her
the elite gold too, comfortably beating
winner Leigh Donovans time. Anne-Caro
refused to pull on the junior champions
jersey that day. That was an injustice that I
tried to repair the year after, she says.
In Cairns the following year she set
things straight, taking the elite gold. She
won again in 97 although in the World Cup
series she came second to American Missy
Giove. In 98, she won both the World Cup
and the World Champs, the first in a run of
three double golds, each time beating Giove
to the World Cup and Finn Katja Repo to the
World Champs.
Medal machine
In 1999 Anne-Caro moved to the US,
joining Volvo Cannondale but the change in
bike didnt matter. Her dominance at the
turn of the millennium was unprecedented,
and as dual-slalom and four-cross events
were added to the World Championships,
she added gold medals in both to her
staggering collection.
Three years later Anne-Caro was
reunited with Max Commencal, signing for
Commencal Bikes, and again became World
Champion. The only thing that halted
Chaussons eight-year World Champs
winning streak was an injury. I was
supposed to stop racing DH at the 2004 Les
Gets World Championship, but because of a
broken shoulder in practice I didnt race the
final. This wasnt an end befitting of her
time at the top and she knew it. I raced one
more year to try to finish my DH career on a
victory. And win she did, in Livigno, Italy,
making it nine titles in 10 years.
That wouldve be enough for most riders,
but not Anne-Caro. I decided to come back
to BMX in 2007 because some friends and
my family pushed me to do it, she says. But
then I realised it was a good opportunity to
experience an Olympic Games. She took
gold, leaving British favourite Shanaze
Reade in a heap on the last bend. I worked
so hard and I guess I dont have to regret
anything. It has been the greatest moment
in my sport life, and probably in my life.
Aged 36 Anne-Caro is still riding at elite
level, finishing runner-up in the first Enduro
World Series last year, this time on an Ibis.
So while the bikes and the disciplines have
changed over the years, even now the
medals keep on coming.
Having amassed more gold than most banks, Anne-Caro is one of the most successful
women on two wheels, and shes still picking up medals on the Enduro World Series
A TRUE GRAVITY GREAT
ANNE-CAROLINE
CHAUSSON
Writer: Simon Lock Photography: Steve Behr/Stockfile
I WORKED SO HARD.
IT HAS BEEN THE
GREATEST MOMENT IN
MY SPORT LIFE, AND
PROBABLY IN MY LIFE
Writer: Guy Kesteven
Photography: Steve Behr/Stockfile
Spring
time
Suspension is taken for granted now
but it took a surprisingly long time to
get right. Heres its history, from pogo
stick to predictive electrics
M
ost riders would now
consider some sort of
suspension vital for
mountain biking. It took a
full decade for bikes to
start bouncing, though, and another 10
years for that bounce to be properly tamed
and turned into a truly useful trail tool.
Suspension invention
By loose definition the suspension
from the balloon tyres, sprung saddles
and raked out forks were the reason
why beach cruisers were the bikes
first thrown down Mount Tamalpais
by the original Repack riders.
Increasing crossover between
motocross riders and mountain
bike riders soon led some tinkerers to try to
mix moto-style suspension and pedal
power too.
The 1983 MCR Descender developed by
Mountain Cross Racing gravity event
promoter Brian Skinner is widely
acknowledged as the first downhill (DH)
specific mountain bike frame. The massive
Honda XR-200 remote reservoir coil shock
straddled by a split seat tube giving 6in of
travel, rectangular section swingarm beams
with bolt-through rear axle and custom
Bullseye hub wouldnt look out of place on a
modern machine and it even had an early
Shimano disc brake.
The crude rubber bump stop for the rear
tyre and BMX-style rigid fork definitely date
it though, and despite continued evolution
involving subsequently notable names
such as Dan Hanebrink, Yeti founder John
Parker and John Tomac, the project
effectively died when Skinner joined
Shimano as a design engineer.
Pioneering performance
It was another group of motocrossers-
turned-mountain bikers who really
established suspensions first foothold in
mountain biking. As the 80s turned into the
90s, previous petrol heads Paul Turner and
Keith Bontrager were developing the first
oil damped, air sprung RockShox RS1
suspension fork. Doug Bradbury was
building his first elastomer bumper-filled
Manitou fork and Italian motorbike
specialist Marzocchi was refining its first
Star fork.
Interestingly, while all these brands went
on to become major players, the early days
of rear suspension were dominated by
individuals who have stayed relatively small
scale, premium product innovators ever
since. ATK motorbike designer Horst
Leitner and apprentice Kalle Nicolai get the
credit for adapting the proven MacPherson
strut four-bar suspension linkage for bike
use in their featherweight but fragile AMP
research bikes. The lightweight design was
also rapidly adopted by other pioneers such
as Titus bikes Chris Cocalis who used it for
the first Racer X and Cyborg designs before
Specialized scooped up the Horst Link
patent for its own FSR frame designs.
The rear guard
The Horst design wasnt the only effective
rear suspension system to appear in the
early 90s, though. Offroad introduced its
elastomer bumper shock-equipped high
single-pivot bike in 1990, and in doing so
the first affordable, mass produced full
suspension bike. In the UK Duncan
MacDonald and Adrian Carter of Pace
followed up their revolutionary integrated
component, square tubed RC100 hardtail
with an equally prescient full suspension
bike the DPD, short for Duncans Purple
Descender. Despite the off-hand name, this
bike debuted many features that have
subsequently become design standards.
These included an extended upper leg, a
motorcycle-style dual crown suspension
fork with a Pro Stop disc brake, and a low
slung alloy frame with separate seat tower
structure and a bolt-through axle locking
the tips of the big alloy chainstays together.
Rob Reisinger of Mountain Cycle produced
an equally innovative icon in the clamshell
monocoque mainframe and swingarm
shape of his 1991 San Andreas. Not only
was the seam-welded frame a standout
structure at the time, but it also featured
upside down Suspenders forks with a bolt-
through axle and Pro Stop disc brakes front
and rear. The rear aftershock under the
separate bolt-on seat mast was a custom
unit too, offering reasonable control despite
a high-set main pivot location.
It was Richard Cunningham who set the
template for nearly all subsequent single-
pivot bikes in 1992. His Mantis Pro Floater
used a custom Noleen coil shock, seatstay
Above: Adrian Carter riding a Pace DPD at Newham Park in 1992
RICHARD
CUNNINGHAM SET THE
TEMPLATE FOR NEARLY
ALL SUBSEQUENT
SINGLE-PIVOT BIKES
Spring time | Suspension 79
struts that extended round in front of the
seat tube and asymmetric chainstays that
pivoted slightly in front of the bottom
bracket, level with the middle ring. As
Richard himself says, With less than 3in of
rear wheel travel, the Pro Floater had (by
accident or brilliance) just the right amount
of chain growth to keep suspension
bobbing to a minimum and still put in a
smooth ride over the bumps. The Pro
Floater was far from perfect but, arguably, it
became the first dual-suspension bike to
break the hardtail barrier and gain
widespread acceptance among elite riders.
Turners Burner
Another bike that looked and rode right
from the start, and has subsequently been
very widely copied, was the Burner design
by pro racer Dave Turner. I came up with
the rocker design, which was pretty unique
at the time, and allowed the shock to be [set]
much lower for a smaller seat tube and
much lower top tube for standover height,
explains Turner. The Horst Link freed up
the braking and provided some anti-squat
without going overboard and locking the
suspension out with each power pulse.
Left: Early Specialized FSR bike
sporting the patented Horst Link
rear suspension system
FREAK OR UNIQUE?
Over the past 25 years there have been some memorably left field machines designed to suspend
the rider above the trail in a truly unique way.
ALLSOPS SOFTRIDE
(Above)
This instantly recognisable
design used a long sandwich
construction composite arm
cantilevered of the top tube of
the frame with a saddle on the
end. The resulting diving board
efect as you pedalled was as
distinctive as it looked, but
several builders produced
dedicated Beamer frames
around it in the early 90s.
SLINGSHOT
Launched in the early 1990s
but still in production, the
Slingshot swapped a
conventional down tube for a
spring-tensioned cable and put
a leaf spring at the top tube/
seat tube junction. Designed to
use a rigid fork it actually rode
far better than it looked and
had a unique ability to vault
across ditches if you hit the far
side too hard.
MUDDY FOX INTEREACTIVE
This futuristic-looking machine
used a telelever fork and rear
swingarm connected to a
shock buried in the centre of a
machined beam frame to
isolate the suspension from
braking and pedalling forces.
The original Intereactive
prototypes were designed by
Dave Smart and built by top
motorbike frame fabricators
Harris and apparently worked
pretty well. Unfortunately
Muddy Fox altered crucial
details of the design before
releasing a handful of
ultimately doomed and largely
misunderstood foreign built
Interactive bikes.
KLEIN KARMA
The ultimate extension of John
Castellanos Sweet Spot
unified rear triangle design, the
Klein Mantra used an ultra high
pivot punched through a single
mainframe beam and a
custom shock to give an
unheard of 7in of rear wheel
travel. The way the bike
shortened and lengthened
dramatically as you pedalled
and braked was weird enough,
but it was when Klein
produced the budget Karma
version using a massive
triangle of foam instead of a
rear shock that it really
disgraced itself.
WHYTE PRST-1
Jon Whyte knew his radical
bike, named after the robot
dog in Aardmans Wallace &
Grommit: A Close Shave, was
one of the ugliest produced.
The frame-mounted air shock
monocoque A frame legged
front fork was far smoother
than any telescopic forks
available in 1999, though. The
latched dropouts and barrel
axle extensions also preceded
later through axle designs with
their enhanced tracking
stifness. Despite the fact the
fork dived under braking and
stand-up pedalling, and could
collapse sideways in a crash, it
was popular among epic XC
riders for several years.
I think it was popular because the thing
was not a noodle and it rode like a good
mountain bike, instead of some lawn chair
contraption. So many early suspension
frames were pure crap.
The crap bikes that Dave refers to was
certainly plentiful as big brands tried to
jump onto the full suspension bandwagon
and fell woefully short.
Big brand bounce
The super elevated chainstay, pogo
pedalling EST from Cannondale was one
of the first failed attempts, while Trek
produced the 9000. This used low pivot,
box section chainstays delivering an alleged
2in of travel via a stack of rubber donuts
that Trek optimistically dubbed the
A.B.Zorb shock. Even Yetis first AS bike
also relied on a basic pivot behind the
bottom bracket and rubber bumpers which,
according to multiple Kamikaze DH race
winner Jimmy Deaton, tended to melt and
disintegrate halfway down most runs.
In the UK, meanwhile, Raleigh rolled out
its megalithically heavy rubber bumper
suspended Activator. Marins licenced
copies of Manitous second set of forks used
as seatstays design didnt work much better
in reality either, while Swatchs cruciform
S Bike was definitely more a case of style
than substance.
The suspension fork market was also
flooded with new brands. Some, such as
Showa (used by Trek), came from a
motorbike background, others like Scotts
Unishock were home grown. Radical
linkage and/or upside down designs also
briefly appeared from Lawwill, AMP,
EVEN YETIS FIRST AS
BIKE RELIED ON A BASIC
PIVOT BEHIND THE
BOTTOM BRACKET AND
RUBBER BUMPERS
Girvin, Formula, and Halson and Vector as
everyone seemingly tried to put a spring
in their step.
One big brand that was getting it right,
though, was GT. Already riding high on the
success of the Zaskar hardtail, its RTS
(Rocker Tuned Suspension) bikes were the
first genuinely successful full suspension
race rigs. Using a high upper pivot and a
linkage that tucked forward under the
bottom bracket meant that the suspension
was locked out by pedalling torque on
smooth trails, but swung into action if the
hits got big enough to overcome pedal
power. Crude perhaps, but effective enough
to win multiple titles in both XC and DH for
GT rider Juli Furtado, which in turn was
enough to spark serious interest from the
bike-buying masses.
Pro Flex was also experiencing rapid
growth with evolved versions of its simple
but super-light designs. Italian motorsports
fabricator Verlicchi was flogging its curved
swingarm Bromont downhill frame to
Above: Justin Loretz of Team MBUK riding a GT RTS-1
Left: A prototype supension
fork designed by Bob Girvin,
early 1990s
Below: Cannondale EST rear
suspension mountain bike with
E stays and suspension stem
82 Suspension | Spring time
no less than seven other brands, including
Iron Horse whose team rider Dave Cullinan
won the 1992 DH World Championships on
it. Gradually suspension was gaining both
literal and metaphorical traction among
real riders.
Getting it right
It wasnt long before other big brands got
their act together. GT continued to lead the
way as the RTS was replaced by the LTS, a
four-bar linkage design using a custom
shock mounted behind the seat tube to
produce smooth pedalling and brake-
neutral control. Specializeds Horst Link-
based FSR line was similarly sorted in terms
of ride character and rapidly became a very
popular all-rounder option.
At the same time Cannondale introduced
the first of its long-running Super V single-
pivot designs, combining them with its
radical Fatty Headshok damper in the
steerer unicrown fork to keep weight
impressively low. Trek abandoned the 9000
in favour of its iconic Y frame URT (unified
rear triangle) design. Its simplicity, light
weight and solid standing power delivery
proved an immediate draw for more XC
speed-minded riders, especially when Trek
started building the front ends from OCLV
carbon fibre.
Smaller manufacturers were also using
sorted suspension designs to establish a big
presence on mountain bikers lust lists.
Santa Cruz Bicycles launched straight into
full suspension with its tough, responsive
single-pivot Tazmon. As ex-pro skater and
Top: GT LTS 4000 full suspension bike
Above: Manitou full suspension bike
Below: 2009 Specialized FSR XC Comp full suspension bike
ATTITUDE PROBLEM
Technological issues aside one of the biggest
barriers to suspension take-up was the
attitude of riders to all the extra pivots,
springs, creaks and bounce it brought with it.
When ultra low weight and massive
drivetrain stifness was the focus of most
early 90s bikes, the idea of adding a heavy
shock absorber and putting wobbly hinges
between pedal and trail seemed insane.
After all, cried the cynics, weve already got
over 30cm of arm and leg compression
controlled by the most intelligent device on
the planet, the human brain. Rapid bearing
failure and breaking frames didnt help either
and even when Paul Lazenby won his first
national title for Marin many people
presumed it was just a publicity stunt with a
shock that was actually locked solid.
It was simple, efective and durable bikes
such as the Marin that dragged suspension
from the tech heavy circus of downhill racing
onto remote moor tops in increasing
numbers. Every time one of these bikes
clawed smoothly up a climb past a skittering,
slipping hardtail another suspension doubter
was nudged towards conversion. Trails that
were unrideable became enjoyable, dodging
a bone jarring battering on Sunday made
Monday mornings bearable and slowly but
surely suspension joined disc brakes, big
tyres and wide handlebars as another
control-enhancing essential that was worth
paying a slight weight and price penalty for.
Santa Cruz founder Rob Roskopp confirms,
It was our first bike. It was solid and
dependable, and performed better than
almost anything at the time. It put us on the
map! A year later it gained an inch of travel
and became the Heckler, starting a line of
hugely popular trail bikes that are still a
mainstay of the Santa Cruz line today.
English ex Formula One engineers
Jon Whyte and Adrian Ward began
development of their very clean-looking,
minimalist but extremely practical
swingarm frames for Marin too, a
development that ultimately netted Paul
Lazenby and his Mount Vision Pro the first
ever National Cross Country title for a full
suspension bike.

Getting radical
Having gained acceptance in the
mainstream, the fringes of mountain biking
rapidly pushed the performance of
suspension bikes to increasingly radical
levels. On the cross-country side, bikes such
as Treks OCLV Y bike, Scotts Strike and
Cannondales Scalpel dropped full
suspension frame weight as low as race
hardtails. On the gravity side, suspension
travel increased hand over fist until freefall
legend/lunatic Josh Bender was riding a
Karpeil Apocalypse with 300mm (nearly
12in) of travel front and rear.
Pulling the edges of performance
further apart inevitably stretched default
expectations in the middle too. Trail bike
travel grew from 80 to 100mm and then
120mm, inexorably following the lead set
by Brent Foes radical LTS bike towards the
150mm travel mark.
The longer suspension strokes became,
though, the harder it was to stop bikes
bouncing under the rhythmic revs of
sequential pedal strokes, and pedal
bob became public enemy number
one. Some designers used complex
linkage arrangements, such as the GTs
eccentrically mounted floating crank
I-Drive, the Outland-pioneered, Santa Cruz
and Intense-evolved VPP (Virtual Pivot
Point) design or Paul Turners Monolink
Maverick set-up.
For most, the simple solution lay in low-
speed, threshold damped platform
technology introduced from off-road
racing to bikes by specialists such as
Progressive and Romic. By screening out
low-speed shock loads created by pedalling,
braking or hard cornering, speed-sapping
wallow and bounce were instantly reduced
and suddenly even the simplest swingarm
designs were back in the game. Bikes like
Giants VT and Specializeds new Enduro
were specifically designed around the latest
Manitou and Progressive shocks
respectively and suddenly even 6in travel
bikes could charge up hills as smoothly and
stably as short travel race machines.
THE LONGER
SUSPENSION STROKES
BECAME, THE HARDER
IT WAS TO STOP
BIKES BOUNCING
Above : A Santa Cruz Tazmon bike being put through its paces
Top: Trek Y Superlite
Above: Josh Benders Karpiel on show at Interbike
84 Suspension | Spring time
Evolution not revolution
In fact, by the turn of the century
suspension technology had pretty much
reached the edge of its expansion. If travel
on XC bikes got any shorter racers might as
well use hardtails with slightly flatter tyres.
Freeride was stepping back from its go big
or go home hucking phase and turning to
more skilful acrobatic slopestyle displays
that required lighter, more agile bikes. Even
downhill racers were concentrating more
on light weight and quality of suspension
rather than sheer quantity.
Smarter, smoother, faster
The consolidation of technology also saw a
game of musical chairs throughout the
industry, as different brands tried to protect
their subtly different or just blatantly copied
systems with patents. Lawyers rampaged,
licences were begged or bought, and in the
process some brands like Turner found
themselves barred from using the very
systems theyd helped create and develop.
Although the extremes were no longer
being pushed, the everyday performance of
suspension bikes was becoming even more
polished. Shocks and forks gradually
improved to become more sensitive or
offered a wider range of easier to
understand tuning. Trail forks started using
security and stiffness-enhancing screw-
through axles previously only seen on
downhill bikes, and stanchion diameter
sizes grew from 32mm up to 40mm on
some DH forks. Fox entered the fork market
in 1999 with its immediately successful,
ultra controlled Float fork. Proper pivot
bearings increasingly took the place of
bushings, making bikes smoother and far
less maintenance dependent.
While actual suspension and shock
technology was settled into a period of
refinement, control mechanisms were still a
hotbed of innovation. Specialized nailed
the ultimate no bob suspension system
with its unique inertia valve switch Brain
shocks and forks, which are still winning
Olympic Gold medals today. Scott
introduced the first of its unique multi-
chamber, multi-mode handlebar lever-
controlled shocks on its Genius, Spark and
Ransom all-mountain bikes. Foxs ProPedal
damping systems duelled with the
Floodgate circuitry of RockShox forks to
balance sensitivity and stability, while Cane
Creek teamed up with Ohlins to produce
FOX ENTERED THE FORK
MARKET IN 1999 WITH
ITS IMMEDIATELY
SUCCESSFUL, ULTRA
CONTROLLED FLOAT
the super tunable Double Barrel shock.
The next big thing?
By 2010 the pace of suspension
development had definitely slowed as
designers concentrated on developing
handling geometry and different wheel
sizes to achieve more significant riding
gains. However, RockShoxs collaboration
with Lapierre, Ghost and Haibike rolled a
big slice of future onto the trails in the
summer of 2012 when its accelerometer
triggered, electronically metered, impact
and pedalling referenced, damping altering
EI suspension blindsided a totally analogue
suspension world.
Thats not to say electric damping
adjustment hadnt been tried before in
either simple lockout form or more
complex systems such as Cannondales
Simon. But the EI system is a quantum leap
in terms of real, practical performance
advantage, and theres no doubt well see
similar systems from other innovators
shortly. Fox is certainly running around
with a lot of battery equipped test bikes and
Shimano has registered a surprising
amount of suspension patents too.
Several companies have also been
experimenting with visco electric damping
fluids that actually change their fluidity
when a current is applied. The non-linear
relationship between current and damping
behaviour has proved a big hurdle for
getting consistent performance to market
so far, though. Composite springs are also
another potential area of performance gain,
particularly in terms of minimal weight and
maintenance. But whatever happens,
suspension has come an extremely long
way since those first half MX, half BMX
lash-ups of 25 years ago, and its firmly
embedded into mountain bike DNA as an
essential control and efficiency technology.
Previous : First RockShox fork, circa 1990
Top: Giant VT 1 on show at Interbike 2002
Bottom: Specialized Enduro, 2004
Above: Jon Whyte in his Cotswolds workshop
THE ALTERNATIVES
Ever since proper suspension appeared
there have been products designed to fit
onto a conventional bike and provide some
sort of shock absorbing efect between rider
and trail.
The most famous early suspension
add-on was the 1990 Ofroad Flexstem.
Designed to complement Ofroads Pro-Flex
rear suspension bike it was basically a
standard quill stem with a hinge in the vertical
to horizontal angle. A bracket then held
changeable elastomer bumpers against the
lower part of the stem. Handlebar movement
was less than an inch vertical, but much more
in terms of sideways wobble. However, riders
still raved about the control-enhancing
efects. The arrival of decent suspension forks
meant that its must-have glory days were
short lived though.
Suspended seat arrangements have had a
lot longer lifespan. The earliest mountain
bikes used coil-sprung saddles but they just
didnt look right for image consciousness
MTBers and were soon replaced by
suspension seatposts. Pioneered in the early
90s by brands such as USE and followed
later by RockShox and White Brothers, these
telescopic posts added an inch or two of
elastomer or air sprung suspension between
the saddle and the bike. Thudbuster (now
Cane Creek) also produced a parallelogram
post that moved backwards and down to
absorb impacts in a more normal way.
Increasingly ubiquitous rear suspension and
dropper posts mean you can get still get one
if you want.
86 Icons of MTB | Ned Overend
Above: Overend in the rainbow jersey following his victory at the UCIs first ever Mountain Bike World Championships
Right: At the Mountain Mayhem 24-hour race in 2003
W
hen Ned Overend left his
home in sunny San
Diego and headed for
higher ground on the
edge of the Colorado
Rockies, he didnt seem destined for
mountain biking greatness. It was 1980,
Overend was 25, and his immediate destiny
lay in a trailer park in the town of Durango.
His career, for the time being, was in auto
mechanics and he spent his days under the
hoods of the local residents VW Beetles.
For kicks, a young Overend would head out
rock climbing and any two-wheeled
adventures were had on a road bike.
Overend was keen on cycling and so was
his new town, where the Durango Wheel
Club (DWC) had been advocating the
pursuit since way back in 1895. When
Overend arrived the Iron Horse Bicycle
Classic, a race between man and machine
with riders racing the steam locomotive
between Durango and neighbouring
Silverton, was in its prime and attracting
riders from all across the state.
In 1983 Overend won the Iron Horse and
went on to finish an impressive 35th in the
Coors Classic, a race that would be won by
future Tour de France legends Greg LeMond
and Bernard Hinault. Overend was a decent
roadie but in his late twenties he was never
going to rival the likes of LeMond, and by
the end of 83 his head had already been
turned. After the Coors Classic that year a
group of locals let Overend have a spin on
one of their early five-speed off-road bikes,
and the rest is MTB history.
Racing demon
I raced for Schwinn from 1984 to 1987,
says Overend, who would become NORBA
US and World Champion in those years. I
was originally brought on by a guy involved
with Schwinns BMX team, and after he left I
wasnt all that convinced that Schwinn was
committed to mountain bike racing. Then
Mike Sinyard [Specialized owner] and some
of his product guys came to Durango and
asked me if Id like to join their team. They
talked about bringing me on board to race
and help develop products through their
racing program. It was a pretty easy
decision to make.
With Specialized behind him Overend
went on to reach new heights, and the
highlight of his career came in 1990 when
he clinched the first ever UCI world title. Up
until 1990 the US and Europe both held
their own separate world champs and,
although Overend won both events in 87,
winning the UCI event in his very own
Durango cemented his place as the best
cross-country rider of his generation and
won him a place in the MTB hall of fame.
Overend carried on riding through the
1990s, picking up national titles in 91 and
92 and, when it was confirmed that cross-
country had made it into the Atlanta
Olympic Games in 1996, he set his sights on
a medal. But with Overend fast approaching
his 40th birthday he didnt make the
Olympic squad and retired from racing,
calling time on a 22-year pro career.
However, his retirement didnt stop him
winning two XTERRA off-road triathlon
World Championships later that decade and
a host of other national age-group titles in
cyclo-cross over the years.
Nearly 34 years after that moustached
mechanic and part-time roadie arrived in
Durango, Overend is still captain of
Specializeds cross-country team and
widely regarded as one of the true legends of
off-road riding. Having made quite an
impact on the Colorado town he still calls
home, Overend now has a 300-acre trail-
crossed mountain in Durango named in his
honour, and is still the go-to guy at one of
the biggest bike manufacturers in the world.
A super fit off-road all-rounder, Deadly Nedly has been riding Specialized bikes for
a quarter of a century and now spearheads the companys R&D department
CROSS-COUNTRY LEGEND
NED OVEREND
Writer: Simon Lock Photography: Steve Behr/Stockfile
THE HIGHLIGHT OF HIS
CAREER CAME IN 1990
WHEN HE CLINCHED
THE FIRST EVER UCI
WORLD TITLE
88 UK race origins | A house divided
A house divided | UK race origins 89
A house
divided
D
iversification is often seen as the key
to the success of business. But its not
a clear-cut thing. Diversification in
the mountain bike scene has been a
rollercoaster ride of successes and
failures, some predictable in hindsight but most
coming as a complete surprise to the parties
involved. For example, it wasnt exactly predictable
to the majority of us that 650b wheels would turn
up late to the party and conspire to kill off 26 inch
wheels on quality bikes within an otherwise fairly
uneventful year. But there you go. MTBs werent
created as a tool to carve out the most conservative
and predictable pathways.
A look at the way the mountain bike has evolved
in the UK over the past 30 years or so is a look at
emerging, evolving and occasionally collapsing
social groupings. In that sense, mountain biking is
pretty similar to any other societal phenomena,
like music really, and other social tribes. Who was
it who said that nothing stays the same but nothing
ever changes?
While Geoff Apps and his still-unusual early
1980s Cleland off-road bikes may have been on an
evolutionary parallel to US MTB pioneers such as
Fisher, Kelly and Breeze, it was an American living
in Britain who accidentally became one of the
founders of the UK scene. The late great Richard
Ballantine wrote his cyclists bible Richards Bicycle
Book back in the early 1970s, when a looming oil
crisis and growing concerns about health and
fitness were helping to push the idea of the bicycle
as a tool for change. Ballantines book went on to
sell over a million copies and Ballantine himself was
happy to ride on the crest of a wave that would
envelop the early beginnings of the MTB. He was
one of a few movers and shakers, including Apps,
Tim Gartside, Pete Murphy and Max Glaskin, who
were also in at the start of the organisational stuff.
UK beginnings
Back at the start of the 1980s, at a time when the
best that established UK stalwart Raleigh could do
was a fat tyred kids street bike called the Bomber,
Ballantine imported a bunch of Tom Ritchey hand-
built Montare MTB frames. They were the first
commercially available mountain bikes in the UK.
Ballantine also helped to run the UKs first MTB
race series, the Fat Tyre Five, and was a founder,
publisher and editor of several bike mags at a time
when bike mags werent really seen as viable.
Bicycle Magazine and The Bicycle Buyers Bible were
Writer: Steve Worland Photography: Steve Behr/Stockfile
The division into rider types and disciplines has
had mixed effects on MTB. We take a look at the
social evolution of the early UK scene
effectively forerunners of everything that
came later, such as Mountain Biking UK.
Regardless of what Ballantine was
involved in himself, he was influential in
giving others confidence to change their
lives to encompass the forthcoming rise
and rise of bicycles and everything to do
with them. For a while he edited Bicycle
Action magazine, which would soon be
bought by fledgeling mountain bike
entrepreneurs Muddy Fox. While his major
personal interest diverted into human-
powered vehicles in their recumbent form,
his influence in seeing the bicycle as a tool
for social change should never be
underestimated. Early UK mountain biking,
the bikes and the social scene surrounding
them, emerged from Ballantines timely
book and enthusiastic writing.
A year or two after the Fat Tyre Five
events, with US MTB brands starting to
come into the UK through newly formed
MTB distribution companies, bicycle writer
THERE WAS A BIG
SOCIAL RIDE ON THE
SATURDAY AND A
LOAD OF BEERS AND
BADLY BURNT FOOD
Max Glaskin and frame builder Jeremy Torr
kick-started the Mountain Bike Club, a
labour of love organisation that put on
events and built a social scene around those
events. Those early MBC events slowly
emerged as the first national series. There
were a fair few one-off events happening
around the country too, notably Tim
Flooks Quantocks Quest and Quantocks
Quiver, Geoff Apps Wendover Bash,
Gordon Greens Man v Horse (mountain
bikes versus horses and runners) at
Llanwrtyd Wells, as well as the Cannock
Chase and the Cheshire Challenge. Some of
these well attended events went on to form
the basis of a national series, which was
eventually sponsored by Shimano.
The easy riders
The social nature of those early Mountain
Bike Club events was boosted by the fact
that, although they were eyeballs-out races
(albeit with lots of laughs) when the whistle
blew (usually twice to signify the false start,
but no one took any notice of that) on
Sunday mornings, there was usually a big
social ride on the Saturday and a load of
beers and badly burnt food was consumed
around camp fires on the Saturday night.
I remember a few riders being concerned
that hangovers might affect their race
performances on the next day but they were
certainly in the minority, even among the
experts. When the proper pros started
turning up they werent quite sure what to
make of the social rides.
This was a time when some top riders
Opening image: Thomas Frischknecht riding down the Pipeline at the Grundig World Cup XC race, Devon, 1995
Above: Steve Worland racing at Wendover in 1988 on a Muddy Fox Explorer. Note the custom made bars which Steve dubbed The Zimmerbar
Top right: Pete Tomkins racing on a Bromwich at Cannock Chase in 1988
IT WAS A BUNCH OF
MATES HAMMERING
ALONG ON A WING
AND A PRAYER IN
OLD TRAINERS
might have been referred to as pros, but the
reality was that all even the cream of the
best riders could expect to earn from their
commitment was a borrowed bike, some kit
for the season and, for the really lucky ones,
a free lift in the shop van to the events. Most
of the top riders wore shop or distributor
tagged shirts, some may have even had
proper shorts and helmets.
It was a bit of a shock to those low-key
early racers when Tim Gould and David
Baker turned up with manager Simon
Burney, matching Lycra and the back-up of
a proper pro cyclo-cross team. That was the
turning point of the early race scene really.
Before that it was essentially a bunch of
mates hammering along on a wing and a
prayer in old trainers and whatever togs and
helmets the climbing and canoeing
fraternity were selling off cheap.
Its interesting looking back at the names
in the results of those early events, pre-
Gould and Baker days. Paul Hinton and
Mike Newton were the guys to beat. Paul
was a London cycle courier at the time.
Mike had started racing in the US but came
back to the UK and worked for Caratti
Sport, who imported Specialized bikes at
the time. They were closely followed in the
results by the likes of Tim Flooks, a young
Rory Hitchens, Andy Pegg, Adrian
Rochford, Tim Greenland, Vince Edwards,
Jamie Carr, Jason/Jake Elliott, Les Lloyd,
Andy Shaw and Daffyd Roberts. I may have
been somewhere in among that lot on a
good day too. The fact that so many of these
riders went on to create some sort of career
in mountain bikes is witness to the social
cohesion and potent enthusiasm of those
early days.
This was back in 1988, when distributors,
shops and frame builders were just coming
to terms with the fact that these newfangled
off-road bikes might well be here to stay.
Some shops, notably Two Wheels Good in
Leeds, were firing on all
cylinders, with their
sponsored rider Deb Murrell almost
singlehandedly proving that women would
not be sidelined in the world of mountain
bikes as they still were in the world of road
racing, and the views of a loud young John
Stevenson already being published in the
MBC newsletter. Stevenson would soon be
taken on as the in-house editorial opinion-
meister of the newly launched Mountain
Biking UK, which quickly took on the
invaluable social role from the hand-
printed MBC newsletter as the source for all
things MTB related.
Going up a gear
By the turn of the decade, a couple of years
after Gould and Baker had joined the ranks
and made the rest of us start wondering
about the benefits of real training, or
perhaps even taking it easy on the beer the
night before the race, there were a fair few
others with an eye on the limited glory of
MTB success. Riders like Fred Salmon, Tim
Davies, Barrie Clarke, Glen and Gary
Coltman, Adrian Timmis, Nick Craig,
Above: Max Glaskin (left) and Jeremy Torr at a Mountain Bike Club event in Wendover, 1988
THE MOUNTAIN BIKE CLUB
Between 1988 and 1990 the Mountain Bike
Club newsletter, titled Mountain Biking, kept
enthusiasts in touch and produced lists of race
results, info about coming events and a list of
contacts for mountain bike businesses, trips
away, access issues and the usual assortment
of small ads and letters. This MBC newsletter
was also where art student Jonathan Burt
started his pre Mint Sauce cartoon strips. This
was all happening at the end of the 80s. The
Mountain Bike Club became the glue that
stuck together an otherwise disparate scene
of riders all doing their own thing in their local
woods. Glaskin and Torr handed over the reins
to Tom Sillis at the end of the 80s and there
was talk of a British Mountain Bike Federation,
afiliated to the British Cycling Federation.
Road cycling wasnt exactly booming, the BCF
saw an opportunity to take
part in the MTB boom, and
it was all getting a bit too
popular to be run by a few
enthusiastic individuals. A
new magazine called MBUK
started selling like hotcakes.
Chris Young and Steve Douce had started to
lend an air of real professionalism to the
Expert Male ranks, although it has to be
said that the onus was on them to get into
the relaxed attitude of mountain bike
racing, rather than on the rest of us to
become more professional.
Actually, I reckon most of them were
quite relieved, and seemed happy to help
quash the slight feeling of us and them that
was slowly creeping into the race scene.
Anyone who appeared to be taking it all too
serious quickly started to relax.
A happy medium emerged, with an odd
mix of cyclo-cross champions and ex Tour
de France riders mixing it with guys whod
only recently stopped racing in T-shirts and
rugby shorts. Typically, the early days riders
would outride some of those whod escaped
from the road scene when it came to the
more technically demanding terrain, but
the roadie influx made toast of us when the
terrain went vaguely up or straight and flat.
THEY MIXED IT WITH
GUYS WHOD ONLY
RECENTLY STOPPED
RACING IN T-SHIRTS
AND RUGBY SHORTS
Fortunately, the national standard events
back then involved a score combination of
cross-country, downhill and trials. Yes,
really trials was a part of the national MTB
series. There was sometimes a hill climb to
sort the wheat from the chaff too. The old-
school riders usually did pretty well in the
downhill, with the new-school guys
emerging at the head of affairs in the cross-
country. It was the trials that upset the apple
cart. Very few of the top riders were good at
hopping their bikes around over obstacles.
Tim Davies was an exception. As one of a
minority who was pretty good at all three
disciplines, he would soon become national
champion ahead of the full time pros.
This appeared to be the next turning
point in the MTB race scene. Trials was
dropped, probably not a bad thing because
a specialist trials scene was emerging.
Downhill soon became a completely
separate discipline, with very few riders
choosing to do both cross-country (XC) and
downhill events, even though they were on
the same weekend at the same race venue.
However, Steve Peat and Jason McRoy were
still doing both at this time, reflecting the
likes of John Tomac in the US.
By now, in the early 90s, cross-country
racing was sub-divided into ability and age
categories. The womens category was the
only all in it together category left, with
new race stars like Sally Hibberd, Melanie
Grivell, Sian Roberts, Isla Rowntree, Nicky
Crowther, Sophie Brookes and, with the
summer of 1990 as her first race season, a
slightly clumsy candyfloss haired Caroline
Alexander, who would soon improve to
challenge for world level race honours. Mick
Ives was already dominating in the veteran
races with Jake Elliott, Carl Sturgeon,
Opposite: Tim Gould of Team Schwinn riding for Great Britain at the World Championships in Vail, Colorado, 1994
Above: Caroline Alexander of Team Raleigh riding through water at BMBF round 3, Newnham- Park, Plymouth, 1992
Far right: A rider takes a tumble at
the bombhole, The Malvern Hills
Classic, Eastnor Park, 1992
Below: Another rider gets some
air time at The Malverns Classic
| UK race origins 95
THE LAKE JUMPING WAS
UNDOUBTEDLY THE
HIGHLIGHT OF THE
WEEKEND FOR RIDERS
AND SPECTATORS
Julian Winn and Dave Hemming
competing for top honours among juniors.
It needs to be said, though, that the early
90s was the time when normal riders could
choose to avoid intimidation by athletes
and race in Novices, Sports or Intermediates
categories. From now onwards, those
lesser categories would be the growth
areas of racing at both national and regional
levels. Mountain bikes were now boosting
attendance levels at local cyclo-cross
events, giving the competitively inclined
something to get involved with on winter
weekends when no MTB events took place.
The local scene was booming.
The festival years
As the MTB race scene grew at both
national and regional level, a few festivals
arose to encompass both the racing and the
social scene. The Malverns Classic was the
big one, with new events like the Cheddar
Challenge joining the already established
full weekend celebrations. The Malverns
gained its reputation as the one to go to
because it managed to encompass the
perfect mix of racing and other activities.
The lake jumping was almost undoubtedly
the highlight of the weekend for riders and
spectators alike, with the bunnyhop high
jumping competition drawing almost as big
a spectator crowd as the downhill.
In fact, the Malverns was one of the last
events I can remember when the more
technically talented and open minded pro
riders, notably Nick Craig, were as
competitive racing in the downhill as they
were in the cross-country.
While many remember the great things
about the Malverns the sunny days, the
one really muddy one, the Saturday evening
pasta parties merging into beer-fuelled
tent dancing there were two events that
marked the point when mountain biking
changed again. First, there was the event
where half the visitors suddenly noticed
they werent the only ones choosing to wear
their look at me, Im in a tribe Bula hats. In
one fell swoop, mountain bikers became
self-conscious. Second, a guy died in a
drug-fuelled stabbing at the Saturday party.
While the killer was a non-riding visitor, it
was obviously enough to put the dampers
on the future of the whole event.
Other weekend events had suffered
problems with local thieves nicking bikes
and there was an odd underlying feeling
that perhaps it was all getting a bit out of
hand and mainstream, with the problems
that come with the mainstream. The
Malverns lasted five years and its end felt a
little like the end of rave. It was certainly the
end of Bula hats.
The festival scene continued, though. The
Cheddar Challenge remained a big end-of-
season favourite until very recently, and
Patrick Adams early Mountain Mayhem
events, initially sponsored by Red Bull,
filled a big social gap that the Malverns had
left. Many years later, various other full
weekend events like the Bontrager 12/24
and the Merida Marathons carried on the
festival tradition.
The race scene continued to change. The
major emphasis was on taking part rather
than trying to win, although elite level
racing, even at regional level, had become
an arena for highly trained athletes. This
was emphasised by the fact that XC racing
became an Olympic discipline in 96. On
the positive side, the Olympics showed that
mountain biking as a sport had finally come
of age. On the negative side, there was a
decade or so that saw painfully little in the
way of grass roots development, with what
many thought was way too much emphasis
on the elite level.
Above left: Riders at a Grundig World Cup
round, Devon
Above: Andrew Titley riding at the Cheddar
Challenge, Somerset
LETTERS TO THE MOUNTAIN BIKE CLUB
Dear MBC I was reading my newsletter when
mention of a leather string vest caught my eye. I
am certainly willing to try any high performance
leather on ofer. I am not a pervert but I am going
along the Silk Road through China and need
sponsors, goods etc. Anyone out there been over
the Karakoram highway? If so, let me know.
Andy Wilkinson, Southsea
Dear MBC Try not to get too big. Remember
Schumacher Small is Beautiful.
Robin Taylor
Dear MBC Van Halen, on your bike! Iron Maiden
or Metallica is what you need to boost your
bridlepath credibility. Nick Grey, Somerset
Dear MBC The rollercam brake on my Muddy
Fox Explorer is crap and dificult to adjust as I am
stupid and not a technical tiger. Chris Kokett was
right. Mountain bikes are much more fun than a
career in architecture. My studies are definitely a
damp course. Excuse the handwriting but my
personal computer got caught on the cable to
my Vodafone as I was consulting my Filofax and
fell of the crossbar.
RW Grifith, Rusbon
Dear MBC The newsletter is wild good. The
cartoons are excellent. The only thing missing is
product reviews.
Chris Cowan, Eglinton
Dear MBC Please accept this letter as an apology
for not turning up to the Scottish Shimano
Mountain Bike Trail, but I was working in the
North Sea.
Richard Sweeting, North Sea
Dear MBC In reply to Martin Winstones letter last
issue, I wholeheartedly agree that mountain
bikers are individuals. I certainly do not want the
MBC becoming bogged down by rules and
regulations and I fear that being associated with
the BCF and other bodies would bring this about.
Please, please, please dont let the MBC become
associated with an oficial body as I fear the MBC
would be taken over and would cease to be a
club for true mountain bikers. Well, I must sign of
to go dirt bruisin on my bike, All the best.
Jason Manley, Devon
Dear MBC I am writing to request that you
include an Intermediate 16-18-year-old age group
in the forthcoming national series. We believe this
is necessary in order that this important age
group can gain recognition
instead of fighting against the
more physically developed
meat-ridden pros such as
David Baker and
Tim Flooks.
Nick Gray, Taunton
World Cup MTB events helped to divide
cross-country and downhill riding into
completely separate sports at a time when
the bike technology was also becoming
increasingly specialist. Change was afoot,
with the emphasis shifting from social
racing to technology in bike design. Sales
boomed as suspension and new materials
seduced riders who were quietly happy
that they were never going to be any good
at racing. All the gear and no idea had
become a regular derogatory chant, but it
was the riders who were into new kit that
were essentially supporting the mountain
bike industry. Large numbers of such riders
were creating an informal club scene based
mainly on local riding.
Trail-centric
So, with cross-country racing becoming
increasingly elitist and involving travel and
a level of training commitment that few
could afford or fit into their busy lives, and
downhill racing becoming so technically
A GROWING FREERIDE
SCENE WAS ADDING
ANOTHER ANGLE,
FROM RAISED SECTIONS
TO MASSIVE DROPS
challenging that many riders decided to
stop doing it before they seriously hurt
themselves, it was time for change again.
Inevitably the blossoming local ride groups
scene was starting to get interested in
creating and/or maintaining trails. Talk
started about trail centres being created to
cater for the needs of weekend warriors and
leisure riders. Forest centre managers in
Wales started realising that the mountain
bike could start to bring an influx of
welcome cash to their local areas.
At the same time riders were looking at
what was going on in Vancouvers North
Shore. The bike technology and skills that
surrounded a rapidly growing freeride
scene were adding another angle to riding,
one that could range from innocent raised
sections of woodland trail to massive drops
off stuff that made downhill race courses
look tame. The tamer stuff could be
incorporated into what was already going
on at the trail centres; the more radical stuff
started to become a vaguely aspirational
spectator sport in the form of photos and
films that had never before been able to
capture the essence of the freedom that a
mountain bike can offer. Like riding up an
Alp and imagining youre in the Tour de
France, the average mountain biker could
now drop off a tiny ledge, let the suspension
take the impact and imagine they were
hucking off a big cliff.
The social emphasis of mountain biking
was firmly back on trail riding, as fast and
furious as you wanted, as slow and
technical as you wanted, as high and mighty
as you wanted. A new breed of trail bikes
were evolving to match and a scene of local
riding, enduro events and trips to the
emerging trail centres was set for the next
20 years possibly.
Above: Tracy Moseley racing her Kona Stab Supreme at the Fort William World Cup round, September 2005
Above right: Oli Beckingsale at the Fort William World Cup round, May 2006
98 Icons of MTB | Hans Rey
Above: Rey with Dave Wardell in his native Switerland, June 2007
P
robably the best known (and
possibly the greatest) mountain
biker in the world, Hans Rey is
a master of trials and extreme
mountain biking. Rey started
off riding 20in wheeled trials bikes at the
age of 12. He won many trials titles before
moving from his native Switzerland to
California in 1987 where he settled in
Orange County and continued his winning
ways. Rey started to mix stunts with his
trials riding and the media loved it. He
garnered attention and sponsorship by
coming up with ideas, executing them
well and maximising the resulting media
exposure both on TV and in magazines. He
spotted an opportunity to move from trials
competitions to doing demos and riding
mountain bikes, increasing his appeal.
Raising the bar
An early stunt involved riding over a car in
stationary traffic on a crowded freeway.
Meticulous planning allowed Rey and his
team to get away with it. It made a pretty
big impact, the magazines loved it, it was
different and it got me noticed, recalls Rey.
During this phase of his career he set the
standard for trick and stunt riding, and
showed it was possible to make a living
from riding a bike outside of competition.
He picked up some early sponsors such
as Adidas, Luk and GT Bicycles, who still
support him now. Its a two-way deal: Rey
takes as good care of them as they do of
him, which is why the deals last. When he
moved to California Rey started riding with
the legendary Laguna Rads, another
relationship that has stood the test of time.
An eclectic mix of hardcore mountain
bikers who meet for weekly rides and firepit
sessions, theyve been riding the steep trails
and canyons around Laguna Beach since
the early 1980s. Rey remains a proud and
loyal member of this community.
Following his early media exposure, Rey
moved on to producing videos of his
exploits as a way of showcasing his talents
to existing and potential sponsors. They
were effectively the first freeride videos, and
had, in those VHS days, an impact similar to
Danny MacAskills YouTube clips in the
internet age. It was kind of like, how the
heck do you describe what I do to a sponsor,
why not just show them a video? The first
one, No Way Rey made in 1992, was short, to
the point and groundbreaking. The next
one, Level Vibes, moved it up a notch and
involved a trip to Jamaica. Including exotic
locations is something that Rey has pursued
in most of his projects since then and is a
key ingredient in the adventures he
undertakes with his adventure team.
Rey is the only permanent member, and
to keep things fresh he invites different
athletes to join him on each adventure,
which merge extreme riding and local
culture often with an added element of
mysticism or mystery, and always to remote
locations. The trips are well documented
and distributed for magazines, TV and
video. As well as producing his own videos,
Rey has worked as a stuntman and stunt
coordinator in film and TV, even appearing
as himself in the TV show Pacific Blue.
Nowadays, as well as the adventure team
projects, Rey has set up his own charity,
Wheels4Life. He explains: It is a non-profit
organisation that provides bikes for people
in developing countries in need of
transportation to get to work or to school.
Its my way of giving something back to the
people Ive met on my journeys.
Rey is also working on bringing better
mountain biking to the masses by building
fun trails. Flow country is a new term I
have coined, for a purpose-built mountain
bike trail with lots of flow, he says. A trail
that is never steep, never extreme and
never dangerous. A trail for everybody
that bridges the gap between freeride and
cross-country. Every town or resort
worldwide should offer flow country trails.
The worlds most famous mountain biker has turned from trials to adventure biking and spreads
the word and the bicycle through his travels and Wheels4Life charity
EXTREME RIDE MASTER
HANS REY
EACH ADVENTURE
MERGES EXTREME
RIDING AND LOCAL
CULTURE, ALWAYS IN
REMOTE LOCATIONS
Top: Rey is famous for performing jaw-dropping stunts, like this bridge jump in LA
Above: 1992s No Way Ray helped Rey on the path to MTB superstardom
Right: A broken arm doesnt stop Rey riding
F
or those of you who arent sure
what the term freeride means,
its really quite simple. Its
derived from its similarities to
snowboarding, where riders
head into the back of beyond and away from
the piste. Where there are no rules telling
you where to go or what to do. It shares its
origins with downhill too, and the original
freeride bikes reflected this. So where did
MTB freeriding begin?
Backcountry biking grew its roots in
Kamloops in British Columbia. Riders such
as Richie Schley and Brett Tippie were
carving their bikes down 45-degree scree
slopes, like freeride skiers. In Vancouver,
British Columbia, riders were forced to
build ladders and other elevated stunts
to enable them to ride over fallen trees,
boulders and swamps on the steep terrain
on the North Shore. Eventually this
morphed into a style of trail building
and the term North Shore came to mean
the skinnies, teeter-totters (see-saws) and
ladders that these riders built.
Soon enough, the concept of freeriding
began to ring out to the masses and certain
riders showed this new genre of mountain
biking to the world. Josh Bender, a free-
skiing cliff jumper, took to riding with
aplomb, drawing influences from his
previous sport into MTB. His custom
Karpiel bike boasted around 300mm (11in)
of travel front and back, the bandana
It started on Canadas North Shore and
spawned some of the worlds best trails,
biggest huckers and most fearless riders.
How did the glorious world of freeride
get to where it is today?
In the
beginning
The evolution of freeride
Writer MBUK Photography Steve Behr/Tom Moran
Freeride | Evolution 101
BRANDS THAT COUNT
Rocky Mountain
One of the few brands to have
seen the potential in freeride
from the start. Rocky
Mountain has always been at
the forefront of this genre and
supported riders that played a
huge role within the sport.
Cove Bikes
Chaz Ramolis, the founder of
the Cove Bike Shop, was one
of the main men behind all the
trails on the North Shore. His
bikes have always kept in sync
with the freeride movement.
RaceFace
RaceFace has always
produced great freeride
capable components that
have got better and better
every year. Tried and tested
by the worlds best.
Karpiel
The believers behind Josh
Bender. If it hadnt been for
these guys, Bender may have
never hucked as big as he did.
Shimano
The freeride-specific Saint
groupset was a massive
step to take and the products
produced were fantastic.
Its fantastic that a bike
manufacturing giant such as
Shimano has taken an interest
in building components that
can withstand the harshest
riding in world.
Specialized
Specialized unveiled their first
Enduro SX over 10 years ago,
an all-out slopestyle bike with
a low geometry and 100mm
of rear travel.
Opposite: Going big became the new black when
Wade Simmons stuck this infamous and huge
Moreno Valley drop
Above left: Without ladders, the North Shore
wouldnt be half as rideable
Above right: A young Kyle Strait the only two-time
Rampage winner flying high and sideways
Left: Tod Gravel Pit, Kamloops, BC, Canada 1998
Below: Only eight years ago, this was the cutting
edge of helmet cams
1981 Rocky Mountain, a small
Canadian company, begins
building bikes. The Cove bike
shop opens its doors thanks to
owner Chaz Ramolis.
Circa 1983 Vancouver riders
start building wooden ladders
and stunts to ride over fallen
trees, swamps and other
obstacles. North Shore is born. Ross Kirkwood
is credited with building the first North Shore
trail, but he says others did it first. The famous
Upper Oilcan and Pipeline trails were built
around the same time.
Circa 1986 Todd Digger Fiander starts
building trails, along with Dangerous Dan
Cowan. By the early 90s their trails had spread
across much of the North Shore.
1992 Cove releases its first bike, the Hummer.
Chaz continues to sculpt his trail network
around Vancouvers North Shore.
1997 The North Shore
Mountain Bike Association
(NSMBA) forms and
creates permanent and
sustainable trails that are
fully legal and well
TIMELINE
Top left: Kyle Strait at Crankworx 2006. He was there at the start and stepped it up when it went new school
Bottom left: Then unknown rider Paul Bas on his way to winning Crankworx 2004
Top middle: Bearclaw always rides with photographers in mind
Bottom middle: The Karpiel with lofty 12in travel Super Monster T. And Josh Bender, only slightly taller
Right: Dave Watson and his famous gap over the Peloton during the 2003 Tour de France
102 Evolution | Freeride
touting Bender proceeded to launch from as
many cliffs as his body could manage,
including plummeting in excess of 60ft at a
location known as the Jah Drop. He may
well have looked like a rag doll on many
landings but the guy was a true pioneer.
On the Rampage
As freerides popularity grew, manufacturers
soon jumped on the bandwagon. Rocky
Mountain bikes introduced its take on
freeride by putting Wade Simmons, Richie
Schley and Brett Tippie together to form the
Froriders. Gradually, more riders became
synonymous with freeride.
In 2001, Red Bull hosted the first
Rampage in Utah, providing a platform for
the riders to display their skill, creativity
and bottle to a worldwide audience. In the
contest, riders picked their own lines in a
bid to impress the judges. The Rampage was
a huge step for freeride and certainly helped
to solidify some careers including Wade
Simmons, who won the first Rampage.
Over the years, it drew riders from a many
different backgrounds downhillers Myles
Rockwell and Thomas Vanderham, BMXer
Darren Berrecloth and Kyle Strait, who
could do pretty much everything. Other
riders who made an impact during the early
Rampage days included Robbie Bourdon
and crazy Frenchman Cedric Gracia.
Putting the slope into style
During this time the bikes became freeride-
specific, incorporating more travel to cope
with the big drops and other modifications
to ensure riders werent kebabbed by their
bikes. The big guns like Specialized and
Kona were keen to get their bikes into the
mainstream. When the Demo 9 and Stinky
hit the shops, they were on the top of every
huckers wishlist.
As freeride started to expand, riders
wanted to ride all day, over any terrain and
give their bike a good hammering in the
BIKE PROGRESSION
What started as a massive huck-fest has now
become more refined. In the early days,
when it was all about the drops, bikes needed
huge travel and bulletproof builds but North
Shore riding proved too technical for a
cumbersome downhill bike with dual crown
forks. To cope with the tricky stuf single
crown forks got a makeover and could soon
achieve up to 7in of travel and still give a
comfy ride. With the varied riding the Shore
had on ofer, gears became necessary for
riders who wanted to ride all day. While many
freeriders stick to 6in or 7in travel bikes for
adventure riding, others began using
hardtails or custom shorter-travel bikes for
the new slopestyle contests. With slick
linkage set-ups and technology in rear shocks
and forks getting better, these short-travel
bikes could be ridden like hardtails but still
enabled riders to go big.
With North Shore riding becoming less of
a concern, and dual crown forks becoming
lighter and more versatile, events like
Rampage are seeing riders such as
Fairclough using their DH bikes. There are still
adventure riders with backpacks and gears,
and the crazy slopestyle riders with flips and
whips. But the common denominator, now, is
bikes that are versatile enough to perform in
both circumstances.
maintained. Freeride Entertainment is formed
and the New World Disorder film is conceived.
2001 The first Red Bull Rampage takes place.
Wade Simmons is the winner.
2003 Specialized releases the Enduro SX
and Rocky Mountain releases the RM7 Wade
Simmons signature model. The Joyride gravity
competition takes place. It will eventually be
renamed Crankworx.
2004 Kyle Strait wins the Red Bull Rampage.
It next returns in 2008 significant as Red Bull
usually only runs events for three years.
2005 Kona opens the Les Gets Bike Park in
France. European riders finally see what
theyve been missing out on at Whistler.
2008 The Red Bull Rampage returns. Andreu
Lacondeguy lands a double backflip during the
Crankworx Slopestyle contest.
2009 Dust & Bones,
the 10th and final
instalment of New
World Disorder is
released.
2013 Rampage is
bigger than ever. Fans watch on in awe at Cam
Zinks monster backflip. Kyle Strait becomes
the only rider to record two Rampage wins.
Above: Darren Berrecloth at the 2002 Rampage: innovation in action
process. Travel began to decrease while the
number of gears increased. The bikes were
becoming more versatile. Specialized
released the Enduro SX, with a dual ring up
front and 152mm (6in) of travel front and
back. Berrecloth competed on it and
showed the punters its true potential.
It was around this time events such as
Joyride (soon to become Crankworx)
started cropping up in the MTB Mecca of
Whistler. Crankworx is heading into its
10th year, and freeride has come on in leaps
and bounds. The bandannas and Giro
Switchblades may be long gone, but the
freeride scene is now bigger than ever.
Technology-wise, barspin-friendly big-
hitting single crown forks are the way to go,
and you can keep your chain in place even if
you run two rings.
Things have gone crazy. Weve got
volcano heli-drops, more bike parks that
seem to get bigger and better by the day, and
any of the slopestyle top guns could show
our BMX brothers a thing or two. With
companies like Kona and Trek still
sponsoring bike parks worldwide, the scene
is looking great.
Since 1997 the guys at New World
Disorder have produced some of the most
jaw-dropping footage the world of
mountain biking has ever seen, capturing
the essence of freeride and helping to
elevate it to become the most commercially
viable genre of mountain biking ever.
RIDERS WHO COUNT
Wade Simmons
A freeride pioneer. He won
the first Red Bull Rampage
and he still works closely
with Rocky Mountain.
Gee Atherton
Athertons racing style and
fearless attitude means he
can clear lines that would
turn many knees to jelly.
Dave Watson
The mastermind of Sombrio
clothing, Watson whipped up
a media frenzy when he
jumped the Tour peloton.
Andrew Shandro
Freeride ambassador
and a key player in
anything suspension
from Trek bikes.
Richey Schley
Along with Brett Tippie, Schley
started the backcountry
movement and was key in
the development of Whistler.
Chris Smith
Chris pioneered freeride in the
UK, even breaking his back
in the process. Hes still
pushing it today.
Brett Tippie
Tippie was sending 25ft
drops while most people
were still working out what
was free about freeride
Cam Zink
While Rampage 2012 was the
year of that crash, the
following year he landed a
ridiculous 78ft backflip.
Brandon Semenuk
Having picked up overall titles
on the FMB World Tour
Semenuk is now producing
incredible freeride footage.
Thomas Vanderham
Vanderham is known for his
super smooth motowhips
known as the Vanderwhip.
Josh Bender
The king of the clif drops. The
hucker pushed the limits early
on and really showed what
was possbile.
Darren Berrecloth
Bearclaw has been at the
top of the freeride game for
years and just seems to get
better and better.
THE BANDANNAS AND GIRO SWITCHBLADES
MAY BE GONE, BUT THE FREERIDE SCENE IS
NOW BIGGER THAN EVER
104 Icons of MTB | The Froriders
Right: The Rocky
Mountain ads that coined
the term freeriders and,
following the threat of
legal action, fro
I
n the mid-90s mountain biking was
dominated by XC and DH racing.
Three riders from Canada helped
change this stilted perception of the
sport and became the catalyst for a
radical new movement. With backgrounds
in skiing, snowboarding and BMX, these
men reintroduced expression, inclusiveness
and most all, fun, back into mountain bike
riding at a time when podium finishes were
all the industry cared about.
Brett Tippie and Richie Schley had been
friends since elementary school in the town
of Kamloops, British Columbia. Tippie went
on to become a pro snowboarder and raced
on the World Cup circuit for Team Canada,
while Schley became a pro skier and BMX
champ. Tippie later teamed up with snow
sports film maker and fellow powder hound
Christian Begin to ride snow and sand
boards in a couple of films during the early
90s. Schley was introduced to the movie
business when Tippie boasted to legendary
ski filmmaker, Greg Stump, that his friend
could pull a 360 on a mountain bike.
Christian Begin was duly despatched to
capture Schleys groundbreaking feat on
video. And so a film fellowship that would
help launch the freeride movement began.
1996 saw mountain biking become a
fully fledged mainstream sport when XC
racing made its debut as an Olympic event.
This was in stark contrast to the rebellious,
rowdy and downright dangerous riding
portrayed in the Specialized movie Pulp
Traction released in 1995. Shot by Begin and
featuring the riding of Schley, Tippie and
their Kamloops compatriot Craig Olson, it
showed the riders riding massively steep
descents on natural terrain outside their
hometown. This was followed by a second
film, Tao of Riding, during the Olympic year.
Another rider with a growing reputation
for radical riding, Wade Simmons, joined
Tippie and Schley for the first of the Kranked
films in 1997. This series would help put
their new style of off-road expression
firmly on the map. Like Schley, Simmons
also had a strong pedigree in BMX and also
hailed from Kamloops.
Radical riding
Tackling huge drops, hellishly steep
sections and natural transitions became the
hallmarks of Schley, Simmons and Tippie,
but just as important as their talent to ride
this ultra-challenging terrain was their
ability to do it with a grin on their faces. As
Schley said, they brought a fresh look, wild
style and a fun attitude that was about
expression, not winning, to the MTB
world. Tippie and Schley headed to the
Interbike trade show in Anaheim to
look for a sponsor and, with a little
help, persuaded Rocky Mountain
Bicycles to hire them and Simmons as
the worlds first freeride team.
Once the riders had been signed, Rocky
Mountain produced an advert hailing them
as the freeriders. However, Cannondale
had trademarked the term and threatened
legal action against the Canadian company
if they did not drop their use of the phrase.
By way of response, Rocky Mountain
produced a series of adverts in which the
three riders sported afro-wigs, reinventing
them as the Froriders. A new era had begun.
It seems Tippie was keener on the wigs than
the other two. In the end it was fun and
good, but at the time it seemed a bit cheesy,
concedes Schley.
Rocky Mountains support for the
Froriders, and their loose assignment to
ride in extreme situations while being shot
for stills or videotape, allowed them to
travel the world looking for ever more
insane riding locations. The freedom and
challenges of the freeride movement pulled
in ever more riders and in 2001 somewhat
at odds with the original idea being in part a
reaction against organised competition
the first Red Bull Rampage invitational was
staged in the Rocky Mountains, Utah.
Fittingly it was won by Wade Simmons.
Today, all three riders are still employed
in the mountain bike industry, Tippie and
Simmons still riding for Rocky Mountain.
The Froriders were inducted into the
Mountain Bike Hall of Fame in 2010.
Three insanely gifted riders who altered the face of mountain biking forever and, in so
doing, created a whole new movement freeride
FREERIDE PIONEERS
THE FRORIDERS
Writer: Richard Owen
Copyright: Rocky Mountain Bicycles
WE BROUGHT A FRESH
LOOK, WILD STYLE
AND FUN ATTITUDE
THAT WAS ABOUT
EXPRESSION
The Froriders | Icons of MTB 105
Above: Richie Schley tackling trails in Whistler and gracing the pages of MBUK in 2009
Left: Winner of the inaugral 2001 event Wade Simmons at Red Bull Rampage in 2004
Below: Brett Tippie negotiates the outside line across from Devils Peak, Kamloops, BC P
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Photography: Robert Rebholz
Photography: Brett Tippie
Rebels
with a
cause
The evolution of trials, street and dirt jumping
the illegitimate children of mountain biking
Writer and Photographer: Steve Behr
108 Trials, street & dirt jumping | The rebels
W
hile much of the history
of mountain biking is
well documented and a
few minor quibbles aside
pretty much agreed,
the waters around some of its offspring are
a little muddier. In the early days of
mountain biking, there was one type of
mountain bike: it had a classic diamond
frame, bars and knobbly tyres, and it was
used for whatever type of riding its owner
cared to do. It would go uphill, downhill,
along the flat, over obstacles and,
occasionally, (although not always
deliberately) up in the air.
At mountain bike events and
competitions in the mid to late 1980s it
wasnt unusual for there to be a hillclimb
competition, some sort of trials-oriented
mucking about, a bit of downhill and a
cross-country race, all of which you rode on
the same bike. As time went on and
mountain biking evolved, the bikes became
more specialist. Cross-country bikes were
lighter and set-up relatively more like road
bikes, while downhill bikes had more
relaxed angles, more suspension and were
heavier and more solidly built. And riders
tended to specialise in one or the other.
Meanwhile, there were people riding
20in wheeled BMX bikes in the woods over
dirt jumps and on the street, and others
riding 20in wheeled trials bikes over
obstacles, both natural and manmade. The
two disciplines were fairly well established
in their own right, and mountain bikers had
dabbled with both during the one bike for
everything period, but those old mountain
bikes were particularly unsuited to jumping
large gaps between steep dirt jumps, riding
up walls or hopping over big obstacles on
one wheel.
Need for steeds
As more and more kids started to get into
mountain biking, the need to have bikes
that worked for things they could do in their
backyards or in the street outside their
house, or in the local woods, became more
pressing and bikes started to evolve to cater
for that need. Young kids couldnt always go
for long cross-country rides or drive to a
suitable location for downhilling on their
own, especially when they lived in a more
urban environment. When they came home
from school they needed something they
could do on their own, or with their mates
locally, and what used to be collectively
know as tricks and stunts filled this
requirement perfectly.
You didnt need a 10-mile singletrack
loop or a mountain to muck about on your
bike. All you needed was a bit of flat land, a
few obstacles, or a local woodland with
some jumps and you could session one
small area for hours without getting bored.
As this need became more apparent, the
bikes began to evolve to take care of it.
Taking cues and borrowing from both BMX
and trials, shorter, smaller, stronger frames
and suitable components started to find
their way into the market and were snapped
up by these new-style riders in the mid to
late 90s.
The rise of trials
Bicycle trials developed in Europe in the
1970s and 80s from motorcycle trials as a
training method for younger kids to get
used to riding over obstacles on two wheels
without an engine before graduating to a
motorcycle. Of course, it soon became a
sport in its own right and competitions
took place worldwide, mostly on the 20in
wheeled trials bikes made by the likes of
Monty in Spain. As mountain biking
became more popular in the 1980s,
trials-style riding became more popular
on the standard 26in wheeled mountain
bike, and developed to the point where
YOU DIDNT NEED A
10-MILE SINGLETRACK
LOOP OR A MOUNTAIN
TO MUCK ABOUT ON
YOUR BIKE
The rebels | Trials, street & dirt jumping 109
Left: Trials pioneer Hans Rey riding a GT Zaskar at the Bicyclexpo,
Alexandra Palace, early 90s
Below: Rob Warner was an out and out racer but still rode trials events
Bottom: Martin Hawyes and Hans Rey in Newport, California, 1997
established 20in trials riders started to ride
mountain bikes too.
In mountain bike history terms, probably
the pivotal moment was mountain bike
trials legend Hans Rey moving to the USA
from Switzerland and getting involved with
mountain biking. He certainly helped to
raise the image of mountain bike trials
worldwide by getting media coverage,
doing demos and releasing videos of his
exploits. GT bicycles sponsored him when
he first arrived in the US in the late 1980s,
and is still his bike sponsor today,
developing both mountain bikes and trials
bikes for him. Reys media career took off
after he staged a photo shoot riding over the
roof of a car on the freeway near LA in
jammed traffic. That brought him masses of
coverage, and his demo, video and film/TV
career blossomed through the 1990s and
beyond. In more recent years hes
Opposite: Martyn Ashton gets some airtime in Mojacar, Spain, 1997
Above : Martin Hawyes makes short work of some rocks
become better known for adventure riding
rather than pure trials riding, but he
spawned a generation of trials and demo
riders. Pre-YouTube and Danny MacAskill,
Rey was probably the best known mountain
biker ever.
In the UK, trials-style mountain biking
came from a couple of different directions.
There was a Biketrials competition circuit
based on the Spanish model started by
Pedro Pi, whose son Ot Pi won several
World Championships. As this was
growing through the 1980s, there was a less
formal MTB trials scene developing. Geoff
Apps, an early off-road bicycle pioneer in
the UK, had come from a motorcycle trials
background and started developing bicycles
for off-road use that were designed to ride in
a trials fashion slowly, through mud and
over obstacles. They had high bottom
brackets for clearing obstacles and a short
upright riding position.
Although the modern mountain bike
didnt follow that path, there was an
influence on the competition scene and
early gatherings included some trials
events. In the late 1980s mountain bike
magazines emerged and included a focus
on riders who did trials type riding, be it
natural or street. Jamie Tatlow, Jez Avery
and Scott Dommett were featured in the
magazines and competed in the trials
competitions at MTB events, while even out
and out racers such as Jamie Carr, Dave
Hemming and Rob Warner set bunnyhop
records and rode trials events. These were
separate to the events being run by the 20in
wheel-based Biketrials crew, but the two
finally crossed paths in the early 1990s at a
national mountain bike event in Surrey.
The Martins
Two riders turned up on borrowed
mountain bikes and blew away the regular
competition. Martyn Ashton and Martin
Hawyes lived locally and usually rode 20in
bikes and trials motorcylces. They were
clearly so much better than the usual
mountain bike trials riders that it was
obvious a new era had begun in UK
mountain bike trials. They soon began to
feature heavily in MBUK magazine and the
two cultures merged. Through the 90s
mountain bikes were evolving and
becoming more specialist, and mountain
bikes for trials were no exception. Smaller,
shorter, steeper-angled frames with specific
gearing or singlespeed, Magura brakes and
tiny seats became the norm.
Chris Akrigg came from a 20in
background and made his own niche in
mountain biking alongside Ashton and
Hawyes (known collectively as The
Martins ) and then into the early 2000s
others, influenced by those riders, learned
on mountain bikes and developed their
own styles Danny Holroyd and his Trials
Kings collective from Sheffield were a good
example of this. They emerged before the
modern YouTube era and released their
exploits on video ahead of their time in
the sense that they wouldve had a much
bigger audience doing the same thing today.
The 26in class became well entrenched in
both the UCI and international Biketrials
trials competitions through the 90s and
early 2000s, and many great riders were
emerging internationally to have an
influence in the mountain biking arena.
Petr Krauss, Libor Karas, Ryan Leech,
Marc Vinco, Kenny Belaey, Ben Savage
and Jeff Lenosky are some of the notables
who made an impact. By the early 2000s,
trials mountain bikes had become
unrecognisable from the early mountain
bikes. Tiny frames and an almost complete
absence of seats had a lot to do with this.
IN THE UK, TRIALS-
STYLE MOUNTAIN
BIKING CAME FROM A
COUPLE OF DIFFERENT
DIRECTIONS
Left: Scottish trials sensation Danny MacAskill
performs a back flip off a sculpture in San Diego
Below: Martyn Ashton jumps between concrete
blocks in Fuengirola, Spain, late 1990s
Bottom: Jason McRoy during a bunny hop competition
at the 1995 Bike Show, Olympia, London
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Martyn Ashton designed his own bike
range featuring a seat that owed more to a
trials motorcycle in looks than a mountain
bike, and soon many trials bikes left off the
seats altogether.
More recently the Danny MacAskill
phenomenon brought bike trials to the
publics attention when he released his first
video on YouTube in 2009. Titled Inspired
Bicycles (the name of his bicycle sponsor) it
went viral and to date has had over 30
million views. His subsequent releases have
been popular too, and his Red Bull
sponsorship deal allowed him to put a big
budget shoot together for his most recent
video, Imaginate, which pushes the envelope
even further.
Martyn Ashton took things up a notch
with his Road Bike Party videos, performing a
series of trials moves on an expensive
carbon Pinarello road bike the same bike
that Sir Bradley Wiggins road to 2012 Tour
de France victory on that defy belief.
Jump for joy
Dirt jumping originated from a mix of BMX
and motocross. It started with riders
jumping simple doubles on race tracks that
were built for speed, and progressed to
riders getting maximum air on steep take-
offs, and performing all manner of tricks
before landing. Many of the early exponents
of jumping on a mountain bike had their
roots in BMX. Riders such as Brian Lopes
and Dave Cullinan, two stylish Californians
from Orange County who made the
transition to downhill mountain biking,
were early standouts at dirt jumping on
mountain bikes. They werent out of place
at seminal BMX jump locations such as
Sheep Hills near Huntingdon Beach. As
downhill racing evolved as a separate
discipline, jumps were increasingly
included in downhill courses, so it became
necessary for racers to practise jumping it
didnt hurt that it was also a fun thing to do .
As their downhill bikes became heavier
with longer wheelbases and more
suspension, they turned to smaller
hardtails, which were more akin to the BMX
bikes many of them started out on.
Some racers were better at racing than
jumping, so they treated jumps as
something that was fun to practise to
improve their racing. Others were more
successful at tricks, more stylish, or got
more enjoyment out of jumping than
racing, so started to concentrate more on
airtime. And it was a crowd pleaser. At a
race, if a rider was going to place way down
the rankings but could perform an
THE DANNY MACASKILL
PHENOMENON
BROUGHT BIKE
TRIALS TO THE
PUBLICS ATTENTION
Modern trials bike
Jack Meeks Koxx Karbon bike with carbon top tube
Early 1990s standard MTB
Specialized Stumpjumper
DIRT
DEVOLUTION
Early 2000s trials bike
Orange Zero
Mid 1990s trials bike
Martyn Ashtons Championship winning Cannondale
Modern jump bike
Giant STP
Early 2000s dirt jump bike
Identiti jump/slalom MTB
Late 1990s dirt jump bike
Planet X jump/slalom MTB
With no seat, fewer gears and a smaller frame the
modern trick bike has come a long way from its
more multi-functional forefather
freerider John Cowan who concentrated
specifically on the dirt jump side and is
regarded as one of the pioneers of modern
dirt jumping. He and a very young Kyle
Strait dominated one of the first
international MTB dirt jump competitions
held at the annual Sea Otter event in
California. Cowan also held his own
influential backyard jam competition in
San Diego for several years attended by all
the top dirt jumpers, and built amazing
jumps as well as coming up with new moves
and promoting the cause of dirt jumping.
Another pocket of Californian MTB dirt
jumping emerged further north around
Santa Cruz, with the Aptos crew including
the McCaul brothers Cam and Tyler, and
Greg Watts plus Santa Cruz local Jamie
Goldman. Paul Basagoitia and Cam Zink
from Nevada were also influential as the
overlap between the emerging freeride
type of riding in the late 1990s and early
2000s and dirt jumping grew. Many top
riders did both, and this led to the birth of
slopestyle competitions. Full suspension
freeride bikes were bigger and burlier than
the small dirt jump hardtails, so it wasnt
long before the slopestyle bike was born:
shorter travel, smaller framed with full
impressive trick over a big double, they
could get noticed. In the UK, pioneering top
downhillers Dave Hemming and Jason
McRoy were decent jumpers but were
known for winning races. Trick oriented
riders such as Paul Hudson and Jez Avery
spent more time in the air and got noticed
that way. The seminal mountain bike video
Dirt featured a segment with Avery all
kitted out, hitting some jumps that were
at the time considered big. Today they
wouldnt even register as anything special.
Roll of honour
The next lot to come through were pretty
damn good. Steve Peat and his protgs Neil
Donoghue and Marc Beaumont started
riding more and bigger jumps, and it wasnt
long before Team MBUK was based around
a coterie of riders who were more than just
alright at jumping. If they didnt perform
at the races, they would look great in
magazine features and provide crowd
entertainment at events such as the annual
Bike Show. Through the late 1990s and early
2000s, they were part of the mountain
biking mainstream. Led by top racer Will
Longden, riders Jamie Tomkins, Andrew
Parks, Dave Wardell and many others were
regulars on Team MBUK and at the shows.
Steve Geall is probably the most
influential old-school MTB dirt jumper in
the UK. Switching from BMX in the early
90s and riding for Team Animal, he was a
successful downhiller and an exceptional
dirt jumper. Incredibly stylish, with a good
selection of tricks, a lot of young riders
looked up to him and tried to emulate his
style. Chris Smith and Grant Chopper
Fielder were two of his protgs who went
on to make a big impression in the first
decade of the new millennium. They went
head to head when dirt jump competitions
were well attended and well covered by
magazines, and Chopper went on to do well
in international competitions.
In the US, although downhillers like
Brian Lopes, Kirt Voreis and Eric Carter
were known as good dirt jumpers, it was
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JOHN COWAN IS
REGARDED AS
ONE OF THE PIONEERS
OF MODERN
DIRT JUMPING
The rebels | Trials, street & dirt jumping 115
Above: Paul Basagoitia on his way to winning Crankworxs inaugural slopestyle event in 2004
Top left: Team Animal rider Steve Geall doing the can-can off a jump at the Malvern Hills Classic in 1997
Top right: Danny Holroyd pulls an endo in the sun, Spain, 2005
Right: Sam Pilgrim in a spin at Bibis ranch in Lyon
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suspension, which was suited to the bigger
jumps, drops and gaps found in the new
style of comps. In Europe, Timo Pritzel was
one of the top dirt jumpers for many years.
Timo excelled in both traditional dirt jumps
and the newer obstacle-based events.
The Crankworx slopestyle event at
Whistler in Canada is probably the best
example of this type of event and shows the
way pure dirt jumping has evolved to take
in larger jumps and features, as well as
bigger, more complicated tricks. Frontflips,
double backflips and flip-whips all feature
in the newer events, manoeuvres that
wouldve been unthinkable in the early
days. The first Crankworx was in 2004, won
by Paul Basagoitia. The event pretty much
merged the freeride and dirt jump styles of
riding, favouring riders who could do dirt
jump-style tricks while riding freeride-style
drops and gaps. Red Bull Rampage is
another major event that takes elements of
both, but with its massive natural cliffs
favours the freeriders over the dirt jumpers.
Word on the street
Street is an amalgamation of trials and dirt
jumping practitioners of both were adept
at street riding, and it was something to do
when you didnt have access to dirt jumps or
natural trials locations. It encompasses
everything from simple flatland to massive
drops off buildings, and can be done at
many levels on many different bikes. A lot
came from BMX jumping down stairs,
over handrails and doing blunts onto
obstacles was popular in the 1990s and
translated well to mountain bikes. There
were some riders such as Alex Morris and
Fletcher Gillett who specialised in street,
rather than being primarily trials riders or
dirt jumpers who also rode street. They
would perfect more flatland-style tricks
no-handed wheelies, Switzerland squeakers
and the like were de rigueur. During the
foot and mouth crisis that hit the UK in
2001 many MTB trails and dirt jumps were
closed off, so a fair number of riders turned
to street riding to get their MTB fixes.
Where are we now?
As trials, dirt jumping and street riding
boomed in the late 1990s, their evolution in
MTB terms took each into the limelight and
back out again. Pure trials riding is still a
niche activity, and the bikes are further
removed from your average MTB than they
ever were. While Ashton and MacAskill ride
bikes that look like MTBs and have a huge
following, and trials demos are popular at
county fairs, sports events and bike trade
shows, proper trials competitions are
attended by a small audiences of hardcore
fans, as they were in the early days.
Likewise pure dirt jump competitions.
The amalgamation of dirt jumping and
freeride is complete and in the big
international comps British riders such as
Sam Pilgrim and Sam Reynolds compete at
the top in front of big crowds for big prizes,
while back in their local woods a handful of
hardcore dirt jumpers compete with each
other for not much more than spare tyres.
And street riding? Not as popular as it
once was CCTV has made it harder for
riders to find riding spots that dont attract
the attention of a jobsworth in uniform, and
with the advent of trail centres more young
riders are out riding singletrack than before.
Probably each discipline is back where it
feels comfortable, hidden in a quarry or a bit
of woods or some wasteland, with riders on
odd-looking bikes that are suited to the
task. A fair bit like MTB used to before it
became mainstream a hardcore bunch of
reprobates ploughing their own furrows.
CRANKWORX SHOWS
THE WAY PURE DIRT
JUMPING HAS EVOLVED
TO TAKE IN LARGER
JUMPS AND FEATURES
116 Icon of MTB | Jacquie Phelan
Left: A young Phelan
Right: Phelan still
rides regularly
L
ooked at from up here atop Mt
Thinksshesogreat, my life has
been a series of calculated
retreats, with many
opportunities to foment my
feminist velosofy. Forced and failing to
learn cycling in fourth grade on my moms
bike, I took refuge in the neighbour kids
perfectly suited 24in wheeler. I promised
God not to be a pest if I could learn this one
thing. I got my wish in about five minutes.
The early 70s was a crux moment in
geopolitical history. My high school history
teacher, Mr Vadetsky, who was probably
channelling Ivan Illich, stressed to a class of
LA suburban mall rats that automobile
deaths totalled about 40,000 per year
more than the entire Vietnam war up to that
point. He drew a pie chart to show how
much of our adult time wed spend to own a
car and a home. The pie was two-thirds
used up. I planned to sleep eight hours a day
(a budding Jungian, I wrote down lots of
dreams.) So Mr V, I said, wheres the free
time? Cue cricket chirps. Bicycles, I quickly
realised, are a brilliant work-around a way
to take back some of the pie.
I fled LA to a Vermont college and, after
graduation, I moved to San Francisco sans
career plan. Buying a car made no sense
you have to house it as well as yourself. A
very old, nearly never ridden Raleigh Sprite
dropped into my lap, and soon I was out
riding with prospective boyfriends as I
sought Mr Right.
Inspired by Chariots of Fire and Breaking
Away, I longed to race the 1984 LA Olympic
Games. Women were permitted to compete
on road bikes, having waited 84 years. As
strong as the worlds best, but clueless about
bike handling, I was voted off the island
but was embraced by enthusiastic klunker
men up north in Marin.
I moved in with a difficult man who
co-founded MountainBikes. He was also
my coach and mentor, until I wisely shifted
gears to weld myself to inventor and frame
builder Charlie Cunningham who had fixed
my skinny-tyre Raleighs dangling toe-clip
one epic Thanksgiving Day. Ever since
Repack and the Appetite Seminar drew
riders together, Marin County officialdom
banned bikes from trails, so the worlds
smallest dating pool sorry, worlds
smallest sport began meeting weekly to
establish some self-regulation. NORBA (the
National Off-Road Bicycle Association) was
conceived, but then sold within the year. It
quickly developed a different emphasis,
losing the advocacy mission, necessitating
IMBAs (International Mountain Bicycling
Association) foundation in 1988.
On a mission
Racing was more like what the party-esque
singlespeed scene is like these days.
Mountain bike racing has become a
corporate platform for selling cars, gas, and
god knows what junk food, but back then
sponsors didnt quite exist because it was a
tiny little clique of mostly men.
For six years I beat all the women and 90
per cent of the men on my cutting edge alu
Cunningham, with its nonconforming drop
bars, double chainring, and unreal custom-
fabd gearing (44-34 front, 11-34 back).
Since I rode a custom machine (for most
of my career it was the same frame, Otto) I
wasnt going to seek corporate sponsorship.
I had to come up with creative income
streams. There werent camps, there werent
swaps, so I brought them into being.
Womens Mountain Bike & Tea Society
(WOMBATS) arose when I handed out little
cards saying Sunday ride, tea following. I
really wanted some women to play with.
Anyone aware of the millennia-old story of
womens exploitation will agree sports was
(and still is) one of the places women are
considered (if at all) second-class players.
Together with Casey Kelly and Ramona
DViola, we gathered the first womens
weekend in 1984, a 14-woman, mother-
daughter camp-out. To put it in perspective,
the Nationals five months earlier had only
three women on the start line. There were
six in 1984 and 12 in 1986. It would be years
before it was routine to see a dozen women
together off-road, with WOMBATS having
broken up the boys club. Speaking of
which, I got myself invited to a gimmicky
event in Wales called Man versus Horse by
telling the promoter Gordon Greene that I
was neither, and deserved a shot. Together
with Otto I surprised the mens fat tyre
peloton with a handy win and a record that
lasted years.
The WOMBATS camp earnings fuelled
my second wind the four years between
1990 and 94 that I raced on the US National
Mtn Bike Team. I didnt seek bike company
support Charlies bike was the best made,
with cutting edge technology an stuff.
The St Packrats Day Swap started in
1982, a clever way to sell off the outdated
equipment, dusty shelf stock prizes I
invariably was stuck with as the reigning
womens champ and raise some cash for my
racing. I rented a hall and did promo for a
dozen years. I handed over the headache of
running it to Marilyn Price (who founded
cycling charity organisation Trips For Kids).
Life today
Charlie and I ride together a few times a
month. When Im typing, hes grinding,
welding, perfecting. Im imperfecting my
prose with our local fishwrap the Pacific Sun.
We live a bit like 1900 House. To us, cars
are just fancy-brand wheelchairs. All the
time we saved, all the money we didnt
spend permitted us to have a home and our
own invented jobs that didnt exist when we
were in college.
Im fully aware that by being the person
writing this, it will be seen as pure bombast,
but thats simply because us womenfolk
dont get to describe our accomplishments
without in some way denigrating them,
which I cannot do. The next generation of
women deserves to see self-regard in an
athletic heroine.
Feminist, bike advocate and three-times NORBA champion Phelan explains how she
became a trailblazer for womens mountain biking
WOMENS TRAILBLAZER
JACQUIE PHELAN
Writer: Jacquie Phelan Photography: Jacquie Phelan/Steve Behr/Stockfile
FOR SIX YEARS I BEAT
ALL THE WOMEN AND
90 PER CENT OF THE
MEN ON MY CUTTING
EDGE CUNNINGHAM
T
he term enduro gets bounded
around a lot in the world of
mountain biking these days,
but what is it and why is it so
popular? In reality, riding
enduro is more or less just hitting the trail,
riding up the hills before ripping back down
them and it can be done on just about any
bike thatll manage it.
To many, enduro is mountain biking
in its purest form. Its, in essence at least,
trail riding, with as many ups as there are
downs. However, theres more to it than
that with the huge up-and-coming race
scene, spawning some of the best trail
or enduro specific bikes the sports
ever seen.
Enduro is the heart of mountain biking,
says Fred Glo, founder of the first official
enduro race in Val dAllos, France back in
2003. Fred continues, Its the perfect
balance between technical and physical
ability. And one bike to do it all on. The
race format is much like that used in car
rallying. Riders compete on timed special
stages, with transfer stages in between.
These transfer stages arent against the
clock as such, but do have a time window
in which riders must reach the next
special stage. All special stage times are
then added up, with the quickest overall
time winning. Just as in rally though,
penalties can be awarded to those missing
special stage start times, which will go
towards overall times, meaning a good
level of fitness is essential.
The majority of enduro races use
predominately downhill orientated
special stages while most transfer stages
see the riders climbing back up the hill or
mountain. Unlike downhill and cross-
country racing though, practice is either
strictly limited (sometimes to just one run
on each stage) or riders have to compete
completely blind.
There are, of course, some exceptions
to this format that would still be termed
as an enduro event. Races such as the Mega
Avalanche, on the formidable slopes of Alpe
dHuez, sees 500 riders start on-mass
Writer Rob Weaver
It takes the lungs of a cross-country
champion and the nerves of a downhill
dare devil to master the sport of enduro,
which many consider the purest of all
the mountain bike disciplines
The evolution
of enduro
beginning
In the
Enduro | Evolution 119
BRANDS THAT COUNT
Specialized
When Specialized introduced
the Enduro SX, it helped to
begin the process of
unlocking the true potential of
mountain bikes and that one
bike to do it all on.
Cannondale
Cannondale likes to innovate
and its foray into the world of
adjustable travel has clearly
been a success with the Jekyll.
Its partnership with Fox Shox
to create the Dyad RT2 rear
shock is an impressive fete
of engineering.
Fox
Suspension is critical in enduro
racing and Fox has always
pushed performance
capabilities to the limit. Its
work on forks and rear shocks
is part of the reason bikes are
as good as they are.
SRAM/RockShox
We have these guys to thank
for the smoothest, most
refined height adjustable seat
post as well as their work on
the E.i (Electronic intelligence)
suspension system. Their
latest Pike fork is also one of
the best on the market.
Giant
The likes of Giants early AC
and VT bikes were some of
what wed first consider to
be enduro bikes. It followed up
with the Reign and Trance,
which are still massively
successful to this day.
Opposite: Jerome Clementz riding in the 2007 Enduro World Series round 6 at Val dIsere, France
Top: Competitors in the Megavalanche downhill mountain bike marathon in Alpe dHuez, France
Above: Tracy Moseley has shown what it takes to adapt from her roots in DH to be successful in enduro
Photography: Steve Behr
Photography: Dan Milner
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2003 First enduro race takes

place in Val dAllos, France. This
is the first in a series of races
thats still going and all courtesy
of one man, Fre d Glo. This race
is now incorporated into the
Enduro World Series calendar.
2004 Giants VT full sus bike
is sold as a bike that descends
like a freeride/downhill style bike, but with
suspension that allows you to climb
comfortably. Its this ethos in bike design thats
carried through to todays enduro-style bikes.
Fox introduces a shock with a pedal
platform to make for more efficient, energy
saving pedalling. Combining this more
efficient pedal platform with its travel
adjustable TALAS equipped fork (introduced
in 2003) meant bikes soon become far more
capable at climbing.
2005 Specialized re-works its Enduro frame,
making it more versatile
but bumping the travel up
to 150mm (5.9in).
2007 French brand
Lapierre launches two new
MTBs, utilising the OST
TIMELINE
Top left: Negotiating a twisted forest trail. Enduro races feature all kinds of terrain
Above: Riders competing in the 2012 Gravity Enduro race at Innerleithen Forest
120 Evolution | Enduro
and race across a glacier before winding
their way down to the valley floor.
A decade of development
Its this massive diversity in trail and terrain
that puts such heavy demands on the bikes
and the designers behind them. Not only do
you want a bike thats light and efficient
enough to be pedalled uphill with the
minimal effort, when pointed down, it
needs to be capable of slamming through
rock fields and launched off jumps at break
neck speeds.
The likes of Giants AC and VT, Konas
Dawg and early versions of Commencals
Meta full suspension bikes were already
showcasing some of the versatility
required, but for many, it was bikes such as
Specializeds Enduro that really paved the
way. In 2005, the Enduro was sporting the
now pretty much obligatory 150mm (5.9in)
of rear wheel travel, a burly 150mm travel
fork with 20mm bolt through axle and
adjustable travel, as well geometry relaxed
enough to let you tackle some pretty
serious descents.
The appeal of these versatile, do-it-all
machines soon caught on and their
popularity began to grow. Why buy two
very specialist bikes one for cross-
country, one for downhill when one bike
will cover both disciplines better than most
people could imagine? It wasnt long before
we started to see significant improvements
in suspension damping, frame and wheel
materials and the brake and transmission
technology. Next came a change in wheel
size. Engineers were soon able to sculpt
stiff, well proportioned frames around
bigger 650b and 29in wheels, with little
compromise in the way of weight or
suspension action, but with the added
benefit of improved roll-over effect thanks
to the bigger wheels.
Even with the bikes progressing at
this speed, the race scene itself was
BIKE PROGRESSION
The bikes used today have come a long way
in the last 10-12 years. What started out as a
weighty full suspension mountain bike with
conservative, more cross-country orientated
geometry and around 125mm (4.9in) of
suspension travel, has soon morphed into a
far more capable bike, thats lightning quick
down the hills but scary fast up them. The
weight has dropped, travel increased with
geometry that wouldve been considered
radical even in downhill 10 years ago.
Slowly, as enduro courses became more
demanding, bikes were required to be
more stable at high speeds and handle
more like a downhill bike but without the
weight penalty. Head angles became slacker,
wheel bases longer and bottom brackets
lower, while suspension travel slowly crept
up until it peaked around the 150/160mm
(5.9/6.3in) mark.
Soon enough, many manufacturers
began to produce key bikes in carbon fibre,
helping to deliver a stifer, lighter, more
responsive ride.
To bring more fluidity to the riders
experience, height adjustable seatposts have
now taken the industry by storm and have
become a must on any enduro-style bike.
A change in wheel size was the next big
hurdle for engineers to overcome. Where
many thought 29in wheels wouldnt work on
longer travel suspension bikes, theyre slowly
becoming more popular and proving many
sceptics wrong. But its the 650b wheel size
that seems to have really stuck with most
enduro riders and racers.
Now these 650b and 29in wheeled
machines are sporting incredibly well
damped suspension and can be ridden on
just about the most challenges trails the
world has to ofer. Ultimately, their
compromises have been limited.
Photography: Russell Burton/MBUK
Photography: Matt Wragg/ Enduro Mountain Bike Assoc
platform. The bikes in question are the Zesty
and Spicy, both of which are still two of the
most popular bikes within enduro today.
2011 Cannondale launches its Jekyll which,
similar in principle to the Genius from Scott,
enables the rider to toggle between different
rear wheel travel settings at the flick of a
switch, made possible thanks to the fully
customised rear shock.
2012 Suspension becomes even more race
efficient thanks to the introduction of
RockShox E.i (Electronic intelligence)
technology as used on Lapierre, Haibike and
Ghosts bikes. This system uses sensors on the
fork and at the bottom bracket to adjust the low
speed compression settings appropriate to the
terrain, optimising the rear suspension to
maximise rider efficiency.
2013 SRAM
launches XX1, its 1x11
speed gearing.
The Enduro World
Series kicks off. After
seven successful rounds, Jerome Clementz and
Tracy Moseley are crowned champions.
2014 The wheel size debate rages on. Which
is quickest? 26in, 650b or 29in.
Above: Fabien Barel competing in the 2012 Trans
Provence, a six-day enduro stage race
Enduro | Evolution 121
WHAT MAKES
THE ULTIMATE
ENDURO MACHINE?
It has to be able to do just about
everything with limited compromise
Suspension
This needs to be smooth and controlled
to maintain traction on loose terrain, but
still handle the big hits at speed with
ultimate composure. It also needs to
be very pedal eficient to ensure the
riders energy is maximised.
Geometry
The bike needs to be stable at high speeds
and corner like a demon without being
sluggish at slower speeds in more technical
terrain. It also needs to be comfortable to
climb on. Most head angles are around
66 degrees, with 73 degree seat angles
and the front centre (bottom bracket to
front axle) measurement slowly increasing
over the years while chainstays remain
reasonably short.
Reliability
Riding for six hours on unforgiving big
mountain terrain takes its toll on the bikes.
Bikes and components need to last the entire
race. Wheels need to be light but strong,
while tyres need to be grippy and robust and
stave of punctures. Suspension needs to be
consistent in performance and dependable.
RIDERS WHO COUNT
Jerome Clementz
Considered by many to be
the most complete enduro
rider and racer. Hes the
current Enduro World
Series champion.
Rene Wildhaber
Been involved in enduro
from the early days and has
won the formidable Mega
Avalanche in Alpe dHuez a
staggering six times.
Tracy Moseley
Dominated the womens
category during the first
year of the Enduro World
Series, winning a staggering
five of the seven races.
Jared Graves
Hes competed in BMX at
the Olympics and has a 4X
World Champs to his name.
Hes now one of the best
enduro racers in the world.
Nico Vouilloz
When Vouilloz switched
to enduro, the level went
up. The 10 times World
DH Champion is the
ultimate perfectionist.
Mark Weir
Its fair to say Weir is an
enduro icon. Hes the tough
guy of MTB and has been
pushing the sport of enduro
in the US for many years.
something of a slow burner. Although
popular in mainland Europe thanks to
the well established French Enduro
Series, Italian Super Enduro Series
and Mega Avalanche, the rest of the
world was slow to embrace this well-
rounded discipline.
The here and now
There was no doubt in the popularity of
the bikes, with sales increasing and the
industry as a whole getting behind the
momentum of enduro riding and racing.
Theres now a race series in the UK, Ireland,
Australia, Germany, Canada and the USA
along with many others. So it was with little
surprise that the Enduro World Series was
finally realised in 2013. Seven global
locations were chosen, each offering unique
but equally challenging terrain that would
really test the riders ability and the bikes
capabilities. And what a draw this level of
competition seems to be. Were seeing
former professional downhill world
champions such as Fabien Barel, Tracy
Moseley and Nico Vouilloz competing
alongside 4X World Champion Jared Graves
and true enduro legends such as Jerome
Clementz and Remy Absalon all getting up
in the mix each and every week.
When it comes to the bikes, things are
still evolving rapidly with a vast choice in
suspension travel, frame material but
starting ultimately with wheel size. Are
29ers really faster? Jerome Clementz might
beg to differ, having won the 2013 Enduro
World Series on 26in hoops, while Tracy
Moseley wrapped up the womens title
aboard a 29er, so who really knows for sure?
Carbon frames, carbon wheels, height
adjustable seatposts, superb suspension,
progressive geometry and a wider range of
gearing all add up to a bike that can be
ridden up almost anything and raced down
at ridiculous speeds. These new breed of
enduro bikes could well be the ultimate
off road machines.
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Photography: Sven Martin
122 Icons of MTB | John Tomac
I
ve even got his mobile number!
enthused Brant Richards from
Planet X when I requested a
contact for John Tomac. Richards,
co-founder of On-One, has
become a significant figure in the bike
industry, designing and selling bikes, and is
now, as part of Planet X, working with the
man himself on the new Tomac range.
Richards may have a reputation for being
wary, worldly wise and just a little cynical,
but as soon as you mention Tomac hes a kid
again. Thats because he and the rest of the
crew on MBUK (which he worked on back
in the day) became obsessed with mountain
biking in the late 80s and early 90s when
Tomac was a god.
At a time when mountain biking was
growing into a glittering new international
sport, Tomac was its champion and the sort
of icon a young sport needs when its being
held up to derision by its rivals and one
who could see off almost everyone in any
discipline of cycling.
Unstoppable talent
JT was born in Michigan in 1963 and started
racing BMX as a kid, winning the National
Cruiser Class in 1984 and then going
professional with Mongoose, a company
that also made mountain bikes.
I was riding mountain bikes for fun, he
says. I didnt have much ambition at first.
It got more serious when he moved to
California in 1986 and started riding road
bikes to supplement his mountain bike
training. He did some road events, became
national criterium champ, and started
taking mountain bike podiums too in both
cross-country (XC) and downhill (DH), as
well as becoming NORBA dual slalom
champion in 1988. I started to believe the
skys the limit, Tomac says, and that I
could do anything I set my sights on.
He wasnt far wrong. By 1990 he was
overall US Mountain Bike Champion while
riding internationally on the road for the
7-Eleven Team (which became Motorola).
He was taking part in 100 races a year in
different disciplines and it just seemed to
make him better and better.
Then he quit the road and it all became
absolutely and magnificently ridiculous. In
1991 JT was MTB World Cup Champion
while taking the World Championship gold
in cross-country and the silver in downhill.
He was immediately inducted into the
Mountain Bike Hall of Fame, and is
renowned for having won more mountain
bike races than anyone in the sport at all
levels and in all disciplines: XC, hill climb,
DH, dual slalom and even trials.
It was a time when mountain bike events
insisted riders rode all the disciplines, often
on the same bike, so it couldnt possibly be
done today, but the sheer physical talent of
Farmer John would surely tell in any era.
Just imagine Bradley Wiggins winning the
World Champs, the Giro, the World Cup
downhill series and a couple of marathon
XCs in the same year, and you are close to
the reality of what Tomac achieved.
Everyone willed him to do the double the
next year, but 1991 was his peak. In 93 he
was second to Beneke in the downhill and
lost out to Frischknecht in the XC World
Cup, despite winning two events. He raced
on, loving it, grabbing second in the World
Champs downhill in 97, indeed even after
he retired in 2000 he came back aged 37 to
win the Kamikaze downhill.
Farmer John
JT wasnt nicknamed Farmer John for
nothing. A practising Lutheran and a
country boy at heart, he moved to Colorado
where he runs a working farm and helps
with the training of the likes of Aaron Gwin
and, of course, one Eli Tomac, his son, who
is a pro motocross rider.
The one thing that hasnt gone so
impossibly well is the Tomac bike range,
which he set up with another legend, Doug
Bradbury, the founder of Manitou. Since
then JT has licensed his iconic name and
know-how a couple of times, before settling
for Planet X in 2013.
The great all-discipline mountain bike champion was an icon of the sport as well as a
professional roadie in his spare time
RACING GOD
JOHN TOMAC
Writer: Tym Manley Photography: Steve Behr/Stockfile
HE WON MORE
MOUNTAIN BIKE RACES
THAN ANYONE IN THE
SPORT AT ALL LEVELS
AND IN ALL DISCIPLINES
Far left: Farmer John on
his ranch in Colorado
Left: Racing XC at the
World Cup in Plymouth in
his 90s heyday
Below: Tomac at the
1994 World Champs
downhill in Colorado
124 Another level | Booming 90s
nineties
The
booming
Booming 90s | Another level 125
Mountain biking as we know it may have
started during the eighties, but the nineties
was when it really took shape
L
ong before the logic of building smooth
transitions to land in, there were the
years of flying out of bomb holes and
landing on the flat. I can still feel that
shock hammering through my wrists
and ankles now, and though it hurt every time, wed
keep on going until we buckled a wheel or were so
tired we could barely turn the pedals round.
My friends and I were lucky enough to have some
great woodland just metres from our childhood
homes, and we rode our 24in wheel, steel-rimmed
Peugeot mountain bikes there for years, totally
unaware of what else was going on.
It was when a friend of my father introduced me
to a magazine called Mountain Biking UK that the
penny dropped. And being 1989, I was getting
involved as this brand new sport really started
kicking off
The early years
Its not often that you get to see something start
from the beginning, but growing up in the 90s
alongside mountain biking was so exciting. In an
era when extreme sports were popping up and
attracting media attention, mountain biking
appeared on my radar, and it was clear it could go
somewhere, because the bikes themselves were so
versatile and could borrow influence from so
many other areas.
Working part time in a bike shop in the early 90s,
I would absorb every possible bit of MTB-related
information, be that on the pages of MBUK
magazine, through manufacturers catalogues or by
bending the ears of the sales reps showing us
samples. Back then they were a good source because
theyd deal direct with the US and Europe finding
out stuff we can access online these days.
By Christmas 91 I had my first proper mountain
bike a Muddy Fox Courier Mega with Shimano
Exage 400LX drivetrain. I loved it more than
anything, would be out riding rain or shine and
would be away most weekends through the summer
at races around the country.
It was an exciting time as it was new for everyone,
and quickly grew a tribe-like feel. Anyone on a
mountain bike could be called a friend and, because
of this brotherhood, events such as the Malvern
Hills Classic quickly adopted a festival feel and
became annual meets for huge new groups of
friends. Like the American events, they would have
multiple disciplines, and often youd be competing
in slalom, trials and XC on the same bike.
Writer: Andrew Dodd Photography: Steve Behr
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Media hype
Despite TV shows such as High 5 in the early
90s pushing extreme sports, mountain
biking in the UK wasnt perceived as
extreme and just conjured up images of daft
men wearing lurid Lycra and getting a bit
muddy at weekends.
I knew the perception was going to
change dramatically when at the 1992
Bicyclexpo (Alexandra Palace), I saw Hans
No Way Rey perform in the flesh. He was
bounding around on his GT Zaskar in time
to the thumping beat of the years big hit
Rhythm Is A Dancer, by Snap.
I was totally mesmerised by it, and was
THE ONLY WAY THE INDUSTRY UNDERSTOOD TO
MARKET MOUNTAIN BIKING WAS THROUGH
RACING, EVEN THOUGH THE MAJORITY OF THE
CONSUMERS OF MOUNTAIN BIKES DIDNT CARE
OR EVEN KNOW ABOUT RACING HANS REY
blown away by the things he was doing on a
bike. He was hopping onto the roofs of cars,
gapping between picnic benches and
performing his trademark dance over a
volunteer on the ground at a time when
most riders could barely bunnyhop.
Born to a Swiss-German family, Rey grew
up riding trials on dedicated 20in wheel
bikes which was how many young riders
developed the skills and strength to start
motorcycle trials. Rey was in a different
league to the others and had the motivation
to move to America in 1987 in search of
success. His arrival in California was timely,
as the mountain bike boom had taken off
and his skills transferred perfectly. He
quickly became a household name and
was the sports first real star in the States,
meeting President Bush and appearing on
TV several times over the years on shows
such as David Letterman and even playing
himself in a TV show called Pacific Blue
(think Baywatch, but swap the life guards
and red floats for cops and mountain bikes).
Reys arrival stateside was at an
important time in mountain biking as
technology started progressing, taking
inspiration from other sports. It was in 89
that the very first suspension fork appeared,
Above: Hans Rey finding new things to do with cars at the Bicyclexpo, Alexander Palace, 1992
Opposite top: The UKs Cannock Chase in 1988, long before its official trail centre status in 2005
Opposite bottom: Greg Herbold, winner of the first DH World Champs, using the first RockShox suspension fork
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IN 97 I WAS CONTRACTED BY THE UCI TO DESIGN
AND DEVELOP A NEW MULTI-RIDER EVENT, DUAL,
FOR THE WORLD CUP CIRCUIT. I TRAVELLED THE
GLOBE BUILDING RACE TRACKS AT THE HIGHEST
LEVEL, WHICH WAS A RAD GIG GLEN JACOBS
made by Paul Turner, an ex-motocross
mechanic and racer. When it launched, the
49mm travel RockShox RS1 was given a
mixed reception. It was seen by many as a
step too far, but those who looked closer
saw a total game changer.
One of the first adopters was Greg
Herbold, who riding the RS1 went on to win
the very first DH World Championship title
in Durango, Colorado, 1990.
Mountain biking had shifted up several
gears and really got cranking.
Whistler, eh
Up on the west coast of Canada, they
discovered mountain biking in the 80s.
When Whistler Mountain was a developing
ski resort, locals built trails and formed
a club. Video footage dates back to
competitions in 1988 there, but it wasnt
until 98 that the Bike Park developed,
thanks to the vision of Tom Radke an early
guide and Rob McSkimming, the general
manager at the time.
But it wasnt just Whistler seeing the
hype. Vancouvers mountainous North
Shore had its own scene brewing, with
the notorious Cove bike shop crew leading
the scene on Mt Seymour, and outdoor
enthusiast Todd Digger Fiander building
trails on Mt Fromme.
At first his trails were just beaten in
sections between fire roads, but in the early
90s he laid the first ladder bridge spanning
a bog. Without realising it, he pioneered an
entire style of riding.
Word spread of Diggers trails, and one
day Dangerous Dan Cowan arrived on the
scene, earning his name from Diggers
casting glance at him. Dan lived up to his
name by wheelie dropping off a high drop
on one ride, which sparked a movement of
riders dropping off every tree stump, ladder
and boulder in sight. With ladder work
originally designed to bridge ravines, boggy
terrain and climb over fallen trees, it merged
into a style of trail building. As brawn
increased, so did the severity of the trails.
1991 saw a young ex-BMX racer move to
the North Shore, whose effect on the riding
would change things forever. It was Wade
Simmons, and his BMX skillset enabled him
to approach everything completely
differently to previous riders. His
Stars of the nineties, and beyond: trials riders Martyn Ashton performing at the 1997 Bike Show in
Olympia (above) and Martin Hawyes at a 1993 competition (below). Rob Warner (right) riding trials
at the Malverns Classic in 1993 went on to become a downhill racer
airborne approach merged well with the
slow-speed trials influence and helped
add fluidity to the trails. The next few
years were a blur of flat landings and
snapped frames but the riding here
would soon be known globally as local
bike manufacturers such as Norco, Kona
and Rocky Mountain started building
bikes specifically to cope with the abuse
this place dished out.
Back in Europe
In 1992 Id seen a couple of guys at a bike
race in Aldershot riding just like Hans Rey,
but knew nothing about them until in
1994 they appeared on the front cover
of MBUK.
It was Martyn Ashton and Martin
Hawyes, who with a background in
motorcycle trials, came in to mountain
biking and showed the UK what could be
done. They were in a league of their own
and inspired everyone to step up a notch
even setting bikes up specifically for the job.
Overnight, it seemed, every cross-country
race round the UK had a trials competition,
and wider bars, higher stems, bashrings and
flat pedals started becoming the de rigueur.
It was so influential that even at non-trials
events, the fields were filled with bikers
practising trackstands, back wheel hops
and endos.
Rob Warner was there from the
beginning being another moto trials
import and quickly made a name for
himself. I first met him at the Malvern Hills
Classic in 93 when he was riding for
Saracen, competing in the trials and slalom.
He was casting his eye over my next bike, a
Saracen Kili Pro Elite, which I was collecting
from the team manager Mick Ives, and
racing that weekend. Ill always remember
how much he inspired me to ride harder, as
the team bike he was riding was very similar
to mine. Watching him push it to the limit
was amazing.
A young Geordie by the name of Jason
McRoy had started waves too, and his utter
dedication to riding flat out and giving it
everything shone through. JMC was one of
the first that made mountain biking and
even wearing Lycra look cool.
Considering we were a few years behind
the Americans, the British scenes start had
pace, though we were behind the French in
terms of the terrain we had, and how we set
our bikes up. Its something that early
downhill racers such as Warner, Steve
Above: Jason McRoy made a huge impact on the downhill race scene, the first Brit to become a pro rider for a US team
IT WAS AN AWESOME FEELING TO BE WINNING
BIG RACES IN THE 90S - WE WERE THE ROCK STARS
OF A NEW SPORT AND WE CELEBRATED IN
TRUE STYLE! STEVE PEAT
THE TOP FRENCH RIDERS WERE THERE TO WIN
WHATEVER THE CONDITIONS, OR WEATHER.
THEY WERE SO RIDICULOUSLY STRONG AND
ALWAYS SET THEIR BIKES UP SO WELL
MARTIN HAWYES
Peat, Will Longden and of course Jason
McRoy learnt quickly when they headed
over the Channel.
Across the Channel
Unlike the Brits who received minimal
assistance, the French cycling federation
was well developed even in the early 90s,
and pushed through an incredible
generation of riders. It wasnt just the
standard of riding that was good though
it was their whole approach. Racing to them
was about preparation, training, line
choice, bike set-up and being able to accept
the weather. The early Sunn team used
suspension developed by Olivier Bossard,
and the bikes had suspension performance
decades ahead of the rest of the bike world.
Francois Gachet was one of the more
successful riders back then, but was quickly
caught by junior rider Nicolas Vouilloz who
had a different approach.
On home soil at the Cap dAil World Cup
in 95, Vouilloz rode circles around the
entire field, making the tricky switchbacks
and ultra rocky sections look easy. He rode
smart, picking seconds off the whole way
down smoking his fellow countryman
Gachet by 14 seconds clear. It wasnt a fluke
either he just knew where he could make
the time up, and was so confident in doing
so he celebrated before the finish line,
crossing it no-handed.
With Vouillez coming up through the
ranks, Gachet continued to get good results,
Above: Australias oldest downhill event, at Kuranda in the late 80s
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Left: Rodney Meares and Simon
Ford, Team Mudcows, circa 1994
Below: Was Glen Jacobs the first to
use helmet cam tech in 1990?
Bottom: A young Nico Vouilloz,
Junior Downhill winner at the World
Championships in Canada, 1992
Above: JMCs promising career was cruelly cut short
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stems and cantilever brakes. It was the
French who had the desire to set world
speed records on mountain bikes with
French madmen Eric Barone and Christian
Tallifer regularly trading places as the
record holder and they also came up with
the idea of the Mega Avalanche in 95, which
is probably the most insane bike race on the
planet by todays standards, let alone on the
bikes back then.
Antipodean carnage
With the lack of internet through the 90s,
Australian mountain biking was unheard
of until the video Mud Cows landed on our
shores, which was crammed with hard
hitting music, brash action and horrendous
gaping wounds. It turned out that deep in
the jungles of North Queensland, an entire
scene had spawned.
Glen Jacobs was an early adopter of
off-road bikes who, like the Americans,
butchered old paperboy bikes for off-road
use. He led a crew that quickly gained size
and momentum, becoming known as the
Great Northern Hill Tribe, or Minjin after
the aboriginal name which means
mountain devil. They have a distinctive
amulet, which is worn by many riders who
have ridden with them, including Steve Peat
and Hans Rey.
As well as heading up the Minjin, Jacobs
documented everything they did with early
DV video cameras to produce the Mud Cows
videos, and he also became the first
commissioned track builder for the UCI,
building many testing dual and 4X tracks
on the world scene.
Cairns itself held World Cup rounds in
1994 and 1995, and in 1996 the World
Champs hit town, changing everything and
firmly placing Australia in the world of
MTB not only for its wild terrain, but its
incredible riders coming through the ranks,
such as Michael Ronning, Scott Sharples,
Sean McCarrol and Chris Kovarik.
Sudden momentum
Mountain biking took until 95 to get
warmed up, and though there were
technological developments, things really
moved on as designers took inspiration
from motocross and were experimenting
with manufacturing techniques. A huge
MUDCOWS HIT BRITAIN AT THE SAME TIME AS
MAD COW DISEASE. THIS RECEIVED A HUGE
AMOUNT OF MEDIA COVERAGE AND LIP SERVICE
FOR THE VIDEO
GLEN JACOBS
until at the 1997 World Champs he had a
career-ending crash. He snapped his leg so
horrifically his blood curdling screams
were heard a long way down the course, and
he never really came back.
Unfairly, the Americans seem to be
credited for being wild, but compared to
the French they may as well have been
chess players. Sure, they had flat-out races
like the Kamikaze, but most of their
downhill tracks were about speed and
testosterone, rather than technical prowess.
Perhaps the bravado needed to win in the
US was why mountain biking was deemed
as extreme there.
On the other hand, French mountain
biking was quietly gnarly. Due to the rocky
nature of the Alps, tracks were scary and
treacherous to ride, and actually far more
extreme given the terrible bikes with long
Top: UCI World Championships in 1999, Are, Sweden.
Just metres from the finish line, Shaun Palmer crashed
out you could feel his pain
Above middle: Palmer racing with his trademark
aggression and flair
Above: Palmer (left) and Warner lived it up in mountain
bikings rock n roll years
Right: Steve Peat picked up where Jason McRoy left off,
turning pro with GT and moving to the States
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brand battle commenced some
companies used alu monocoque designs,
others used skinny steel frames and all
used entirely different suspension systems.
Naturally, every brand made claim to
having designed the most optimal system,
but the only way they could prove it was by
winning races. So the competition became
as fierce in the team stakes as it did for bike
development. To fund these huge teams
massive sponsorship deals were signed and
many outside industry sponsors flooded
the scene.
The riders were making good money too,
and TV coverage was increasing with World
Cup races being shown on various TV
networks globally mountain biking was
on a huge up.
Unfortunately in the UK we lost a
mountain biking icon in August 1995, when
Jason McRoy was tragically killed in a road
traffic accident. McRoy was the leader of
our gang he was the inspirational rider
who against all odds following a BMX-
related injury from childhood went on to be
the strongest UK rider. He was picked up by
Specialized on a big factory deal and was
making headway on the US race scene.
JMCs legacy lived on though, through a
bunch of UK riders determined to break the
mould and make our little island known.
And no one did it better than Steve Peat
who, following a stint on Team MBUK
riding GT bikes, was approached by GT
directly. With advice from friend Shaun
Palmer, Peaty pitched for a huge deal
and got it.
Overnight hed become a true
professional and moved to the US to train
properly in the off-season with team-mate
Mike King, and a host of others who hed
befriended, including Brian Lopes, Eric
Carter and Shaun Palmer.
Palmer was cut from a different loaf to
the rest of them though, and came into
mountain biking with high expectations
from his successful background as a
professional snowboarder.
He famously didnt like the Lycra image,
and wore Fox motocross pants and jerseys,
giving downhill a harder, more aggressive
image. He came into mountain biking to
win and unlike other riders whod be
pleased with a second place, hed see it as
a race lost. In 1996 at his first World
Championships in Australia, he flew
through the finish 0.15 seconds behind the
French racer Nicolas Vouilloz, and threw
his goggles on the floor in frustration. Later
in 1999 at Sweden during another World
Championship run for a podium, he
crashed on the wet tarmac turn just metres
from the finish line. It was painful to watch
him buckled on the floor in defeat.
But race losses aside, Palmer brought so
much to MTB and not just image. He
worked closely with Jeff Steber developing
the early Intense M1, which became the
most ridden DH bike of all time when it was
re-badged with many other bike brands
logos, in a time when top-end riders needed
the best tool for the job. The Intense M1 was
that platform for many years.
A new era
Towards the end of the 90s, BMX influence
took over and the market became flooded
with dedicated jump frames, inspired by the
World Cup slalom and dual scene.
A new UK magazine launched in January
97 called Dirt, which was a small niche
publication that capitalised on the image of
BMX and motocross. On the front cover of
the first issue of Dirt was Paul Roberts a
BMXer from my hometown of Pinner. The
riders on the pages of Dirt would often be
wearing jeans and T-shirts without helmets,
or be wearing full-face helmets and
motocross gear. Some frowned on it and
others loved it but either way it became an
important part of the scene.
Around the same time, two young
filmmakers called Milan Spasic and Alex
Rankin made a video called Sprung. The first
copy was fairly average, but when Sprung 2
dropped in 1998 they had nailed it.
Everything about the video felt cool and
new it had the same feel as Props BMX
videos, but in mountain bike format. Its
soundtrack alone was great, and Sprung 2
combined exciting footage of racing with
riders goofing around at jump spots all
around the country it inspired people to
get out and ride.
Mountain biking had really started to
reach out in new directions by now, and
bike design was getting better and better.
It did become tricky to define a mountain
biker in the late 90s though, because while
every town centre had an Ashton or
Hawyes wannabe dropping off phone boxes
on their trials bikes, there was also a
Above: The Lycra days Steve Peat and team-mate Mike King training in sunny California, 1997
IT WAS AN AMAZING TIME TO BE A PART OF IT
WE STARTED ON XC BIKES, BUT DEVELOPMENT
WAS INSANE, LIKE AN ARMS RACE. THE BIG
MANUFACTURERS KNEW THEY HAD TO KEEP UP
TECHNOLOGY WISE ROB WARNER
COORS WAS A PRETTY
GOOD SPONSOR FOR
OBVIOUS REASONS
AND IT WAS BRILLIANT
TO SEE THE SPORT ON
MAINSTREAM TV
ROB WARNER
I WAS FORTUNATE TO HAVE BENEFITTED FROM
THE 90S I BOUGHT MY FIRST HOUSE IN LAGUNA
BEACH, HAD A NICE TRUCK AND BOAT, A PORSCHE
C4S, A HARLEY AND LIFE WAS PRETTY GOOD!
BRIAN LOPES
bunch of guys in baggy jeans with chain
wallets and skate helmets heading into the
woods armed with spades and
wheelbarrows to build dirt jumps. Self-
proclaimed downhillers started isolating
themselves from cross-country riders too,
loving the aggro image portrayed in
motocross films and by riders such as
Shaun Palmer Lycra became a sin.
Cross-country was probably the only
part of mountain biking that remained
fairly pure in this period, because it wasnt
taking in fashion influence from other
sports. Ultimately though, the thing that
pushed the fashion conscious and thrill
seeking riders away from cross-country
was the fact that the bikes werent
developing to handle off-road better they
were getting lighter, but still had long stems,
narrow bars and short wheelbases.
Getting radical
With bike design ramping up to handle
what riders were now doing, the North
Americans and Canadians paved the way
for the freeride movement, which took
inspiration from backcountry skiing.
Derek Westerlund brought a bike film
to the screens in 2000 that yet again
changed things. New World Disorder was a
brand new approach, and with a bold rock
and rap-metal soundtrack, it featured non-
stop action.
Josh Bender made his first appearance in
NWD, shocking the mountain biking world
by jumping off huge cliffs like freeride
skiers and though many mocked him for
repeated crashes and a lack of style, it was
him that pioneered a whole new genre of
riding and was the brains behind the first
Red Bull Rampage.
2001 saw this incredible event take off,
which was a first for mountain biking
pulling influence from ski and snowboard
judged events where the riders would be
OUR GROUP GREW STRONGER, JUMPED HIGHER,
GASHED BIGGER AND BROKE BIKES MORE. WE
DIDNT REALISE IT, BUT WE WERE SOME OF THE
FIRST FREERIDERS OF THE SPORT
GLEN JACOBS
trail centre movement. This originated in
1997 when Coed y Brenin was built in the
Snowdonia National Park thanks to
Dafydd Davis MBE and it really gained
momentum when south Wales came on
board with Cwmcarns Twrch Trail in 2002,
followed by Afan Forest Park, Brechfa
Forest and loads more. Scotland was in on
the action too, first launching the 7Stanes
project in 2002 off the back of the brilliant
scored on line choice, amplitude,
technicality and other factors. At first
the event looked to suit the more insane
riders out there, but in reality it was
incredibly technical and involved a
combination of skills. Wade Simmons
won this first one, proving that his years
riding the North Shore and honing a
combination of slow-speed skill and big-
gap jumps on steep terrain hadnt been
wasted, and putting Canada firmly on the
map as the home of freeride.
Home scene
Back in the UK, our scene was growing
massively but suffered when foot and
mouth disease struck, rendering most of
the countryside out of bounds. This had a
dramatic effect on MTB, but with a young
market thriving, MBUK took the initiative
to promote trials riding. The beauty of this
discipline is that it can be done on virtually
any bike, and almost anywhere.
However, the thing that really helped
save mountain biking in the UK was the
Glentress trails. As more people started
riding these amazing trails, the need for
specialist bikes started decreasing
slightly, and there was a movement for
a tougher bike that was light enough to
pedal uphill, but could still hammer the
downhills and ride all day long.
These freeride light bikes steadily
developed and merged into the all-
mountain, or trail bikes, of today
Opposite page: Martyn Ashton and Martin Hawyes
competing at speed trials in 2000
Top: Coed y Brenin was the UKs first trail centre
Above: Warner and friends on set of the 1991 biking film
Totally Wild
Right: Aussie downhiller Chris Kovarik racing at the
World Cup DH in Fort William, 2002
Progression in the design and
manufacture of the chassis and
component parts has kept MTB
technology interesting, innovative
and inspirational for 30 years. But
what has made the biggest
differences to how we ride?
Writer: Steve Worland Images: Steve Behr/Stockfile
bike
better
The
W
hile non-US mountain bike brands have more
influence now than they have ever had, the
mainstream MTB market has essentially been
totally dominated by the influence of American
brands and designs. This is mainly because the
US brands had the initial advantage of the grass roots pioneers, the
early race stars and the industry innovators nearly all hailing from
the US of A.
North America was the host of the world MTB party, while the
UK and Europe followed very closely by the rest of the planet all
arrived fashionably late. The Japanese got their foot in the door early
and brought far more than a bottle of Sake and some crispy race
nibbles. Besuited Japanese executives were attending races and
shaking hands with US founding fathers long before fashionable
latecomers had realised that this particular party was worth
attending. For those unaccustomed to the way our Japanese friends
do business, youll rarely see them in the kitchen at parties unless its
to fetch the Sake from the fridge. Early US MTB builds were all
equipped with Suntour or Shimano parts long before the likes of
Sachs and Campagnolo had realised that MTBs were not the same as
BMX. And thats how it stayed, with US born SRAM being the only
other major player in the game, turning up so late to this particular
party that they managed to grab the undivided attention of all those
whod never really liked Sake anyway.
Industry language
The dominant language of MTBs is, and always has been, English
American, or American English, depending on where your bias lies,
in the same way as the language of road racing is French, the
language of cyclo-cross racing is Flemish or Belgian, depending on
where your bias lies, and the language of saddles for tiny buttocks is
Italian. But languages dont pre-set the nationality of business.
English may be the common language when a bunch of multi-
nationals get together to talk MTB business but hands-on bike
manufacturing will usually be carried out in one of the fast
developing far eastern lands.
In the early days of MTBs it was Japan and Taiwan making
component parts for US brands, some of which were still making
136 MTB evolution | The better bike
lots of their frames in the US. But those US companies increasingly
turned to the far east for frame making too and these days Chinese
manufactured goods increasingly dominate both the high and low
end of the market. Inevitably, most of the pioneering brands from
the early years have either evolved beyond all recognition,
disappeared altogether or been totally absorbed by big
corporations. With remarkable few exceptions, most US and
European brands now rely on far east economies of scale and
production expertise to maintain their production flow. What isnt
always so clear is that many of them also rely on far eastern design
expertise too. The realities of cost-focused mass production
combined with the wish to maintain good business relationships
will often produce realistic designs that can be very different to the
original ideas of a western industry expert.
Bike design changes
Weve had about 30 years of MTB evolution to date, and if you look
around youll still see bikes resembling the original slack geometry
steel framed bikes being ridden, mainly around towns rather than
on the trails. The state of the art modern MTB intended for hard and
fast trail riding has evolved beyond all recognition. In short, almost
all of the small evolutionary steps have conspired to make it easier
to ride fast, especially when the terrain goes downhill. Think about
it... Better brakes, slicker gear shifts, all that suspension, geometry
and contact points that sit you in precisely the right position and let
you effectively use as much latent body power as you can muster,
tyres that roll fast and grip instead of skating and skittering scarily
across every trail and, of course, less weight so that you can ride
back up again.
In many ways weve come full circle. Those early klunkers with
gears bolted onto them were at their best when the terrain went
downwards. Gears were just a necessary evil, a big help in getting
back to the top and a way of going even faster on the downs very
much like modern trail bikes really, except they accelerate more
easily, stop more easily and go across poor terrain more easily.
Between then and now we went through some very interesting
phases. Were going to take a look at the most significant ones, in
roughly the order in which they emerged on the modern MTB...
The better bike | MTB evolution 137
Fitting triple cranksets and derailleur gears
to klunkers was the first thing the pioneers
did that effectively turned them into MTBs,
in the sense they could now be ridden up
hills as well as down. Weve never really
looked back. Sure, lighter overall bike
weights have allowed a minority to go back
to single-geared bikes for general trail
blasting but most of us welcomed better
ways of extending and improving our gears.
The biggest improvement was indexed
gears, followed closely by shaped sprockets
and rings that made the shifts smoother.
More recent innovations have included a far
wider range of ring choices and single rings
that can be used without chain devices, as
well as increasingly cleverly sprung
parallelogram derailleur mechanisms.
Better gears
Left: A Deore XT rear mech from
Japanese giants Shimano in the early 90s
Below: Specialized Ground Control
Extreme 2.5in tyres (top) and Turbo/S ATB
1976 onwards
Without good tyres almost everything else
becomes redundant. So specialist tyres were one
of the first big areas of development. Plenty older
riders have great memories of treads such as the
Fisher Fat Trax and the Specialized Ground
Control. Some of the best designers and racers
in the industry were involved in tyre designs,
and apart from a blip when a craze for skinny
tyres got a hold among cross-country racers,
tyres have improved at a steady pace for the
past 30 years. New developments in tubeless
tyres have made flats a curse of the past and
with new tread compounds and low profile
knobs on bigger wheel/tyre sizes, the last few
years have seen significant improvements in
fatter, more comfortable tyres that roll far
faster and grip far better than anything that
has come previously.
Better tyres
1979 onwards
The early cruisers mostly had wide
cowhorn handlebars that curved up
and forward for extra leverage on
those big rocky-trail turns when your
non-suspended wheels were juddering
like pneumatic drills. Slightly flatter
wider bars became popular directly
before the cross-country racers got
involved in design and everything went
long stem and skinny, with bar ends
added to the ends of 22in bars for
climbing. After a decade of flat skinny
bars and long stems, a handful of riders
realised that you could ride with much
more control if you used a higher bar
with backsweep. The backsweep of
riser bars quickly became the choice of
the casually minded riders and weve
been going wider and higher ever since.
More recently, big wheels, and the
higher front ends that go with them,
have reintroduced flatter bars again,
but this time with the useful backsweep
design incorporated.
Handlebar shapes
1980 onwards
Early klunkers had incredibly long and laid back
geometry, good for bombing down rocky hills. As the
cross-country race scene developed frames became
shorter and steeper. Short back ends were made
possible by improvements in steel tube bending, and
were promoted as being better for climbing. Steep
geometry was based on the idea that road and
cyclo-cross bikes were steeper and faster so it might
be good 71-degree head angles and 73-degree seat
angles became the accepted norm on frames such as
Fishers Procaliber and Salsas A La Carte and everyone
copied that until suspension forks relaxed things a
little. Then slowly everyone realised that long top
tubes and short stems created a more stable ride
than short top tubes and long stems. As suspension
travel increased the frame angles were laid back.
The influence of rear suspension and downhill bikes
cross-fertilised into trail bikes and we ended up close
to the geometry of the early days klunkers, without the
overly long back ends. Actually, with 29in wheels there
are bikes around with back ends as long as those
klunkers too.
Geometry
1982 onwards
Left: A carbon composite
Trek 8900 complete with
Taperlite flat handlebars
Below: UK legend Jason
McRoy riding his 90s Salsa
A La Carte
Weve dealt with the evolution of suspension elsewhere
so well just touch on it here to explain the way it altered
aspects of rider attitude. Suspension forks emerged at a
time when downhill racing took off as a separate
discipline. A lot of riders actually saw suspension as a
downhill thing. But then the XC racers started using it
and talking about the way it allowed more speed
approach on rough terrain. Frame geometries changed,
to accommodate just 65mm, then 80mm, then 100mm
of travel. The forks became lighter and better controlled
and riders began to talk about suspension in terms of
reduced fatigue as well as higher speeds. It seems odd
now looking back at the initial resistance, but thered
be just the same resistance to rear suspension, V-brakes,
disc brakes, more gears, swept-back handlebars, clipless
pedals and bigger wheels.
Suspension
1989 onwards
While there are obviously still plenty riders out there
who prefer flat pedals to the clip-in variety (usually
referred to as clipless ) theres no doubt that ridding the
competitive riding world of toe clips and straps was a
good thing. Racers took a while to change over when
Shimano SPDs arrived, but they very soon realised that
being securely fixed to the bike allowed more powerful
pedalling and a spontaneous ability to lift the bike into
bunny hops without learning how to do it on flat
pedals. Best of all, twisting out of them and jumping
clear was way easier than it ever had been when
fastened into clips and straps.
Clipless pedals
1990 onwards
Left: A suspension fork from the early 90s
made by pioneers Manitou
Below: A Shimano SPD pedal, gracing
Steve Peats 1993 Kona Hei Hei
FIRST SPECIALIZED
STUMPJUMPER 1982 $750 complete
The 1982 Specialized Stumpjumper was the first mass made
mountain bike, effectively the start of commercial mountain bikes. It
was displayed at the 1981 Long Beach show, where about 15 custom
builders showed MTB designs too, along with another mass
produced offering from Univega. When Stumpys hit the shops, 500
of them sold out during 1982 at $750 apiece.
INTENSE M3 2005 $2,500 frame only
The original M1 from a few years earlier became one of the most
successful, cloned and rebadged downhill bikes ever. But it was the
more refined M3 that made the breakthrough in terms of race
performance and dream bike status. The result of Intense acquiring
the shared licence with Santa Cruz for Virtual Pivot Point rear
suspension, the M3 set the tone for downhill performance as well
as setting the scene for future all mountain and trail bikes.
SANTA CRUZ
SUPERLIGHT
1999 $2,600 complete
Santa Cruz was one of the first
brands to see the market for a light,
relatively simple single-pivot
suspension bike aimed at riders
who had previously only ridden
hardtails. The Tazmon was that
bike. It was later followed by the
Heckler then the Superlight, the
iconic slimmed down version that
offered cross-country race
performance in a short travel,
go-anywhere trail package.
PACE RC100 1989 1,695 complete
Yorkshire UK-based Pace Cycles later became better known for their
carbon legged forks but the product that brought them fame was
the RC100. The box section alu framed RC100 was probably the first
ground-up-designed off-road bike. The long top tube short stem
geometry would later become the industry standard for fast XC bikes
and it came with hydraulic brakes, an oversized push-fit bottom
bracket and a one-piece stem/steerer that pre-empted Aheadsets.
GARY FISHER PROCALIBER
1985 $950 complete
Tanges tough but very light Prestige tubes were the first specifically
designed for MTBs and Gary Fishers pre-Trek days Procaliber was
one of the first pure cross-country race bikes. This was long before a
time when a suspension fork was seen as crucial. In 1985 it was all
about getting a controlled ride from the frame, the fork and the tyres,
and the Fisher Procaliber did that superbly.
5 iconic bikes
Adrenalin versus endorphin?
Its not uncommon to hear MTB has split into two distinct camps
adrenalin fuelled and endorphin fuelled. But has it really? Ask any of
the founding fathers about the buzz they got out of it when it started
and theyre likely to talk about the adrenalin and endorphin buzz as
a single thing. Okay, the endorphins may be more related to the
rhythmic karma of climbing and pedalling along wonderful
singletrack, with the adrenalin more related to the thrills and spills
of the rush downhill. But is there really such an obvious division?
While cross-country and downhill racing may be two totally
separate disciplines these days, with specialist bikes to suit, racing
isnt what most of us do. The boundaries between the many and
varied designs of trail bikes have become increasingly blurred. Even
enduro events, often referred to as adrenalin racing for the masses
or perhaps, condescendingly, for mere mortals, is a minority activity
that simply makes good use of the excellent new bikes that are
already out there.
The modern trail bike, regardless of whether its a hardtail or a full
suspension creation, increasingly encompasses aspects of all the
downhill, uphill and just riding along capabilities that emerged on
the best bikes that led to where we are now. In mountains, local
woods and trail centres all over the planet youre likely to see all
manner of riders on all manner of bikes doing essentially the same
sort of riding. With the exception of lift assisted downhilling, where
you can use a full-on downhill rig, most trail riding (whether you
choose to call it all mountain or something else) these days is easily
achievable on any bike with a decent suspension fork and big tyres.
Rear suspension certainly helps at times but the buzz will always
be a mix of adrenalin and endorphins. One cant be separated from
the other. Of course, things will continue to evolve, to change, to
excite, to inspire and to thrill, which can only be a positive. But
however much the marketeers might think they can sell more bikes
by categorising them, theyll never divide and conquer the spirit of
the true mountain biker.
Below: MBUKs Paul Smith riding a Santa
Cruz Tazmon in the mid 1990s
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back home
Bringing
it all
Bringing it home | The last ten years 147
T
he progress of mountain biking from
those dirt roosting, frame bending,
grease boiling days on Mount Tam back
in the 70s to the suspension cushioned,
disc brake controlled, epic sleigh rides
were on today has been a leap indeed. The biggest
improvements came in the early days, of course, as
did the biggest mistakes it may seem that this
magazine has talked a lot about the past, but thats
just a function of magnitude. The advances made in
bikes and their components these last 10 years, after
the basic principles had been well established, may
have been incremental, but they have been very
much focused and to the point.
I see mountain biking through the 25 year stare,
so to help me focus on the last decade I appointed an
ad hoc committee of riders for whom the last 10
years represent a major chunk, if not the whole, of
their riding lives. They are also people thoroughly
immersed in riding around the world. Meet World
Downhill champion Danny Hart, epic long distance
legend Aidan Harding, trail rider and builder Martin
Astley, Andy Waterman, lately editor of Privateer
magazine, gravity enduro star Matt Page and
freeride pioneer Grant Fielder.
The first question I asked them was this: what has
been the most significant change to our sport in the
last 10 years?
And the consensus of the meeting is that
mountain biking has made a giant leap forward
since 2004 to come right back to what it was at the
beginning, just bigger, better, faster and more.
Back to the future
From the start mountain bikers have been hooked
on riding through beautiful, sometimes testing,
occasionally gnarly, hill country with their friends,
racing one another often where it seems least
appropriate. The oldest mountain bike event ever,
the Appetite Seminar, was and is just that a long
ride in the NorCal mountains followed by a madcap
race on the last downhill, a leg that was to get hived
off as the Repack downhill track.
The greatest advance in the last 10 years has been
to perfect a bike to rejuvenate that all-mountain
style and to turn it into a new, significant,
competitive format. A great idea but perhaps the
greatest foolishness was to name it enduro, a title
that has been used so promiscuously and for so
many different formats that Ill let Matt Page,
We come bang up to date as mountain bikers to find we have made a
giant leap forward to doing just what we wanted to do at the
beginning only bigger, better, faster and more
Writer: Tym Manley
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148 The last ten years | Bringing it home
Britains top enduro specialist, explain:
The biggest problem for enduro is that it
means different things in different places.
Many people still think of a marathon style
event as an enduro, and thats very much
the case in Australia, for example. Even
where it means a competition over timed
sections, some countries/events will take
you down what are pretty much downhill
(DH) runs, while in other places its more
cross-country (XC). Enduro as a racing
format could either be a fad or really take
off, but for the average rider it wont change
much as its what most people have been
doing for years. Its just mountain biking.
You may think that it a good thing that
we have finally got back to doing what we
like to do, competitively if we want to, after
many years of being forced down blind
alleys by the roadie-driven national and
international bodies, which have had MTB
racing by the balls since 1989.
The Holy Grail
If you do you will be grateful for the thing
that has made it possible, that Holy Grail of
bikes: the light, 160mm travel, full
suspension, hugely capable all-mountain
bike which has finally come fully into its
own (with some kicking from the
influential mountain bike magazines).
Thats one of the best things we have done
as magazines, says Andy Waterman.
Putting pressure on the manufacturers to
slacken trail bike angles a little so Joe Soap
can ride downhill like the pros. Everyones
calling it an enduro bike now.
Well, not quite everybody unfortunately.
Trail riding bikes, all-mountain bikes
whatever you call them, they are
comparatively light and geared up to ride
uphill while being properly suspended,
shod and angled to ride full out downhill. In
short, they are doing what Gary Fisher was
after when he first fitted gears to his
klunker, but doing it a million times better.
Just as important, though, is that there
are now places in the UK we can ride these
berbikes as intended.
We designed BikePark Wales specifically
BIKES ARE NOW DOING
WHAT GARY FISHER
WAS AFTER WHEN HE
FIRST FITTED GEARS TO
HIS KLUNKER, BUT A
MILLION TIMES BETTER
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2004 Honda launch their own downhill racing
team. The following year Greg Minnaar wins the
DH World Cup overall on their
RN01, which features an
internal gearbox. The bike,
which never becomes available
to the masses, is kept firmly
under wraps at all times.
2004 Bikes and components are developed that
allow riders to tackle gnarly downhills while being
pedal efficient enough to climb back up. The Giant
VT and Foxs new range of shocks are prime
examples and set a trend that continues today.
2005 Specialized rework their Enduro frame to
make it more versatile. Rapidly improving shock
technology means that the new model offers more
travel and a slacker head angle, but is still very
rideable on cross-country trails.
2005 Megavalanche Alpe dHuez celebrates its
10th birthday. The extreme downhill event sees
hundreds of riders participate
in a mass start as they descend
off the snow-capped peak
down into the valley around
30km away.
2005 Red Bull host their
first ever District Ride in
Nuremberg. This is the first
major international urban
freeride event and sees Aaron
Chase win the event.
2006 The first dropper seatpost reaches market.
2004 TO 2014: MTB
COMES OF AGE
with these bikes in mind, explains Martin
Astley who, with Rowan Sorrell, created the
UKs latest and most ambitious trail riding
centre in south Wales last year. The bikes
are so versatile that they broaden the
horizons of many riders and allow them to
ride things they wouldnt normally consider
(both up and down). You can enjoy riding
our place using the uplift or by pedalling up
under your own steam. All of the trails are
rideable on a trail bike and most of them are
more fun on a 160mm travel bike than a
downhill rig.
March of progress
We had bikes that were claimed they could
do these things back in 2004, but they were
nothing like todays machines. So far so
great, but apart from these lighter, lower,
slacker, faster enduro bikes, things have
changed at a much slower rate. Danny Hart
raves about his 2011 Giant Glory, but you
kind of feel thats more because he won the
World Champs on it. For Aidan Harding
and Grant Fielder, at the XC and freeride
ends of the hardtail/singlespeed
continuum, bikes are admittedly better but
innovation has not been so dramatic.
You might think new materials and
designs would have changed bikes a lot
more, says Matt Page, but actually, in XC
terms, the changes are incremental. Bikes
are no lighter, but they are stiffer and more
comfortable. Travel is now 100mm on XC
hardtails rather than 80mm. Its that sort
of improvement.
Andy Waterman, while enthusiastic
about enduro bikes, is characteristically
dismissive of what he sees as bike hype in
other areas. A lot of improvements
29ers, 650b, carbon everything, electronic
suspension and so on are largely
chimeras, more a matter of the industry
using technical changes to sell more bikes
rather than to enhance the riding
experience, he observes. Andys more
impressed by the development of high tech
knee pads you can pedal in comfortably,
which fits in so well with trail riding on the
new enduro bikes.
Aidan Harding doesnt agree: The new
well designed rigid 29ers like the
Previous: Young gun Danny Hart, whose winning run at Champery in 2011 took the downhill scene by storm
Above: Pro freerider and dirt jumper Grant Fielder doing what he does best. (Its an Indian air seat grab, by the way)
The Maverick Speedball gives the rider three
inches of height adjustment from a lever
positioned underneath the saddle.
2007 Lapierre release the Zesty and Spicy.
These two all-mountain/enduro bikes are
hugely popular. In 2013 the latest
650b wheeled Spicy is ridden to
Enduro World Series gold by
Nicolas Vouilloz in Val dAllos.
2008 Gee and Rachel Atherton
become the first Brits to win the
Elite DH World Champs. This
brother and sister double act sparks a series of
impressive British performances on the DH scene.
2009 Steve Peat wins gold at the DH World
Championships. After 16 attempts, including four
silver medals, crowd favourite Peaty eventually
takes the win in Canberra.
2009 Trail bikes come of age. With
trail centres on the rise and improved
technology, trail bikes finally became
the bikes we wanted them to be.
Lightweight, capable and sporting
140, 150 and 160mm of travel, on
bikes like the Scott
Genius 40 we can take
on anything.
2010 29ers become
less of an oddity with
more and more
brands releasing bikes
to the masses. These
big wheelers gain
plaudits for rolling
over rough terrain while maintaining speed.
2010 DH goes carbon. GTs Fury is the first mass
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Singular Swift were a revelation to me. But
before I got to that I tried a 26in [wheel]
rigid and didnt like it, then a badly designed
29er that rode like a barge...
Game changers
The next topic we discussed was, apart from
the actual bikes, what bit of kit has most
changed your life as a rider.
Martin Astley is in no doubt for him, as
for many of us, disc brakes have been the
great game changer. If you know you can
stop easily, you can go a whole lot faster.
Danny Hart, after a series of nasty crashes,
is impressed by the neck braces and new
helmet designs in downhill, but in other
ways he feels things are worse for the top
guys at World Cups. I sometimes watch the
races from back in the day, and they were
full head to toe in body armour; nowadays
there are only a handful of guys out there
wearing any.
Waterman and Page are impressed by
SRAMs 11-speed thick and thin XX1
drivetrain. For beginner riders there is less
to think about and for racers it makes things
simpler, says Matt. Also, for the average
rider I think dropper seatposts have
changed the way people ride, mostly for the
better. Note the mostly.
Grant Fielder likes the hardtails
developed for freeride but feels the courses
are much more significant; for a freerider,
the course is a bit of kit. He explains: There
has been a lot more support for events,
which helps produce bigger, safer courses.
Years ago Crankworx was full of strange
nail-biting obstacles like the teeter-totter.
OK, I know there has to be danger for it to be
a freeride event, but I love to keep the
challenges simple with big jumps, big
drops, big berms and the odd technical
riding feature like the satellite dishes. All
courses have similar elements too
nowadays, which helps us prepare.
For Aidan Harding Maxxis tubeless tyres
have made a huge difference. Almost no
FREERIDER GRANT
FIELDER SAYS: YEARS
AGO CRANKWORX WAS
FULL OF STRANGE NAIL-
BITING OBSTACLES LIKE
THE TEETER-TOTTER
production carbon downhill bike. It costs around
$1,000 more than similarly specced bikes made
from the more conventional
aluminium alloy.
2011 Danny Hart wins the DH
World Champs aged just 19. The
young Brits run in Champery is
regarded as one of the best the
competition has ever seen as the Giant Factory off-
road rider tackles terrible conditions to take gold.
2011 Carbon is everywhere. Wheel rims join a
host of other key components constructed from
carbon fibre. Lighter, stiffer and stronger, carbon is
the material of choice, although its still pricey.
2012 Electronic suspension is available to all.
While Cannondale had been testing computer
controlled suspension with its ELO (Electronic
Lockout Lefty) in 2001, this technology becomes
available to the masses with RockShoxs E.i
(electronic intelligence) suspension technology.
The system debuts on
Lapierres Zesty, Spicy
and XR 2013 models.
2012 650b wheels join
26 and 29in diameter
rims. Just over 27 inches,
the Goldilocks wheel size
turns the world of wheels
into a three-horse race.
2012 The UCI controversially replaces 4X racing
events with Cross Country Eliminator at World
Cup and World Championship races.
2004 TO 2014: MTB
COMES OF AGE
punctures none on the entire 2,700 mile
Tour Divide, despite the fact that I finished
with a nail in the tyre with its head
completely worn off. But what has really
changed his life as a long haul rider are the
new bikepacking bags the bar, seat and
frame bags that keep the weight central.
They mean you can carry overnight kit
while maintaining a well-balanced bike that
is still light enough to enjoy on the trail.
When I was riding England-Wales-England,
I managed to descend near the front of the
pack of a locals ride I came across in the
Peak District, despite the fact that I had
multi-day gear on my bike. Theres no way
that could happen with panniers.
By now you should be getting a picture of
British mountain biking in 2014 a lot of
serious riders, mostly men, travelling to
have fun with gravity at specially built and
manicured trail centres on magnificent all-
mountain trail bikes protected by high tech
pads and armour and made to look
exceedingly good by brilliant suspension,
great tyres, excellent brakes and seatposts
that get out of the way when the way gets
gnarly. Weekend warriors, if you will.
In competitive terms, this feeds into the
growing popularity of enduro events, with
new riders inspired, perhaps, by the success
of Matt Page, or who will be when we finally
sort out exactly what enduro is going to be.
(The smart money is on French style
mountain bike events with the racing on
timed sections, mostly downhill).
The British style enduro also feeds into
downhill racing, where Britons dominate
the world with the likes of Steve Peat, Gee
Atherton and Danny Hart as a result, Danny
believes, of having one of the best domestic
downhill series in the world and top
regional races too.
The British freeride scene is also led by a
prodigy, Sam Pilgrim, who has risen
through the ranks of British dirt jumping to
become the best in the world in 2013, and
there are plenty more where he came from.
Britain may have been devoid of talented
old style XC riders lately despite the many
millions spent on it as an Olympic event in
the run-up to 2012, but ever since Tinker
Juarez rode all 24 hours of Mountain
Mayhem, solo, in 2003, there have been
accomplished British marathon and
24-hour riders, following in the footsteps of
Anthony White.
For Matt Page it led to extreme enduro
stage races like Iron Bike, and for Aidan
Harding to longer challenges like the
Iditarod 350 and 1000 inspired by the likes
of Andy Heading. Its surprisingly low
profile as yet, this marathon riding
discipline, ridiculously so when you think it
includes the likes of Mike Hall, who broke
the round-the-world record then went on to
win the Tour Divide in 2013. Impressive
enough, surely!
Revival
On the continent and in North America,
families and couples out leisure riding in
open country are a far more common sight
than in the UK. Roadie-style cross-country
circuit racing is more popular in Europe,
where the winning role models live and
compete. Most encouraging, though, is the
return to mountain biking in the USA,
influenced by the push of the rebarbative
Lance Armstrong betrayal and the pull of
the very popular High School MTB League.
Theres a revival on the way all across the
MTB 2014: MEN HAVING
FUN AT SPECIALLY
BUILT AND MANICURED
TRAIL CENTRES ON
MAGNIFICENT ALL-
MOUNTAIN TRAIL BIKES
2013 SRAMs XX1 1x11 speed drivetrain is
introduced. This single-ring system removes the
need for two gear levers and
also results in bikes dropping
around a pound in weight.
2013 Greg Minnaar and
Steve Smith take DH World
Champs and DH World Cup
overall titles on full carbon
framed bikes.
2013 Nino Schurter wins his
third XC World Champs on
650b wheels, giving the chasing pack a hard lesson
in cross-country riding.
2013 Tracy Moseley wins
the Enduro World Series on
big wheels. Tracy makes the
transition from DH to Enduro
with ease, riding Treks
Remedy 29er and the 650b
equipped Slash.
2013 Sam Pilgrim wins the
Freeride Mountain Bike World
Tour. Sam totally dominates
the 2013 freeride circuit
finishing on the podium
in almost every event he
competes in.
2013 Biggest backflip
ever landed. Cam Zink
pulls off an insane 78
foot backflip off the
Oakley Icon Sender at the
Red Bull Rampage in Utah. The American rider
finishes third overall in the event. His countryman
Kyle Strait takes the win, for the second time.
Previous: Gee Atherton competing in the World Cup Downhill on a GT Fury. Fort William , Scotland, June 2013
Above: Better bikes mean you can now enjoy riding both up and down proper mountains, as in Snowdonia here
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world, but for now, in 2014, mountain
biking is playing second fiddle to road
riding, a reversal of the situation in 2004.
We never expected then that road riding
would ever become cool, certainly not cool
enough to attract new cyclists into its
shaven legged embrace. The seeds of 2014
were all germinating nicely in 2004, but it
wasnt clear whether they would take root
or not.
Road bikes were certainly not cool then,
far from it. Lance won his sixth Tour de
France that year, and Britain claimed just
four medals in the Athens Olympics, two of
them gold, courtesy of Bradley Wiggins and
Chris Hoy. But mountain biking ruled in
spades. Mountain Biking UK, Britains market
leading mountain bike magazine, wasnt
that far off its peak 2001 sales of 63,000.
Falling sales were put down to the foot and
mouth epidemic that closed the countryside
and showed many a mountain biker that the
road was not quite as evil as evil empires go.
Well maybe, but it was also in 2004 that
the internet had become usable enough for
MBUK to put some funding into developing
a website of its own, a pleasant distraction
for those whose ears were otherwise
assaulted by the likes of Girls Aloud, Will
Young and Victoria Beckham. Back then it
seemed like an extension of the magazine
brand, but in fact the rise of the net was to
undermine the magazines, reduce their
profitability and hence their ability to affect
the sport.
The internet has given us many things to
cherish. It took over the community-
forming role of magazines, enabling riders
to find compatible people to ride with and
compete against here and throughout the
world. It gave us Strava, the app that turns
every ride into a race; it enabled GPS route
sharing and online mapping, all positive
things. But it has also diluted the effects of
the thorough and highly professional
magazine test programmes, which have
been so important in driving rubbish out of
the market.
Theres no telling which way things will
go. The worst case scenario would be if free
digital media disabled paid-for media so
thoroughly that new content had to be
provided by the bike industry.
So how else have things changed?
The freeride scene
Ten years ago freeride was all about the
Canadian North Shore and the Red Bull
Rampage, then staging its farewell event in
the soft red sandstone canyons of Utah.
Today, through the efforts of Tarek Rasouli
and Red Bull, we have the Freeride
Mountain Bike World Tour with 30-plus
events in the calendar. The Rampage is back
and Crankworx flourishes, but its having
freeride as part of the X-Games that most
delights Grant Fielder.
The FMB World Tour has established
FOOT AND MOUTH
CLOSED COUNTRYSIDE
AND SHOWED MANY A
MOUNTAIN BIKER THAT
THE ROAD WAS NOT
QUITE THAT EVIL
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our sport, gained huge interest from outside
media and given the athletes the
recognition they deserve! They are the true
gladiators of our sport.
More events give newcomers the goal of
representing their countries and to get a
world ranking, which helps sponsorship,
and there are more fans too which is always
good. We are all show-offs!
Grant is fully behind main man Tarek
Rasouli and not at all uneasy that, as it
seems from outside, Red Bull practically
owns freeride. Lots of other brands get
behind events so its not just Red Bull. Every
year gets more exciting.
Downhill demons
In 2004 Steve Peat won the World Cup, but
he had finished his series of second places in
the World Champs before Gee Atherton
had won his it was all about Fabien Barel,
Greg Minnaar and Sam Hill back then.
Among the women, Tracy Moseley and
Rachel Atherton were a couple of years
away from winning their World
Championships. It looked then as though
the old guard Brits were over it.
Danny Hart was then extremely new
school, just 11 years old. He went pro at 16
in 2009. How have things changed?
Its crazy right now. Were winning races
by the tiniest of margins, which means you
cant make any mistakes up on the hill. The
level is so high. Any of the top 10 can win a
race these days. Todays Juniors are going so
fast, much faster than I was as a Junior some
of them, so when they come into Senior
they are flying! Some are even getting on
the podium. The speed is so high right now,
Danny says, everything has to be perfect to
take that win, but I always believe it is just
round the corner. I know I can do it.
To Andy Waterman that precision and
speed is a problem for downhill.
Its bound to become a spectator sport
because it is now so unlike anything the rest
of us do. Unlike enduro, which is exactly
what we do.
Call of the trail
Trail building starts with obsessed riders
building stuff for themselves and their
friends to ride. Few in Britain can out-crazy
The Digger and Dangerous Dan, the
Canadians who built the North Shore, but
Daffyd Davis, working for the Welsh
Forestry Commission, became very single
minded, building classic trails like Coed y
Brenin in north Wales that are still great to
ride today, although tough to ride fast.
The next step is realising that if you build
it, riders will come. You then calculate the
amount of money riders bring into poor
rural areas in return for a commodity they
have in quantity: wild hills and beautiful
countryside you can get lost in.
The logic of building trails in groups, like
the 7Stanes in Scotland and the centres in
Wales, so that riders can stay in an area for a
few days moving from trail to trail is clear,
especially as were so easy to please. Give us
a variety of quick draining trails and a
means of getting to the top to make use of
gravity, and were happy.
Ten years ago the idea of trail centre
Previous: Mountain biking encompasses a huge range of styles, from old school cross-country expeditions to
Left: the spectacular skills of dirt jumping, showcased here at the Nissan Qashqai Challenge in front of Londons Tate
Modern and 50,000 spectators, to
Right: many riders staple, trail centres. Coed y Brenin was the original Welsh centre, BikePark Wales (below) is the latest
THE FMB WORLD TOUR
HAS ESTABLISHED
FREERIDE. THE
ATHLETES ARE THE
TRUE GLADIATORS OF
OUR SPORT
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154 The last ten years | Bringing it home
Above: BikePark Wales has proved immensely popular, with trails for all rider skill levels and more planned to be built
WHATEVER NEXT?
So here we are in 2014, with wonderful
trail bikes, ever more purpose-built trails
to ride them on and a developing enduro
scene to compete in if all goes well. But
downhill is faster than ever, freeride bigger
and high consequence, with cross-country
options that are either a bit dull or over
ridiculously huge distances. What we
need is something to entertain the next
generation of beginners when the new
MTB boom starts around 2016, and people
are now working on just that. So what do
our panelists look forward to in the future?
Aidan: Id like to see more
people get the chance to
try long distance riding.
Theyd realise that its not
beardy touring meets red
sock rambling; its actually
just like normal riding, but in big doses. It
would also be fun to see more people
racing the competition would drive
everyones level up and we would see
some extraordinary rides. But Im quite
happy doing what Im doing right now.
Grant: My plan now is to
take freeride to the masses
in schools. I have just
started a business called
Star Cycling to visit schools
all over the south, and its
growing fast. My aim is to get our sport
recognised and its certainly working. A UK
freeride school invasion! Thats my
contribution to the future of freeride.
Danny: I do believe that if
DH was in the Olympics
we would get a lot more
funding and attention,
although I can also see
how that might change it
for the worst. Its a tough call. I would
definitely like to race a World Cup in Asia
too and I think thats likely to happen.
Matt: Id like to solve this
problem of enduro
meaning so many diferent
things. Id like to see more
uniformity and some rules
set up. Sometimes it
happens because of terrain limitations, so
there will have to be some leeway, but
mostly its down to the interpretation of the
event organiser.
Martin: The last thing we
need in trail building is
uniformity variety is the
spice of life. At each riding
destination builders should
make the most of what
they have to work with so that each place
develops its own feel. We plan to add more
and more trails at BikePark Wales and each
one will have its own flavour.
Andy: The number of fat
bikes available this year
shows an interest in taking
mountain biking back to
basics. A simple, rigid bike
is fun to ride from your
front door wherever you live. If the MTB
industry can bring itself to get excited
about simple of-road bikes again, we could
see a whole new mountain bike boom.
riding was just taking off. This year the
jewel in the crown of the Welsh network
opened. BikePark Wales, built by Rowan
Sorrell with Martin Astley and their
partners, who have the accountancy and
management know-how to bring it off,
became a reality. What were you doing 10
years ago, Martin?
Funnily enough, thats almost exactly
when Rowan and I first met. We were
working with Phil Saxena and Duncan
Ferris on the downhill track at Cwmcarn. I
then disappeared off to Whistler to build
trails in the bike park and Rowan founded
Back on Track, his trail building company.
Im usually stupid busy at work and I
actually find trail building an artistic outlet.
I cant paint, sing or play an instrument, but
for me designing and building a trail is a
really creative process. You have to work
with what the land gives you and make the
most of what the hill has to offer.
The whole BikePark Wales thing still
feels like a dream. It was such a massive
undertaking to get this off the ground. The
whole development phase seems like a hazy
memory even though it was only four
months ago! Things are going really well,
feedback from visitors has been amazing
and the nice comments we get from people
make it all worth it.
Because thats what its all about, and the
reason most of us ride mountain bikes just
to have fun!
Mud, sweat and gears: a 40-year love affair with the mountain bike. We chart the incredible
rise of mountain bikes, the riders and the global off-road scene
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2003 First enduro race takes

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