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Thirty years ago - May 1984, the sport of mountain biking did not exist in the UK. The UK bike shops that were expecting their first delivery of mountain bikes were mostly cautious, ordering only a few in case these relatively expensive US bikes, for which there was no consumer led demand, did not sell. The biggest manufacturer of bikes in the world, Raleigh, made the judgement that they would not sell widely or for long. And so by not making them until 1985, inadvertently drove another nail into their coffin. Dawes however decided that they would be the first British maker to offer a mountain bike into only to be pipped to the post by F.W.Evans/Saracen. As a result they had to remove the claim of "first British made mountain bike" from their brochures. By this time eastern produced mountain bikes were arriving. In fact the first was the original Ridgeback, which first appeared in the Freewheel catalogue as early as 1983.
If you bought a mountain bike there were no organised rides, races or books or magazines that covered the topic. It was just a case of head out into the country and try your luck. Quite possibly a puncture or similar mechanical problem and a long walk home if you could not fix it. You could have course taken it along on a Rough Stuff Fellowship ride as they had been following the long tradition of British off road riding on road-bikes since 1955. And from 1982 Geoff Apps had been leading Rough Stuff rides with the emphasis on riding, not walking, difficult terrain. In fact his rides were very similar to rides today but with a group of rough-stuff riders at the back struggling to keep up.
In terms of mountain bike racing/sport it all started with Bicycle Action magazine first published in June 1984 and edited by Richard Grant and Nigel Thomas. They immediately set up "The Fat Tyre Five" series of events starting with Racing at Eastway London on Sunday 27th of May 1984. The second event was the first Wendover Bash held in the Chiltern Hills on 17th June and the third was a days ride from Brecon to Hay on Wye in August.
It would be great to hear some other tales of early UK mountain biking. I was living in London at the time though also rode in and near Liverpool. Apart from organised events you hardly ever saw other mountain bikers.
If you bought a mountain bike there were no organised rides, races or books or magazines that covered the topic. It was just a case of head out into the country and try your luck. Quite possibly a puncture or similar mechanical problem and a long walk home if you could not fix it. You could have course taken it along on a Rough Stuff Fellowship ride as they had been following the long tradition of British off road riding on road-bikes since 1955. And from 1982 Geoff Apps had been leading Rough Stuff rides with the emphasis on riding, not walking, difficult terrain. In fact his rides were very similar to rides today but with a group of rough-stuff riders at the back struggling to keep up.
In terms of mountain bike racing/sport it all started with Bicycle Action magazine first published in June 1984 and edited by Richard Grant and Nigel Thomas. They immediately set up "The Fat Tyre Five" series of events starting with Racing at Eastway London on Sunday 27th of May 1984. The second event was the first Wendover Bash held in the Chiltern Hills on 17th June and the third was a days ride from Brecon to Hay on Wye in August.
It would be great to hear some other tales of early UK mountain biking. I was living in London at the time though also rode in and near Liverpool. Apart from organised events you hardly ever saw other mountain bikers.
) and was celebrated by a small group as below...
