Anecdotes from the pre-history of British mountain biking

Uber curmudgeon Jobst Brandt posted this on rec.bike.tech the other day. Go to 4:30 and check out the guy with the "mountain bike". Worth watching it all as there's loads of You've Been Framed moments and watching people chuck their bikes in the river makes your skin crawl!
http://www.google.com/url?sa=D&q=ht...1QtsOY&usg=AFQjCNHharEAnxULjDVCm7NYMXWzSviwOA

that's an absolute gem Bod, great find.

So then the mountain bike/ATB whoever was officially crested with the invention of in reality was already here with the early pioneers, the road cyclists that must have wondered about the adventures off tarmac. But when if a time period is needed, then I would deduce simply that when free time became more available to the masses and with that the availability of such things as bicycles people went off road with what they had.

My own experiences as a youth was various 'racer' style bikes with drop handlebars being taken down tracks in the woods. I say various because I broke a lot of them but saw the breakages as kudos, in that I had ridden so hard the bike gave up, never really occurred the bikes weren't strong enough. Oddly enough the frame I remember lasting the longest was a brazed Dawes frame, Raleighs were hopless, something which might have gone on to influence me away from Raleigh when they started producing proper purpose designed frames.

But the articles are very interesting, that one with the two guys in Tweeds sort of reminds me of Jethro Tull.

A few threads similar to this have popped-up on other forums.

My contribution is mentioned in each case.

In reality, I did make a contribution to the sport of mountain biking in the UK, but as to design, my efforts are distinctly NOT 'mountain bike'.

The Cleland concept is a separate strand and does not compare with mountain bikes, an Aventura is designed for a different style of riding, the design philosophy is fundamentally at odds with the general thrust of mountain bike development.

It is convenient to say that the Cleland design is a form of mountain bike when talking to people who can't tell the difference, but it's more like trying to compare a MotoX motorbike with a Trials motorbike ~ there really is no comparison.

This is not to say either is superior to the other; each is designed for a particular purpose. In the case of the mountain bike and the Aventura, one is designed for speed and lightness, the other for no-compromise endurance.

In terms of acceptance of my design, very little progress has been made since 1979; very few people even begin to understand what it's for.

I have Just come across this anecdote regarding a customer of Jeremy Torr's English Cycles, picking up a new bike in 1984. I would presume from this date that that the bike would have been a Geoff Apps designed Range-Rider model.

13. Re: Solar eclipse on 15 Jan
Jan 15, 2010, 10:27 AM
Destination Expert What's this?
for Malindi, Ukunda, Kenya

Min

Ah, but now you are talking about Telford, which does tend to be weirdly foggy! I got one of the first ever mountain bikes from an experimental bicycle engineer in Telford, called Jeremy Torr, in 1984. Went up to collect it in a thick peasouper of a foggy day. And took it all round Kenya. . .

Oy, back to work. . .

Richard