Mountain Biking Before Mountain Bikes
- Thread starter drystonepaul
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utahdog2003
Senior Retro Guru
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CTK":1k10ev2e said:
Tom Ritchey was not in France in the 1900s.
gerryattrick
Retrobike Rider
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People have ridden off-road - including up and down mountains - since bikes have been around.
FACT
"Mountain Biking" was re-invented, refined and given a name in the U S of A in the 70s.
OPINION
FACT
"Mountain Biking" was re-invented, refined and given a name in the U S of A in the 70s.
OPINION
willbowden
Dirt Disciple
gerryattrick":w7ch4r18 said:
Quite true.
We ALL rode cheap steel racing bikes with straight handlebars offroad round here in the late 70s. Cowhorn bars were the thing although they made some gateways a bit of a challenge. Nobody thought it was anything unusual.
Will
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For me at least, much like vacuum cleaners and hoovers, 'Mountain Biking' is really just a brand name which has entered the common vernacular to describe a type of cycling.
The main difference between the mindset of the Rough Stuff Fellowship and the more modern Mountain Biker is the perceived importance of actually riding the bike on one hand, or simply just having the bike with you on the other. In many cases for the RSF it's more about the challenge of the terrain than necessarily being able to ride it.
Rough stuffers and pass stormers would/will think nothing of carrying a bike for 90% of an unrideable (and preferably snowbound) route. In fact it appeals to the expeditionist within them.
Whereas the mindset of a mountain biker is to ride as much as possible no matter how steep and technical, and as fast as possible.
In California in the 1970's, the addition of a range of gears to old bikes and the influence of road and then off-road competitions led to the development of what became the 'Mountain Bike'.
Mountain bike is just the name that stuck. I suppose it could just as easily have been the klunker, the fat tyre, the ballooner, the all terrain bike etc etc.
This certainly shouldn't in any way undermine those very significant developments in the 70's which paved the path to the modern mountain bike. It's nice to be able to put things into a wider context too though.
The main difference between the mindset of the Rough Stuff Fellowship and the more modern Mountain Biker is the perceived importance of actually riding the bike on one hand, or simply just having the bike with you on the other. In many cases for the RSF it's more about the challenge of the terrain than necessarily being able to ride it.
Rough stuffers and pass stormers would/will think nothing of carrying a bike for 90% of an unrideable (and preferably snowbound) route. In fact it appeals to the expeditionist within them.
Whereas the mindset of a mountain biker is to ride as much as possible no matter how steep and technical, and as fast as possible.
In California in the 1970's, the addition of a range of gears to old bikes and the influence of road and then off-road competitions led to the development of what became the 'Mountain Bike'.
Mountain bike is just the name that stuck. I suppose it could just as easily have been the klunker, the fat tyre, the ballooner, the all terrain bike etc etc.
This certainly shouldn't in any way undermine those very significant developments in the 70's which paved the path to the modern mountain bike. It's nice to be able to put things into a wider context too though.
utahdog2003
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old_coyote_pedaller
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My friend and I, sometimes with our younger brothers, rode our bikes on tracks off-road in the '60's. They were basic road bikes that we had fitted steel riser bars to, and grippier wider tyres as they were what was available in the local bike shop in Leven, they were also cheaper than proper road tyres which was important to us skint teenagers.
I also remember replacing my single speed free-wheel with a screw-on fixed gear as, again, it was cheaper than a new free-wheel. We cycled along the coast to places like Elie, Lower Largo and Shell Bay by using paths through and beside the golf-courses and alongside the old railway line.
Wasn't called mountain-biking but it was off-roadish.
I also remember replacing my single speed free-wheel with a screw-on fixed gear as, again, it was cheaper than a new free-wheel. We cycled along the coast to places like Elie, Lower Largo and Shell Bay by using paths through and beside the golf-courses and alongside the old railway line.
Wasn't called mountain-biking but it was off-roadish.
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