a:A Sort History of Mountain Biking

Some may think mountain biking is a new adaptation but its roots can be traced to the Buffalo Soldiers

By Alex Strzetelski

Characterizing the history of mountain biking is an interesting task right from the beginning. The first 150 years, or so, of biking in general could be characterized as mountain biking in terms of today’s “sport.” This was, generally, because there were no real roads to speak of. For the most part, “roads” were more like mud trails unless the rider came across one of the few trade rout roads being constructed in the later part of the 19th century or wasin an urban setting.

Although some may disagree, the first signs of what might be called a mountain bike tour came about with a 1,600 mile round trip by the “Buffalo Soldiers” out of Montana. This group of black infantry men, led by a white lieutenant, were charged with investigating the possibility of using bikes for military applications. Their bikes were appropriately modified and taken over some rather difficult terrain.
Using this example as one of the first applications of bikes in the mountains may be dubious when considering what we call mountain biking today, although it does fit a certain set of criteria. Modified bikes were used to ride, where possible, in the mountains.

A More “Modern” Characterization

To reach what is more often referred to as mountain biking a jump of roughly fifty years needs to be taken. In the 1950’s, bikes were again being modified and then modified again. Although there were many companies and brands involved Schwinn became an inclusive term to describe not only the bike in general but the modified version as well. The characteristics found on today’s mountain bikes began to appear in some form or another from these modifications. Some of these characteristics included:
Wider tires
Stripped down frames
Better breaks

At this point there was, again, a certain stagnation in the development of what is now considered a mountain bike. The first names of the soon to be sport, however, began to appear. Stump jumper was one of the first names given to a stripped down version of this type of bike (and the name given to the first commercially viable “modern” mountain bike company of note.) These names and types of bikes are still used off road and in urban settings today, although most people would not know to call them this. Generally, they go by “bike.” Oddly, these bikes have made a certain resurgence and are being offered by manufacturers in the early part of the 21st century although they were very much supplanted by the events that began to unfold in the late 1970’s.

The “modern” mountain bike

Although there is a certain amount of discrepancy with regard to the exact date (1974, ’76, ’77) and location this period is considered to be the founding era of the modern mountain bike. There are two competing groups for the honor of founding the activity, one in Marin, CA and one in Colorado. Some will dispute the decision but the Marin California choice is the one that the Mountain Bike Hall of Fame chooses to recognize as the founding location.

With deference to the Morrow Dirt Club, who were making modifications to their own bikes at the time, a group of riders began to modify their own bikes to ride in the hills around the county. Largely a group of escapees from an emerging (from rampant drug addiction and poor economy) and growing San Francisco this group began modifying their bikes for riding on Mount Tamalpais (Mt. Tam.) The group (Joe Breeze, Otis Guy, Gary Fisher and Keith Bontrager) would ride in a fashion of abandon down the mountain to see who could cover a set course the quickest. To navigate turns they would burn out breaks and need to modify them so they could complete the course more quickly. It is largely this factor that introduced a bike called a repacker. The bikes breaks got so hot that they would have to repack them with more grease because it melted away.

And so it began

As word spread about these people and their bike modifications the race down the mountain became a destination for the many riders working to modify their bikes along the same lines as the original Mt. Tam riders. Modifications came and went but not before one of the more finished prototypes was arrived at through riders sharing and stealing ideas. Unfortunately, society caught up with this group and the racing at Mt. Tam ended as insurance requirements could not be worked out. Some of the resulting ideas, however, made there way into current bikes through the founding of StumpJumper by Gary Fisher. Some of these bike elements included:
Lighter frames
Disk breaks (from Morrow Dirt Club)
Higher gearing
Differing shifting mechanisms
Tire configurations
Quickly changing evolution

From this point forward the evolution of the mountain bike has been staggering. New innovations are a regular occurrence and are often found at the many professional events that are staged annually. Differing riding styles have been developed as riders learn what the bikes are capable of doing in differing terrain conditions. Naturally, larger companies have entered the market to make it a very large revenue generator.

Some of the new riding styles that have emerged since that time at Mt. Tam include:
Downhill
Cross country
Dirt jumping
Free riding
Each of these styles has a unique feel to it. The downhill is an all out mad dash to the bottom of a mountain for the quickest time. The cross country event is a fast ride along a trail with many obstacles to traverse along the way. The free ride is a combination and a fun ride to wherever a rider may choose and the dirt jumping event is one of style and form found when the rider jumps off a mound of dirt (loosely speaking of course.)