
Hippie Daredevils Who Invented Mountain Biking - BobbyVsTheDevil
http://www.collectorsweekly.com/articles/the-hippie-daredevils-who-were-just-crazy-enough-to-invent-mountain-biking/
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vondur
As an avid mountain biker, this article reminds me about the pure fun of
riding in the outdoors. You don't need to spend 5K+ to do so. The technology
in mountain biking has really taken off in the last 15 years. I can ride
trails that only people on downhill bikes would have done 10 years ago, and
the bike weighs less than 30lbs, making pedaling up hills not a problem.
Enduro mountain bike racing has really taken off in the last few years and
really captures the essence of mountain biking. It's a good time to be into
mountain bikes. Here are a couple of examples of the new generation of Enduro
Bikes:

[http://www.giant-bicycles.com/en-
us/bikes/model/reign.advanc...](http://www.giant-bicycles.com/en-
us/bikes/model/reign.advanced.27.5.1/18765/76217/#technologies)

[http://www.specialized.com/us/en/bikes/mountain/enduro/endur...](http://www.specialized.com/us/en/bikes/mountain/enduro/enduro-
elite-650b)

Both are relatively decently priced with good specs.

~~~
rcraft
Any advice on bikes if I don't want to spend $5k?

~~~
collyw
Something like this will be good enough to get an idea if you like the sport
or not, and is a fraction of the price.

[http://www.eriksbikeshop.com/Specialized-2014-Hardrock-
Base-...](http://www.eriksbikeshop.com/Specialized-2014-Hardrock-Base-
Mountain-Bike/PR3C12480/Product)

Many bikes in this price range have similar frames and components. The
components won't last as long as on a better bike, but will be good enough to
get you started. After that you pretty much get what you pay for in improved
components. Its like buying a computer - the more you spend the better
components you get but the higher you go, the less gain you are likely to
notice (unless you are really pushing limits).

If you are keener to commit and spend a bit more trail centres should be able
to rent you a trail bike.

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geargrinder
The reason Ritchey, Fisher, and the rest of their group are known as the
"founders of mountain biking" is because they were the first to make bikes for
others to also enjoy off-road riding.

Lots of people rode off-road, down mountains and on trails before them. But
they were the first to turn it into a successful business.

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marincounty
Charlie Kelly doesn't get enough credit for the mountain bike. It was Gary
Fisher and Charlie Kelly who started a company in order to build mountian
bikes.

As life goes, they had dissagrements--and Charlie walked away. Charlie was the
bike builder, and the bike mechanic. Without Charle I don't think Marin
Mountian bikes would have ever build bikes?

The shop was on Tundtead Ave. There was always a thick cloud of the early 80's
in the air. The bikes were stunning.

There were so many people who thought they would never be successful, but the
bikes started to sell-- and the rest is history. The people who thought they
would fold were adults. All the kids who drooled over the bikes(myself); knew
different, but knew it was still a very risky business. As a chid, I would
look into the shop and I used to say to myself "I hope they are still in
business when I earn enough to buy one."

As to Charlie Kelly; I don't think he is rich, but he looks younger than the
rest of the guys, and seems genuinely happy. It's not just about money?

I wouldn't label them as Hippies though. They were just young guys who liked
riding bikes(road and mountan). Young guys who didn't want to follow in their
fathers footsteps? Putting on that tie and spending years at same company
seemed like a prison sentence years ago.

(I let my brother use my bike and he eventually destroyed it. Then someone
stole it. Somethings never change.)

~~~
jusben1369
I used to see Kelly on Skyline in Oakland in the mid 90's on a Kelly frame. I
knew he was a somebody but didn't know the story. Did he move to the East Bay?

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eplanit
Aside from all the other interesting history, it's great to recollect the pre-
spandex, pre-"fashion" days of the sport.

~~~
scarecrowbob
I don't see why spandex is fashion. I don't wear it because I look good in it
(I think it looks dumb, and I'm old enough to start to have a belly), I wear
it because it's hot in Texas and it is the least amount of clothes I can wear
and still feel like I have enough clothes on.

Now, bar ends and disc brakes, that's fashion. :D

~~~
taude
Disc brakes, fashion? You must not be riding the right trails.

~~~
scott_karana
No kidding, especially when you consider mud.

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was_hellbanned
_“The reason mountain biking is so popular,” says Charlie Kelly, “is that it’s
one of the only ways in modern life that you can turn on your adrenaline pump,
and leave it on for a long time. You can go big-wave surfing or skydiving, but
downhill bike riding gives you all the adrenaline you can handle._

I find that quote funny and sad, given that any skidding on trails in that
area are now highly ticketable offenses, and have been since at least the
early 1990s.

Given the popularity of mountain biking these days, it's ironic that I now
find it easier to get my thrills by doing downhill _road_ cycling. I don't
have to worry (much) about coming across a cyclist or pedestrian in the middle
of the road, and cars are the only thing slowing me down.

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perrygeo
Check out the documentary, Klunkerz
([http://www.klunkerz.com/](http://www.klunkerz.com/))

~~~
jmspring
It is referenced at the very end of the article and is quite a fun flick.

The Marin Museum of Bicycling is worth a visit if you are in that part of the
Bay Area (oh, and grab a beer or two in the near by breweries...)
[http://mmbhof.org](http://mmbhof.org)

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hindsightbias
All these bikes were at the SFO International Terminal awhile back. It was
pretty neat seeing all the old frames again and the evolution.

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bsimpson
It's crazy that Gary Fisher, Robin Williams, and Pete Carroll all went to high
school together.

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Theodores
This is great history, however there is more to the craze of mountain biking
than these tales of pioneering legend.

History can be taught as 'kings, queens and their wars' or it can be told in
terms of economic and social things. With the mountain biking craze not much
has been written about why it did take off like it did - really very few
people knew who Fisher, Breeze, Ritchey et al. were. People just wanted a
mountain bike for some reason.

I also don't believe that these mountain bike pioneers were really that
pioneering - since the invention of the bicycle people have been cycling off
road and enjoying the thrills of descending at speed. It is kind of a natural
thing to do. To a certain extent the bikes that came before mountain bikes -
BMX - were off-road bikes albeit with small wheels although you could get
medium flavour wheels with a BMX.

My revisionist view of the mountain bike craze is to see it as a natural
reaction to what politicians, planners and motorists were doing to our roads.
Back in the day roads were many times more deadly than they are today with
country roads unrestricted so 'idiots' could drive them far too fast to
possibly stop for any cyclists that might be using them. As a consequence, in
the 70's and 80's roads were not at all safe for cyclists and the only
cyclists that would use them would be doing so for reasons different to today.

As well as the instant danger roads back then were laced with deadly poisons
from cars that are incredible to think about. Imagine putting lead in
petrol?!? Who would have thought that was a good idea?

Cycling is enjoyable - that is a statement of fact. Cycling on dangerous roads
is no fun at all (unless you really enjoy that, which I can understand). So
mountain bikes came along and just filled a need for something that had been
denied by the motoring thing.

Shimano did great things to get mountain biking started - they did a fantastic
job of creating easy to service brakes, gears and other components. European
component suppliers just did not get their act together which was their loss.
Yet again, despite how wonderful Shimano were there were wider economic
factors - the Yen was a fairly worthless currency at the time so Shimano parts
were amazingly cheap given how high quality they were compared to their
European counterparts.

The frames for the bikes and the bikes themselves tended to come from 'new'
suppliers. Older brands that made 'lugged' frames lost out. The factories in
the Far East (Taiwan) that had been built to TiG weld chromoly steel tubes
were the ones making the mountain bikes. For them this was a natural
progression from the BMX that had gone before. As contract manufacturers 'OEM
partners' they took the brands that the likes of Fisher had started and
churned out some real product, this being the right product at the right time.

Mountain bikes also rode on the crest of a wave of a consumer boom. Money was
cheap and along with all the other consumer gizmos of the time, mountain bikes
sold very nicely.

So, although the Marin County history is fun, the real story of why the
mountain bike happened has more to do with the tragedy of the roads and
economic circumstance at home and in the Far East.

~~~
ghaff
It's hard to say why certain types of activities take off.

Inline skating (aka Rollerblading) came out of nowhere to become a very
popular activity by the late 80s or thereabouts. (It predates that but that
was around the time it really took off in the US.) Today, my observation in at
least the places I live and visit is that it's essentially gone away--in spite
of the increased availability of paved rail trails and the like.

Recreational kayaks have replaced canoes to a large degree.

Paddleboards are probably the hottest new thing in the watersports arena.

That said, you're right about both the technology aspects and the fact that
road cycling was less prevalent and generally more dangerous at the time
mountain biking came onto the scene.

~~~
maxerickson
I think a lot of the kayak story is price. And portability (so to speak
anyway).

~~~
ghaff
I think it's more that it's technically easier--especially for a single person
(and lighter/easier to load and unload from car/get in water for that single
person). And, yes, Royalex has gotten to be a terrible price but given the
same materials, kayaks aren't necessarily cheaper.

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lafar6502
great article

