KHS Bicycles was started in 1974 as an offshoot of the KHS Group 1), to distribute KHS bicycles in the US. KHS stands for Kong-Hsue-Sheh which in Chinese means “Contribution to School and Society,” and has been adapted in English to stand for “Knowledge, Health, and Strength.” 2)
..
..
KHS has been owned and operated by many generations of the Hsieh family of Taiwan.
khsbicycles.com.tw
A pure cruiser with gears. Later 1982 Sundancers used a diamond frame with the same gearing and looked a lot like the 1982 Schwinn Sidewinder. Nonetheless, it was marketed as a mountain bike in ads placed in the Fat Tire Flyer magazine starting in 1981.3)
Fat Tire Flyer, Vol. 2 No. 2, March/April 1982, page 11
A very early mountain bike magazine ad 4).
1981 Sundancer
bmxmuseum
15 speeds. KHS, Schwinn and SR all sold their own Sierra Sport named mountain bikes in the 1980s.
1982 Sierra Sport
bmxmuseuma
1983 Expedition
mtbr
Montaña is Spanish for mountain. R&E Cycles of Seattle also manufactured a Montaña at this time, briefly5).
1984 Montaña
facebook
“KHS Sport”, Shimano RD-AL11 rear (1984-86), Aero crankset (?), biplane forks, cantilever brakes (1984 used side pull,) slingshot stem (1984 used bullmoose,) headtube frame gusset. Or, is the above 1984 really a 1985 and this is a 1986? Catalogs?
1985 Montaña
photo by mtbtimeline,
property of Silicon Valley Bike Exchange
Columbus tubing, SunTour XC 9000 (1987-8), RollerCams, Tange headset.
1987 Montana Team
mtbr
Tange triple butted & lugged, Deore (1987-8), Biopace.
1988 Montana Pro
mtbr
Tange lugged frame. Shimano XT M732 (1989 only).
1989 Montana XT
retrobike
TIG welded True Temper tubing. Shimano Deore DX (1989-91).
1990 Montana Comp
http://www.velocipedebikeproject.org/sold-bikes2