mtb-timeline

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<div column 50% #intro>
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===== Lawwill-Knight Overview =====
Motorcycle racing legend Mert Lawwill and Terry Knight were convinced by Don Koski to go into making mountain bikes long before they were popular, or commercially successful. Don Koski would later who would go onto making the Koski Trailmaster.  By 1982, Specialized and Univega's entry into mass production squeezed cheaper makers, especially those who had other lucrative careers to pursue.

<blockquote>
[In 1977] Don and brother Dave used electrical conduit and re-used frame components from a Schwinn Varsity to put together another off-road frame. In 1978, Mert Lawwill, a customer of the Cove Bike Shop and 1969 AMA Grand National Motorcycle Champion, took an interest. Using Don’s frame and Cook Brothers fork as prototypes, Mert had Terry Knight, his welder at the Harley-Davidson “skunk works” in Hayward, produce the Lawwill-Knight ProCruiser. Don and Dave spec’d the parts. By 1979, gleaming chrome-moly steel ProCruisers were filling the ranks of Marin mountain bike rides.
<cite>
Wend Cragg [[https://www.facebook.com/wende.cragg/posts/pfbid0225PA3BkHtuL69LimL241ft5FFZUCpggp9YNPotyZjhhZ3Sc5vUfJnYU7s46VqTCgl|facebook]]
</cite>
</blockquote>

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{{lawwill.jpg?300|Mert Lawwill}}
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Mert Lawwill circa 1979 at Corona Raceway on his Pro Cruiser.\\
[[https://www.instagram.com/p/BawUx6WHDXp/?utm_source=ig_embed|instagram]]
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<div column 50% #s1977>
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===== 1977 Prototype =====
Don Koski posing with Pro Cruiser prototype.  Drum brakes, no front derailleur, no braze-ons, BMX stem & bars.  Built by Don & Dave Koski, before Mert Lawwill's involvement.  Erik Koski, the 3rd Koski brother, would later go on to make the [[koski:start|Koski Trailmaster]] mountain bike.


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<div column 45%>
{{1977.jpg?300| 1977 Prototype}}
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Don Koski posing with 1977 Prototype,
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Photo by Don Koski,
[[https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=1704760623097387&set=p.1704760623097387&type=3|facebook]]

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<div column 50% #procruiser>
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===== 1978 Pro Cruiser =====
Inspired by the Schwinn Varsity, early Pro Cruisers had "these itty bitty Sturmery-Archer street drum brakes with spiral wound cable housing."(([[https://www.bluetrainpublishing.com/books-blog/being-gary-fisher|Being Gary Fisher]], page 129)) Later upgraded with cantilever brakes and a front derailleur. A clear evolutionary link between cruisers and mountain bikes. Original cost was $500.

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<div column 45%>
{{procruiser.jpg?300}}
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Lawwill-Knight Pro Cruiser.
[[http://mombatbicycles.com/MOMBAT/Bikes/1978_Pro_Cruiser_Red.html|mombat]]
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<div column 50% #s1979>
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===== 1979 Pro Cruiser =====
SunTour VX (1970s -> 82), rear cantilevers, Sturmey Archer front drum brakes, no front derailleur.  Unknown stem - it's not a Mert Lawwill stem.  The date is uncertain - but its more evolved than the 1978 model with cable stops and cantilever brakes.
Offered for sale March 12, 2023, $2500 on [[https://www.facebook.com/groups/927406034014215/permalink/6019015208186580|facebook]].  Sold in less than 30 minutes.

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<div column 45%>
{{1979.jpg?300| 1979 Pro Cruiser}}
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1979 Pro Cruiser
[[https://www.facebook.com/groups/927406034014215/permalink/6019015208186580|facebook]].  
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<div column 50% #s1980>
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===== 1980 Pro Cruiser =====
Sturmey Archer drum brakes front and rear, Shimano RD-6200 600EX rear derailleur (1978-84) with a newer (& longer) cage, multi-part Lawwill Stem.


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<div column 45%>
{{1980.jpg?300| 1980 Pro Cruiser}}
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1980 Pro Cruiser
[[https://www.facebook.com/groups/211535629180223/permalink/2105090299824737/|facebook]].  
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<div column 50% #s1981>
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===== 1981 Pro Cruiser =====
Components from every era: ubrakes on new front fork, Shimano light action rear L532 (1987-88), bullmoose bars, strap on cables, cantilever rears.  The owner bought the frame direct from Don Koski without parts or decals.

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<div column 45%>
{{1981.jpg?300| 1981 Pro Cruiser}}
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1981 Pro Cruiser
[[https://www.facebook.com/groups/235433082462/permalink/10156555254872463/|facebook]].  
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<div column 50% #s1982>
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===== 1982 Lawwill-Knight Trail-Blazer =====
Not original parts or fork.  Purchased direct from Mert Lawwill in Tiburon.
\\


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{{1983.jpg?300|1982 Trail-Blazer}}
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1982 Lawwill-Knight Trail-Blazer
[[https://www.facebook.com/groups/927406034014215/posts/3105680482853415|facebook]]
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<div column 95% #cat>
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===== 1982 Catalog Scans =====
{{cat1.jpg?160}}
{{cat2.jpg?160}}
{{cat3.jpg?160}}
{{cat4.jpg?160}}
{{cat5.jpg?160}}
{{cat6.jpg?160}}

Pics from [[https://www.mtbr.com/threads/lawwill-pro-cruiser.718737/page-2#lg=thread-718737&slide=6|mtbr]] an [[https://www.facebook.com/groups/927406034014215/posts/3105680482853415|facebook]]


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<div column 50% #s1984>
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===== 1985 Pro Cruiser =====
Mid-80's resto-mod of a 1978/79 Pro Cruiser performed by a bike shop and originally sold as seen here.

Pro Cruisers were often purchased as bare frames and customers decorated them with parts from every era.  This frame was heavily modified in the mid 80's.  Did it retain some original equipment or was it sold new with cantilevers and u-brakes?  Why then leave the 1970s era derailleurs and cranks?  Or was it originally sold in 1985 as is?  Given the divergent component mix and frame paint patina  - well, it's impossible to say.  For now, this will be classified as a 1985 resto-mod with nods to it klunker/bmx heritage.

SunTour V-GT Luxe (1978-82), TA Pro 5 Vis Cyclotourist crankset (1970s), bmx stem and bars (other early Pro Cruisers had custom stems,)  horizontal dropouts, Cook Bros BB, BMX stem, SunTour Rollercam brakes (1985-88), brazed on cable guides, unicrown fork, MAFAC-like cantilever front brakes (no MAFAC logo,)


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<div column 45%>
{{1985.jpg?300|1985 Pro Cruiser}}
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1985 Pro Cruiser
[[https://santabarbara.craigslist.org/bik/d/santa-barbara-lawwill-pro-cruiser/7818809228.html|craigslist]]
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==== Production Notes ====
<WRAP #prod1 />
[1]. First bike in 1978, 600 made by 1982: Cycle World
<WRAP #prod2 />
[2]. 75 bikes in 1979: [[https://www.amazon.com/Birth-Dirt-Origins-Mountain-Biking/dp/1892495619|The Birth of Dirt (3rd ed.) by Frank J. Berto]]
<WRAP #prod3 />
[3]. 600 made in total. Last year: 1983. See: [[https://dirtscrolls.com/14942486-blast-from-the-past-specialty-files-1981-lawwill-knight-pro-cruiser|dirtscrolls.com]]