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prehist:start [2023/06/30 20:37] – mtbtimelineprehist:start [2025/06/26 13:57] (current) – mtbtimeline
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 ===== Pre-History ===== ===== Pre-History =====
  
-Long before the [[people:repack:start|Repack DH Race]] there were many pre-MTB bikes that would visually fit right into the timeline.   Most of these capable off-roaders didn't evolve into the go-anywhere (especially downhill) focus of the Marin mountain bikes.  The final Marin efforts to re-invent the bike worked because they had:+Long before the [[people:repack|Repack DH Race]] there were many pre-MTB bikes that would visually fit right into the timeline.   Most of these capable off-roaders didn't evolve into the go-anywhere (especially downhill) focus of the Marin mountain bikes.  The final Marin efforts to re-invent the bike worked because they had:
  
   * A decade of people Klunking on single speed cruisers through the Mt. Tam woods.   * A decade of people Klunking on single speed cruisers through the Mt. Tam woods.
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 Other bicycles came close to critical mass of MTB genesis and deserve to be mentioned. Other bicycles came close to critical mass of MTB genesis and deserve to be mentioned.
 +
 +{{huret.jpg?160|Huret Duopar}}
 +{{texas.jpg?200|Otis Guy's clunker}}
 +\\
 +Secret ingredients for a decent off-roader: derailleur, knobby tires & cantilever brakes.
 +\\
 +1976 Huret Duopar Titanium rear derailleur: [[https://en.der-ritzler.de/products/huret-duopar-titanium-schaltwerk|der-ritzler]]
 +\\
 +Tires & brakes: 
 +Otis Guy's Repack racer:  Uniroyal Nobby tires, fork truss, Schwinn cantilevers 
 +with motorcycle cables. [[https://www.mtbr.com/threads/coolest-interbike-bike-otis-guy%E2%80%99s-vintage-r
 +epack-racer.1171306/|mtbr]]
 +
 +
 +
 +
 </div> </div>
  
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 ===== Rough Stuff Fellowship, 1955 -> today ===== ===== Rough Stuff Fellowship, 1955 -> today =====
  
-The oldest off-road cycling club, the Rough Stuff fellows took their skinny tyred bikes everywhere where bikes were not meant to go.  Cycling with fenders, internal gearing, while wearing wool, sturdy boots and pride in their eccentricity.  Marin mountain biking grew out of racing down hill and yet MTBs also satisfied the more important off-road cycling urge: exploration and adventure.  British remained attached to their more attractive internal hubs for many years after MTBs took hold in the UK.+The oldest off-road cycling club, the Rough Stuff fellows took their skinny tyred bikes everywhere where bikes were not meant to go.  Cycling with fenders, internal gearing, while wearing wool, sturdy boots and pride in their eccentricity.  Marin mountain biking grew out of racing down hill and yet MTBs also satisfied the more important off-road cycling urge: exploration and adventure.  The British have remained attached to their more attractive internal hubs for many years after MTBs took hold in the UK.
 \\ \\
  
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 ===== Clunkers ===== ===== Clunkers =====
  
-Clunkers((Or sometimes spelled Klunker with a "K."  Klunker first appears in print in Crested Butte in 1978.  The Repack group and local newspapers used "Clunker" from about 1976 to 1982 and gradually both words became interchangeable.)) were the link from bikes to mountain bikes.+Clunkers((Or sometimes spelled Klunker with a "K."  Klunker first appears in print in Crested Butte in 1978.  The Repack group and local newspapers used "Clunker" from about 1976 to 1982 and gradually both words became interchangeable.)) were the link from road bikes to mountain bikes.
 The [[people:repack|Repack]] race started in 1976 with clunkers: converted cruisers with added gearing, coaster brakes and 26" knobby tires. The [[people:repack|Repack]] race started in 1976 with clunkers: converted cruisers with added gearing, coaster brakes and 26" knobby tires.
 The need to go faster and survive the 1300' Repack drop in less than five minutes created better frames, forks, brakes and gearing which became the MTB.  To be sure, the 70's clunkers were downhill worthy: seven of the top ten Repack times were on clunkers((These are from the twenty four official Repack races, which mostly occurred before mountain bikes became generally available.  In the past few years a very people have bested Gary Fisher's 4:22 record using fully suspended bikes.  See [[https://www.strava.com/segments/1129111|Strava Repack DH Historical]].)) The need to go faster and survive the 1300' Repack drop in less than five minutes created better frames, forks, brakes and gearing which became the MTB.  To be sure, the 70's clunkers were downhill worthy: seven of the top ten Repack times were on clunkers((These are from the twenty four official Repack races, which mostly occurred before mountain bikes became generally available.  In the past few years a very people have bested Gary Fisher's 4:22 record using fully suspended bikes.  See [[https://www.strava.com/segments/1129111|Strava Repack DH Historical]].))
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   * [[http://cbklunkers.com/page.cfm?pageid=12|cblunkers]]   * [[http://cbklunkers.com/page.cfm?pageid=12|cblunkers]]
   * [[https://localfreshies.com/oldest-mountain-biking-event-in-the-world-pearl-pass-tour/|localfreshies]]   * [[https://localfreshies.com/oldest-mountain-biking-event-in-the-world-pearl-pass-tour/|localfreshies]]
 +  * [[https://web.archive.org/web/20040530234428/http://www.mtnbikehalloffame.com/history.cfm?page=4|mtnbikehalloffame archive]]
  
 </div> </div>
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 ---- ----
 ===== Miscellaneous ===== ===== Miscellaneous =====
 +
  
 {{jfs.jpg?400|JFS}} {{jfs.jpg?400|JFS}}
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 </div> </div>
 <div column 45%> <div column 45%>
 +=== John Finley Scott ===
 John Finley Scott, a Professor of Sociology at UC Davis, owner of the Cupertino Bike Shop, first investor in Kelly/Fisher MountainBikes and also to Tom Ritchey, coiner of the term "Bullmoose Handlebars" and early designer of off road bicycles was hugely influential in guiding mountain biking's story. John Finley Scott, a Professor of Sociology at UC Davis, owner of the Cupertino Bike Shop, first investor in Kelly/Fisher MountainBikes and also to Tom Ritchey, coiner of the term "Bullmoose Handlebars" and early designer of off road bicycles was hugely influential in guiding mountain biking's story.
 \\ \\
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 </div> </div>
  
 +<div column 50% #misc2>
 +----
  
 +{{tank.jpg?400|Tankagnolo}}
 +\\
 +Tankagnolo, 1975
 +[[http://mtbprehistory.blogspot.com/2007/09/mountain-bike-prehistory-tankagnolo.html|mtbprehistory]]
 +</div>
 +
 +<div column 45%>
 +==== Tankagnolo ====
 +Bob Crispin built up a few geared cruisers with disc brakes in Spokane Washington for trail riding, starting in 1974.  See Bob's blog at: [[http://mtbprehistory.blogspot.com/2007/09/mountain-bike-prehistory-tankagnolo.html|mtbprehistory]] and also: [[https://mmbhof.org/portfolio/1974-first-mountain-bike-with-a-disc-brake-tankagnlolo-and-first-mountain-bike-in-the-pacific-northwest/|mmbhof]]
 +\\
 +
 +Tankagnlolo, by Bob Cripsin, 1975.  
 +1930's Schwinn Varsity donor frame, Shimano disc brakes, Shimano Crane derailleurs, cruiser balloon tire wheels.
 +
 +
 +
 +</div>
 +
 +<div column 50% #misc3>
 +----
 +
 +{{1976.jpg?400|1976 Andy Gilmour}}
 +\\
 +Andy Gilmour, 1976
 +\\
 +Extensively rebuilt.  
 +[[https://www.facebook.com/groups/927406034014215/permalink/5790405547714215|facebook]]
 +</div>
 +
 +<div column 45%>
 +==== Gilmour Cycles ====
 +Andy Gilmour has hand built over 5,000 racing bicycle frames and complete bikes since 1974 out of his shop in Tuscon, Arizona.  He built a very few ATBs starting in 1975/6, which he called "cycle trucks."  The example here has been rebuilt with "newer" components and removed a brazed on rack - but retains its bi-plane fork, 73/73 geometry, BMX style braking, handlebars and horizontal, rear drop-outs.  ((This exact bike was listed on [[https://austin.craigslist.org/bik/d/gilmer-gilmour-atb/7761838418.html|Craigslist]] in Austin, TX for $2,500 on June 30, 2024.))
 +\\
 +
 +See:
 +
 +  * [[https://www.pinkbike.com/u/bikejerks/blog/mountain-biking-history-the-first-purpose-built-mtb-1976-andy-gilmour-cycle-truck.html|pinkbike]]
 +  * [[https://bikejerks.com/blogs/news/the-first-purpose-built-mtb-1976-andy-gilmours|bikejerks]]
 +
 +
 +</div>
  
  
  
  
prehist/start.1688182666.txt.gz · Last modified: by mtbtimeline