The History Of Mountain Bikes - From Klunkerz to Stumpy

One of the pioneers of Mountain Biking said it this way:  There are only three things wrong with cycling, cars, cops, and pavement, and out in the woods you eliminate all three.  While off road cycling and even mountain biking can trace their beginning to the19th century, the organized concept, the sport, and the mass production of bikes for both began in Marin California in the mid '70's with a group of friends with names like Breeze and Cunningham and FIsher.

According to all of the histories, and most have disagreements about some things, a young rider named Mike Sinyard was not among the first group of Klunkerz riders who rode and raced on Fire Trails and started CORBA racing.  But he was in the second waive, and by 1981 had introduced the "trail blazing" Stumpjumper.  This first "mass produced" mountain bike was a game changer of major proportions.  Not only did mountain biking become a major component of the industry, but the adult riders who stayed in the sport long after the normal jump to auto's at age 16, single handedly saved the independent bike shops from extinction in the 1990's.

According to bicycle industry writer and pundit, Randy Kirk, "the demographics didn't look good for cycling circa 1990.  The baby boom was all past 16.  The X gen had 1,000, 000 fewer people per year than the baby boom.  To make matters worse, the X gen kids were not into cycling.  They had their video games, and their mom's were, how do spell 'overprotective.'"  Without the mountain bikes and the adults who rode them, the remaining bmx and road bikes would have virtually all been sold in mass market stores.

The constant improvements in performance, safety, and eye popping good looks of the mountain bike has brought young and old, women and men, enthusiasts and weekenders to love riding the trails. 

Today's mountain bike is a far cry from the converted steel framed, single gear bikes that started it all.  In fact, even on entry-level cross country bikes, the closest cousin to the originals, almost every component and part has been modified time and again to improve speed, performance, comfort, and safety.

Rock N' Road founder Matt Ford explained it this way:  "The original bikes had no suspension, no gears, and internal hub type brakes that would overheat on a major hill.  The wheel and tires were designed for street, and not for grabbing a rock strewn trail."

Even when I started seriously riding downhill in the mid '80's, any serious descent was an invitation to disaster at every turn.  While better brakes were a necessity waiting for an invention, the thing that opened the door to all comers was suspension."

The average rider probably thinks that suspension is about comfort, but truly it is far more about staying upright.  Specialized FSR suspension, with its full integration into the frame and drivetrain of the bike, creates a dynamic system designed to provide stability over all kinds of terrain.  Check out this video to see just how the FSR works.

The other huge factor in bringing the trail bike to weekend warriors has been getting the weight off.  The original bikes were upwards of 50 pounds, and while early technology trimmed that quickly, the last 5 years have seen some amazing advances in cutting weight on the lower priced products.