How the Mountain Bike Was Invented
The mountain bike wasn’t the result of a eureka moment by a brilliant inventor in his basement. It wasn’t developed by a research team at a big corporation. It wasn’t the brainchild of a marketing team. The mountain bike evolved from a group of people doing what they felt like doing. “We were just havin’ fun.” - Joe Breeze
In the mid 1970’s somebody in a group of friends including Joe Breeze, Otis Guy, Charlie Kelly, and Gary Fisher had the idea to ride their bikes down the rutted dirt fire roads on Mount Tamalpais in Marin County California. That proved to be a brilliant idea, but it was hard on equipment. They started raiding the local bike shops for pre World War II single speed junker bikes with stout frames and balloon tires that could stand up to combination of rough roads and speed. The 40 pound bikes became affectionately known as klunkers. Riding one was called klunking.
Before long the friends started racing downhill. More people joined them, and the events became known as the repack races. Riders would have to repack their hubs after every run because the combination of dirt and riding the coaster brake all the way down the mountains broke down the grease.