http://www.mtbtr.com/uploads/268H2.JPG
Missi “The Missile” Giove (DH for Yeti in mid 90’s), wore her dried pet pirahna around her neck for luck..IIRC it was called Gonzo.

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2046/1587114190_2bdd523a87.jpg
Jaquie Phelan (MTB Pioneer / WOMBATS founder)

http://www.retrobike.co.uk/gallery2/main.php?g2_view=core.DownloadItem&g2_itemId=11860&g2_serialNumber=2
and Cindy Whitehead (Klein team rider in the early 90’s, rode 90 of a 100 mile race with no seat after the post broke!) Also rode DH and slalom on a fully rigid Klein (and boy were they rigid!)

SSP

Who…? ^^^

Fantastical

Who…? ^^^

nathan rennie.

i wouldn’t really say the athertons are fantastical mtb characters, though it’s very unusual to misjudge by that much.

Sorry but aside from having a big pair of balls to try it I don’t see anything special about the Rennie jump, he was towed in and basically followed the bike between ramps. Meh. (I wouldn’t bloody try it though).

Missy was great, I got a kiss on the cheek from her back in 1993 🙂

Greg Herbold before he got all SRAMed up, Hans Rey is still great fun but I think one of the biggest characters we’ve got right now (aside from CG) is Mark Weir. Animal on the bike but top bloke.

+1 for Nathan Rennie

(I wouldn’t bloody try it though).

got it in one theres probably only a select group of people who would, besides he seems like a top guy from the video sections I’ve seen of him.

It’s difficult to tell who’s a “personality” and who isn’t if you’ve never met the people and all you have to go on are interviews about their bike set-up or a 30 second video clip of them dancing like a gibbon at an after-race piss-up. However with Steve Peat, Cedric Gracia, Nathan Rennie, Rach Atherton, Missy and the like you get the impression that as well as being veyr talented riders they’d be fun to hang out with.

I may be doing the chap a grave disservice but from that interview Rob Lee doesn’t exactly come across as the life of the party, and while he’s clearly a good endurance racer he does seem to be best known for holding a record that he invented.

tails, I remember that and agree- what vid was it from now? I remember in the vid he did a series of different disciplines and showed that he is bloody good at whatever he does on a bike!

The only MTB ‘personality’ I’ve ever met, was Dave ‘Pee-Wee’ Hemming, who fettled my Headshock for me once, in OYB London Bridge. I’d had it serviced, but it weren’t quite right, so I took it back, and he happened to be there (as a Cannondale rep). He had it in the workstand, and replaced a top-out spring in about 5 minutes. Seemed like a nice bloke.

Other cycle bods include Chris Hoy and a couple of the other Lympic boys. Posed for some pics for me at Herne Hill, before they were all famous. Very polite, friendly and unassuming.

tails, I remember that and agree- what vid was it from now? I remember in the vid he did a series of different disciplines and showed that he is bloody good at whatever he does on a bike

The pic is from a new world disorder film the one where there all dressed as prisoners, in the extras he’s traveling across Oz with some freeriders then they get to a eucalyptus forest which he flys through a warp speed. He’s also great in one of the earthed films him, hill and bryn atkinson all on iron horse at the time.

Greg Minar surly?! Such a nice guy and been in it almost as long as peaty! And mostly just because of this helmet cam:

Railing it and just chatting away to the camera!

Dave Cullinan deserves a mention in here too.

Former World DH Champ, famous for getting massive air off any trail obstacle. He developed a double front disc brake (similar to motorcycles) at one point as well, Marzocchi actually sold a set of forks with disc tabs on both legs specially for it. I think his most famous jump was between two moving cable cars on a DH run in Europe somewhere – unbelievable skills!

That was a different Dave Cullinan that developed the twin disc brake I’m afraid…

Cully’s famous jump between the cable cars was his winning downhill World Champs, wasn’t it?

I think his most famous jump was between two moving cable cars on a DH run in Europe somewhere

How on earth do you get the run up to do something like that? Even the largest cable car I’ve been in was only about 20′ long. 😉

2 questions,

1) why is there a pic of someones knakers on the first page?

2) wasnt the marzocchi 2 disk fork an accident and the brakes were made later? IIRC it was the original bomber z1’s, with formula mounts (smaller than IS) the legs were symetrical so they only used 1 casting, and as a result both had the same mounts?

‘INTERSPORT’ I thought that was a blast from the past. google tells me they are STILL in business 😮

Missy giove isnt the only one to have a BAD toupe…

IWH
Sorry but aside from having a big pair of balls to try it I don’t see anything special about the Rennie jump, he was towed in and basically followed the bike between ramps. Meh. (I wouldn’t bloody try it though).

Nothing special about hitting a ten foot ramp at 60mph, clearing a 116 foot gap? Apparently 8 people have died trying this.

But yeah, I’d imagine it’s actually really easy, hardly any skill involved at all……………..just balls.

I don’t know where you pixies came from, but I sure do like your pixie drink.

“””Rob Lee doesn’t exactly come across as the life of the party, and while he’s clearly a good endurance racer he does seem to be best known for holding a record that he invented.”””

Actually mragreeable i think you’ll find that some of those records were the invention of a certain Mr Carr – So now i don’t even know who the world champion is, could you check there underwear for rainbow stripes and get back to me please.

If we’re talking about “fantastical” MTB characters, as in mythical, Matt is definitely in there. I dunno why you seem to get so wound up by him though, he is a nice enough chap and despite his embroidery of the facts he can clearly ride a bit. Are you one ex bike shop manager with a grudge against another ex bike shop manager perchance?

Smoke, that’s not you, you just stole a picture from Vice Magazine’s Dos and Don’ts.

http://www.viceland.com/int/dos.php

Fantastical: Consisting or suggestive of fiction.
I can now see two stand-out winners in this thread!

As above, I don’t know why people get so annoyed by this sort of thing. Anyone with half a brain can see that “South Downs Way Double, with only three stops for ice cream”, is not exactly the most hotly contested achievement on a bicycle, but then nor is it so negligible as to deserve contempt. I like this sort of category picking myself, as the only way I will ever do well in a race is by entering Singlespeed Mixed Pairs One-legged, or similar.

Just don’t leave your One-Legged mixed pair single speed trophy in your car at night!

“South Downs Way Double, with only three stops for ice cream”, is not exactly the most hotly contested achievement on a bicycle, but then nor is it so negligible as to deserve contempt.

well said
it shows some dedication and fitness, but it’s hardly “fantastical” and you certainly don’t need to be a ‘character’ to do it (note: this is not to say that he isn’t a nice bloke, he might be lovely, i don’t know as i’ve never met him!)

in fact the closest rider i’ve seen to that description was the one legged bloke (brett something-or-other?) who races the Transalp/Transrockies and rides the technical sections really, really bloody well. I watched him clear one rooty, rocky descent back in 2005 – a descent that caught out the vast majority of the other racers – and thought “wow, that was fantastic” 🙂
top bloke to talk to as well, really down to earth and funny

GNARGNAR – Member

IWH
Sorry but aside from having a big pair of balls to try it I don’t see anything special about the Rennie jump, he was towed in and basically followed the bike between ramps. Meh. (I wouldn’t bloody try it though).

Nothing special about hitting a ten foot ramp at 60mph, clearing a 116 foot gap? Apparently 8 people have died trying this.

But yeah, I’d imagine it’s actually really easy, hardly any skill involved at all……………..just balls.

Oh no! I had an opinion that didn’t match yours! 😯 I’m just saying I don’t think the big air merchants (Bender et al) are anything to get excited over. At the kind of speed he was towed in at it pretty much comes down to Math, Physics and a massive set of balls.

All credit to him for having the kahunas to do it but it still leaves me feeling a little ‘meh’ about it.

The Dave Cullinan jump ‘between’ the cable cars was the World Championship run where he jumped OVER the railings of the bridge halfway down the run which he had to time so he could pass between the two cars – it wasn’t a jump from one car to the other.

And the twin tabs on the Bombers wasn’t an accident, for a while it made sense as a lot of people were still under the impression a disc brake on just one side would pull you off line when applied. Tsk, Mountain Bikers in half baked engineering theory? Who’d have thunk it?

Just don’t leave your One-Legged mixed pair single speed trophy in your car at night!

hehe.

I’m getting the impression that the person who started this thread has the greasy shoulder to end all greasy shoulders.

Oh no! I had an opinion that didn’t match yours! [8O] I’m just saying I don’t think the big air merchants (Bender et al) are anything to get excited over. At the kind of speed he was towed in at it pretty much comes down to Math, Physics and a massive set of balls.

All credit to him for having the kahunas to do it but it still leaves me feeling a little ‘meh’ about it.

You do realise who Nathan Rennie is? I mean, you are aware that lumping him with Josh Bender as a “big air merchant” is way off the mark?

Im sure you knew that Rennie is a World Cup winning racer and has been for over a decade before you posted that.

To say that doing that jump is just a question of physics shows some serious ignorance on your part. Perhaps if some had post a picture of him somehow demonstating great cardio you’d be more impressed? Or maybe if he kissed you on the cheek you might consider him as great as Missi Giove?

Legendary mountainbiker & character has to Tim Gould. I think(?) the only British rider inducted in the “mtb hall of fame”. http://www.mtnbikehalloffame.com/page.cfm?pageid=6&memberid=88
He used have riders falling over with laughter at the start of events. Even riding on the road in the Tour of Lancs one year coming into Manchester at 40 mph he was still cracking people up. An awesome climber who won one of the great, original UK classic events at Aviemore. A great shame to know of his health problems at the end of his career. Hope he is well now & still doing some riding.

tim was a nice down to earth bloke

Aye Tim was a top bloke. I remember him cycling from Sheffield to Shrewsbury for our end of season party. He got shitfaced and then cycled home again the next morning. That’s proper training.

You do realise who Nathan Rennie is?

http://bushpilotbiking.com/flash/game.swf and keep shooting the bicycle until you get Rennie dancing to some classic 80’s tunes. It’s on a random function, and there’s some serious gems in there.

Bonus Herts Collective footie for shooting other stuff.

Yes Gnar, I’m fully aware who Nathan is. And what he does. And who he rides for. And what he’s achieved. I just don’t get all creamy over big jumps. You seem to. Good for you.

2retro4u
Marin County, Cali

Just got my computer back from the shop and saw this thread with pix of some of my friends. I was over at Jacquie Phelan’s house yesterday, ‘cuz I needed machine work on an obsolete set of Hope brakes, and her husband Charlie Cunningham does that kind of stuff for me.

The photo of Cindy Whitehead is from my collection at fotopic.net. You don’t need to enhance her legend; the race in 1986 where my photo is from was “only” fifty miles, but it went over 11,000 feet elevation!

________________________________________________

Nice to see you back Mr K.