Cyclo-cross eventually becoming a sport in its own right in the 1940s, with the first world championship in 1950. The French Velo Cross Club Parisien (VCCP) comprised about twenty-one young cyclists from the outskirts of Paris, who between 1951 and 1956 developed a sport that was remarkably akin to present-day mountain biking
The Roughstuff Fellowship was established in 1955 by off-road cyclists in the UK.[3] In Oregon, one Chemeketan club member, D. Gwynn, built a rough terrain trail bicycle in 1966. He named it a "mountain bicycle" for its intended place of use
Originally known as Klunkerz, these bicycles have been ridden off-road since their invention.
It does kind of contradict itself about the Klunkerz further down though.
Right, I'm off home. Another productive day at the office 🙂
contradictions you say, on wiki, well it is written by TJ isn't it? 😉
in the mid-to-late 1970s. At the time, there were no mountain bikes.
anyway... whatever year the term "mountainbiking" was officially invented still doesn't change the fact that to use the verb "mountainbiking" a mountainbike is required, feel free to make-up new terms like BMX-mountainbiking, CX-mountainbikin, invisible-mountainbiking or yer-maw-mountainbiking to share with yer mates, as said above, "it might stick" 😉Joe Breeze is normally credited with introducing the first purpose-built mountain bike in 1978. Tom Ritchey then went on to make frames for a company called MountainBikes,
It all depends on what mood i'm in
Most of the time i like to play on my 140mm FS bike
Sometimes, i like to ride on a rigid steel bike with 140mm forks
Other times, i like to play on my rigid steel bike with rigid forks
Generally, my mood is completely dependent on whatever isn't broken..... 😀
I find it good to go rigid every so often to improve my lines - as i get lazy with a big travel FS bike
Looks like a CX thread rather than a simpler form of mountainbiking thread..
Been riding simple mountain bikes all my life, I'm simple so it fits rather well with me.
But then again I'm itching to get a FS 29er so really I'm heading off the other way.
Perhaps needs merging with this thread [url= http://singletrackworld.com/forum/topic/do-you-have-a-hack-for-bashing-round-trail-centres ]Do you have a 'hack' for bashing round trail centres?[/url]
I built myself a rat bike recently; 1x9 rigid, ebay frame, rattle-can paint job, old wheels persuaded into a vaguely circular shape and parts from the spares bin.
I found it wonderfully liberating. The 'real' bike is several ounces of carbon lovliness adorned with Mr. Shimano's finest bling that won't even let me touch it unless I'm fully lycra-ed up. A joy to own and ride, but sometimes you want pie and chips, not a Michelin starred meal.
The rat bike has several advantages :
You can't wreck it - it comes fully pre-wrecked
It gives you a perfect excuse for riding like an arthritic granny - "course, if I was on my real bike, I would have totally nailed that"
Low maintenance - just blast it with the pressure washer when it's so coated in mud you can't tell which way up it is.
I can hop on the rat and be out the back door into the mud at a moments notice, just pausing to put the cycle clips on my trousers. If I did that on the dream machine it just wouldn't feel right. Somedays I feel like pretending I'm an XC riding god, somedays I want to pretend to be a 12 year old boy messing around in the woods.
What? drinking/sniffing glue, looking at skud books and fingering girls (if you were lucky)?
😀
All I need now is a well thumbed copy of Razzle and a packet of ten No.6 and the jobs done
I have a road bike and a 6" trail bike. I love riding both. I also love reading about tech and seeing what my riding mates splash their cash on. I then go and seek out cheap - but still good - alternatives. I then do everything my mates do but with a smug feeling that it's costing me a third of what they're spending.