Hans Rey is like Moses.
Exactlly what he did and didn’t do is hard to say, but everyone has heard of him, and are in some way influenced by what he did.

Well put, 😀 Hans is top, toptoptoptoptop!!!!!!!

Ha Ha….love it. Rob Warner ….dont start me.

Oh go on ….please.

There, I’ve even given you a bigger shovel 😆

Repack Rider – Member

2retro4u
Marin County, Cali

I have known Hans for maybe 25 years. He makes a great living riding his bike, he is a wonderful guy with a passion for life, and a good showman.

Much of the cycling world has caught up with his once unique abilities, but Hans was doing trials before Danny MacAskill was born.

If Hans makes a living riding his bike at an age when “serious” athletes have had to retire, more power to him. Anyone who thinks otherwise is just jealous that he makes money doing what he loves.

[video]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f6JnQjvjrhg[/video]

Steve Peat, Danny McAskill, Hans Rey, marginwalker

Nuff said.

This is a bit silly. He’s the Bruce Forsyth of MTB. What’s the point of getting all het up about Brucie even if he’s not your cup of tea?

I have nothing to add to this thread. I just wanted to post in the same thread as Charlie Kelly!

Wow. Off to stalk his other threads 🙂

Oh, and Hans Rey is a great guy and a great showman. He got tons of magazine space in the very early nineties and really shaped the way that the MBUK guys took that magazine, which in turn has been a huge influence on all aspects of mountain biking.

He was a great trials rider who knew that he could take it (what was a geeky euro thing) to a wider market, and did.

Surely anyone who just watches a few videos or reads a few magazines from that era would be able to get it.

Hans Rey was one of the pioneers of MTB trials.

His moves might not be hardcore by today’s Akrigg/McAskill standards, but he’s still better on a bike than 99% of us lot and has made a living doing something he clearly loves for almost 3 decades, so I say fair play to him.

seriously STW…..what a bunch of whingers

It was only about 2 posters out of 50 knocking Hans Rey, so that’s not really valid.

The second picture of him jumping the gap on the cliffs is unreal! 🙂

Well that’s the beauty of internet forums, like the OP I had never heard of this fellow and now I have and he seems an ok dude, credit to his sponsors, so that’s cool. That’s the thing about being just a freewheeling free rider that doesn’t read mags, doesn’t do events, goes only occasionally to bike specific parks or up proper mountains, you don’t get to hear much.
So it’s good to read a varied opinion.

Another conclusion I’m rapidly beginning to draw though, is that anyone who the more vocal STW peeps think is a cock, is probably a totally kewell dude, and that there may be more than the average number of spotty speccy gits sitting behind spittle and semen covered screens and keyboards just looking for a chance to be nasty..

I may be wrong,

They could be bald speccy spotty gits..with a hint of green in their skin colouring.

I’ll add my +1 to this:

Theres not really anything to ‘get’ is there – he is a former champion trials rider, still riding for a living, promoting the sport and seemingly enjoying himself. Find it very hard to dislike him.

Well said.

Need to reclaim my Dirty Tricks… VHS from my friend.

“Down, back and uuurp”

“jurst use a piece of stick or somesink”

Quick survey – who would you trust the opinion of regarding something to do with hardcore MTB?
a) Steve Peat
b) Margin Walker
c) Danny McAskill

The fact that hardly any one hear remembers how big he was back in the day leads me to believe that not many people hear were riding back in the day.

I dunno what “the day” was, but I’ve only been riding for 5-6 years.

hardly any one hear

Huh? (in more ways than 1)

hardly any one hear remembers

Pardon. Have you actually read the thread?

If you know who Hans Rey is, you also know exactly the right bike to own and ride. Fact.

Pardon. Have you actually read the thread?

I have its some fat **** slanging of some guy at least 100 times better than then for no real reason.

Back in the day means before suspension and V brakes.
A thread on Hans Rey and no mention of the Switzerland Squeaker?!
(or did I miss it?)

Elbry Sandland, but of his time, and not from Devon

😀

I have it some fat **** slanging of some guy at least 100 times better than then for no real reason.

You enjoy making yourself look silly?
Calm down eh?

Hans Rey is one of the good guys.

DEzB – nice vid

he was ace, and he still is ace; he’s still showing the way to go – he’s still riding and he’s about a thousand years old.

he’s basically the same as Yoda.

I love Hans. A real legend in his own lunchtime and still apparently not slowing down despite his ‘past it’ age for your average professional sportsperson.

I am also most fond his mashed up euro-american accent, and was fond of that ridiculous semi-mullet. And the ‘rad’ faces in publicity shots. So in those four or five respects, kind of like Lars Ulrich, but with bikes instead of raaaaawk. (And without having had a tantrum about napster. It must be hard to fileshare or ‘pirate’ GT bicycles or swatch watches…)

Is there anyone else out there that Im missing out on?

I also read an article recently that Aaron Gwin (3yrs in mountain biking and wins!) was trained by John Tomac!

hora, who is john tomac?

john tomac

Also ‘before my time’/off my radar but I’ve heard his name more and more I guess because he had a bike brand named after him. Again like Gary Fisher.

Wow, there are some ignorant people on here.

Hans Rey is a legend, pure and simple. He has being doing cool stuff since MTBing began and he still is. Is he the most talented MTBer ever? No. But it doesn’t matter. The fact is, as already stated, he is a multiple World Trials Champion (he’s done some pretty cool stuff on 20″ wheels, as well as 26″); he was the pioneer of what is now trail and freeriding; he’s a top bloke; and in terms of sponsorship, he’s been better value for money for GT than just about anyone I can think of, Steve Peat included (found the Juliana Furtado reference funny, most people have probably never heard of her).

Remember, he was doing rad stuff when everyone was wobbling around on fully rigid XC bikes.

Dave Hemming, what a blast from the past (2nd in the Junior DH Worlds in 91 or something and inventor of the DCD). I still want his green Fat Chance with Mag 21s…

(it’s even got a snow flake front wheel!)

I never ‘got’ Jason McRoy. Which is blasphemy in some eyes.

The DH pic is great and the Fat Chance would have most on Retrobike making a mess of their pants.

Hans Rey is a legend! Back in the day we used to watch his videos in awe then ride around the Uni campus trying to recreate the hipity hopity moves (and usually ending up looking like dicks). But the point is he encouraged the kids to get out there and ride, and was probably the inspiration for many more recent top class riders.
The work he does for his bike charity providing bikes in poor countries is to be respected plus he is a really nice guy – met him at Mountain Mayhem few years ago – really down to earth help out your fellow man type of guy.

Jason McRoy was also before me. I drove past flowers etc to him on Woodhead once.

Most of my mountain bike mag reading started in 2003 and tbh it was about looking at shiny toys than people who can ride.

Back in the day to me is the late 80’s early 90’s at school before internet.

The very thin MBUK was the only real source of information.

Riding round on crappy ATB’s lusting after bikes made by Fat Chance and Chas Roberts.

Jon Stevenson, Tim Flooks, Dave Hemming, Zak Tempest, Brant Richards, Jo Burt, John Tomac, Thomas Friscnet, Miles Rockwell, Ned Overend, Julie Furtardo, Greg Herbold, David Baker, Tim Gould, Missy Giove and HANS REY pretty much were mopuntain biking in my eyes………..

People who slate what I think of as pioneers of the sport need to have a word with themselves

Back then I was into road riding. I started mountain biking in circa 93, broke my elbow in 94 and gave up until 2002!

I can completely relate to what you mention Yoshimi – I remember being really pleased when Paul Hinton (whatever happened to him?) turned up at a local cylcocross race on his Offroad.

Also meeting Joe Murray, in his Kona days, when he had a race day in Bucks somewhere. Great memories.

Anyway to keep on topic here are a couple of pics of Mr. ‘No Way’ at Ally Pally in the early 90’s

Hmmm – I think some of us are showing our age.

I get Hans Rey – he has been knocking aroundo for over 20 years as a star of trials stages, screen (anyone remember Tread with Greg Herbold) and mags of course. He was the Danny Mac of his day back in the days when Danny (no offence) was still in nappies or not far off.

My heroes of yesteryear include: John Tomac (black skinsuit on the Mammoth Kamikaze and racing XC at a Newnham World Cup), Missy, Juli Furtado (she won every WC race one year and is where the SantaCruz Juliana name came from), Ned Overend and yes, even Jason McRoy (I remember watching him race XC at Caesars Camp as part of th BMBS series while he was racing for Hardisty in the year that made him!).

Youth of today! Don’t know what real heros are!

SC – Grumpy old sod who does know his MTB history!

yoshimi +1

…but I think you’re missing a Tinker from that list.

I lusted after a Claud Butler back then….

John Tomac

Before the downhillers decided image was more important than performance. The fact that DHers don’t wear skin suits about sums up what is wrong with the “sport”.

Back In The Day = 1989 13 year old’s books backed in Transformers, Kylie and when Lycra was RAD!

Laguna RADS! 8)

Normal Man – Member
Laguna RADS!

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