Didn’t “get” mountain bikes when they first came out – slow, heavy and expensive… and nowhere to ride them off road (well in Cornwall there wasnt)
Mainly into outdoor sports – hiking, shooting, boats
Enjoyed riding road bikes – but strongly dislike rules, clubs and organisation
Almost all road riding at that time was centred on clubs (may still be for all I know)
GF wanted to ride, so we decided to get a Gary Fisher Tassajarra. Fit was good for her on-road, and good for me off-road. Within a few years we’d both upgraded to Marin FRS sussers 😀
Why still mtb? – it’s down to the do your own thing ethos. As soon as someone starts telling me what I should be doing, or that it needs to be Wednesday nights, with Jo Bloogs and john Smith, I loose interest