Mountain Biking - The Untold British Story

[mustang1]

There was nothing much on the TV last night, so I did a search on Amazon Prime and up popped Mountain Biking - The Untold British Story.

It's a fascinating story of how it all began over here, particularly for those of a certain age who were there when it started . If you can, watch it, or get the DVD you won't be disappointed.

Starting with Geoff Apps and his "Range Riders" looking like big 29ers with contributions from Gary Fisher, items on Muddy Fox , the professional invasion from Peugeot etc., it certainly brought some memories back to me when I got seriously involved in mountain biking in the 80's.

No suspension or sloping top tubes in them days, we'd spend hours going over OS maps finding new routes and bridleways to ride.

I remember what must have been one of my first ventures, on a disused railway track which ran parallel to a minor road, it was rough and overgrown.

A police car pulled up and a young female officer got out, she looked at the track, then the road, then the track again and just shook her head, wondering why I wasn't on the road.

I might be wrong, but it seems to be all downhill now with bikes costing thousands, the grass roots of the pastime now long gone.

Anyway enough rambling and reminiscing, watching that makes me want to get back out in the forests, remembering how fit I was, way back then, the slicks are coming off and the knobblies are going back on.

So if you see an oldie off road in Wales on a fully rigid blue Kona, give me a push please.

What kind of bike did you have back then? 26/27.5/29/hardtail/full sus/xc/downhill/enduro (I still dont know what that is), 100mm/120/150mm/air sus/oil sus/ plus tyre/ fat bike/alu/carbon/ti/mud tyres/normal tyres/whatever tyres/other?

 

[Salar]

What kind of bike did you have back then? 26/27.5/29/hardtail/full sus/xc/downhill/enduro (I still dont know what that is), 100mm/120/150mm/air sus/oil sus/ plus tyre/ fat bike/alu/carbon/ti/mud tyres/normal tyres/whatever tyres/other?

@mustang1 Back then it was all steel and no suspension and 26" wheels for me, with almost horizontal top tubes until Kona and others came along. The tyres were a semi knobbly type.

In those days with no suspension you had to steer around rocks and bumps. Now with full suspension I think most of the early skills have gone as you can almost pick a straight line and go.

The first proper mountain bike I had was a very early Marin Muirwoods, think it was a 1988, one of the low mid range models.

Marin appeared in the UK around about 86 or 87. Before then all you could really get where I lived was Raleigh.

My son was getting heavily involved in MTB racing, so I bought him a secondhand Palisades Trail, a very nice bike and I ended up being the taxi. He moved on to downhill racing and did reasonably well in the Welsh downhill series he now has an early Kona Stinky, but doesn't ride much these days.

I had the Marin for a few years and then moved to Kona and bought a fully rigid Kona Lava Dome from Sunset Cycles in Cardiff and it's nice to see they are still going, a proper bikes shop.

The Marin was nice, but the Kona was a revelation, much better and lighter, you could really see those forks flexing when going downhill!
I lent it to my son , a big mistake, he crashed into a tree mangled the front wheel and folded the forks.

I left mountain biking alone for a few years doing a bit of light road riding and gentle trail riding, somehow lost the Mojo, but a lot was going on in my life then and cycling had to take a back seat.

A few years ago the bug came back so I bought a Kona Hoss (I'm a bit heavier these days )and rode it around Brechfa, Afan Argoed etc, , I still have the Kona, but the suspension forks have gone and more recently have used it on the road and light tracks.

I'm still retro and much prefer lightweight 26" wheel steel frames and rigid forks.

I'll be putting the knobblies back on the Kona this weekend together with a few more tweaks to hopefully (work permitting) get back in the forest next week.

Think I'll have to start off on the nursery slopes though as I've not done any proper riding bike for over six months due to a knee problem.

 

[fossyant]

Rainy day. Will look for that on prime later. Still use my early 90's MTB. We must have been crazy with no suspension and poor brakes. My newer bike is far more capable, or point and shoot. I'm not getting younger but it makes the tricky descents easier and less chances of breaking myself again.

 

[Drago]

My '96 Alpinestars is from the period where manufacturers had finally developed things to a point where things were right with geometry, appropriate frame construction, and design. In 2018 it is still a lively, robust and fun bike to ride, and is still the mainstay of my off road riding.

 

[Deleted member 26715]

@Salar Thank you very much for this, I really enjoyed it, seeing Martyn Ashton back on a bike almost had me in tears, that must be unreal moment for him to be able to get back on a bike after the accident.

 

[FishFright]

My '96 Alpinestars is from the period where manufacturers had finally developed things to a point where things were right with geometry, appropriate frame construction, and design. In 2018 it is still a lively, robust and fun bike to ride, and is still the mainstay of my off road riding.

Is that one of the E-Stay models or were they earlier ? I always liked they way the E-Stay'd Alpinestars looked despite the issues.

 

[Drago]

No, although I wish it was as they're quite collectable. It's a standard frame design, an ASR with full (and fairly rare, only made for 1 model year) STX-RC groupset in dark chrome. The paint is a bit battered now, so in the next year or so I may treat it to a powder coat and new decals.

 

[Salar]

Thanks @Phaeton ,

I felt the same when I was watching it.

I watched "Klunkerz" last night with a couple of cans and a glass or three of wine, seeing as SWMBO is not back until tomorrow and I've only the dog to talk to.

It was OK, seen most of it before, Repack trail, Richey, Breeze, Fisher etc. Still worth watching if you've not seen it .

 

[fossyant]

Well put together. Did get a few tuts from the wife when Rachel A said 'riding makes you feel invincible'. Fortunately she didn't see the Martyn Ashton bit and how he broke his spine. Ahem.

 

[Kajjal]

Just watched it on prime, it makes you remember where mountain biking came from. We used to go round the Peak District and other places on early 1990 rigid mtb’s with really bad cantilever brakes. Great fun but your hands and wrists were wrecked after each ride. That and getting lost with an os map & a compass meaning you often had to climb the nearest hill to be able to see where you were.

To be honest the people mountain biking are the same now as always just the bikes are way better meaning more trails are accessible but removing the skill and fear of the old 1990’s mountain bikes.

 

[Salar]

If you want to know about the early days, get a copy of this 1988 book and yes that is Nick Crane.

 

[mustang1]

There was nothing much on the TV last night, so I did a search on Amazon Prime and up popped Mountain Biking - The Untold British Story.

It's a fascinating story of how it all began over here, particularly for those of a certain age who were there when it started . If you can, watch it, or get the DVD you won't be disappointed.

Starting with Geoff Apps and his "Range Riders" looking like big 29ers with contributions from Gary Fisher, items on Muddy Fox , the professional invasion from Peugeot etc., it certainly brought some memories back to me when I got seriously involved in mountain biking in the 80's.

No suspension or sloping top tubes in them days, we'd spend hours going over OS maps finding new routes and bridleways to ride.

I remember what must have been one of my first ventures, on a disused railway track which ran parallel to a minor road, it was rough and overgrown.

A police car pulled up and a young female officer got out, she looked at the track, then the road, then the track again and just shook her head, wondering why I wasn't on the road.

I might be wrong, but it seems to be all downhill now with bikes costing thousands, the grass roots of the pastime now long gone.

Anyway enough rambling and reminiscing, watching that makes me want to get back out in the forests, remembering how fit I was, way back then, the slicks are coming off and the knobblies are going back on.

So if you see an oldie off road in Wales on a fully rigid blue Kona, give me a push please.

Thanks Salar for posting this. I just finished watching the movie and it was very pleasant. Enjoyed that.