Mountain Biking.
On the outskirts of Paris between
the years 1951 and 1956 a sport was developed that was like modern
day mountain biking.
In the 1970's there where no such
thing as a Mountain bike, the bikes evolved from frames
from cruiser bicycles such as those made by Schwinn. Schwinn
Excelsior was the frame of choice riders used balloon tires and
modified them with gears and motocross style handlebars. They
called these modified bikes Klunkers. They would race down mountain
fire roads and track's causing the hub brake to burn the grease
inside, requiring the riders to repack the bearings causing the
races to be called "Repack Races" .
Not until the late 1970s
did road bicycle companies started to manufacture mountain bikes.
using high-tech lightweight materials. The designs were
basically road bicycle frames with heavier tubing and a wider
frame and fork to allow for a wider tire. The handlebars were also
different in that they were a straight, transverse-mounted handlebar
and early mountain bikes also took some of it's design features from
the BMX bike. The first mass-produced mountain bikes were produced
by Specialized in 1983 and were copies of Tom Ritchey's frames and
were made in Japan. They were configured with 15 gears.
Cycling:
Triathlon:
|
