History and Designs of Mountain Bikes

History of Mountain Bike

The history of the mountain bike includes contributions from cyclo-cross in Europe and the Roughstuff Fellowship  in the UK. The name "mountain bike" first appeared in print in 1966 as "mountain bicycle"[citation needed]. The original mountain bikes were modified heavy cruiser bicycles used for freewheeling down mountain trails. The sport became popular in the 1970s in Northern California, USA with riders using older single speed balloon tire bicycles to ride down rugged hillsides.  Joe Breeze, a bicycle frame builder, used this idea and developed what is considered the first mountain bike. The 2006 documentary film, Klunkerz: A Film About Mountain Bikes, looks at this period of off-road cycling in detail. However, it was not until the late 1970s and early 1980s that road bicycle companies started to manufacture mountain bicycles using high-tech lightweight materials, such as M4 aluminium. The first mass production mountain bike was the Specialized Stumpjumper, first produced in 1981. Throughout the 1990s and 2000s, mountain biking moved from a little-known sport to a mainstream activity complete with an international racing circuit and a world championship.


Designs

Mountain bikes can be classified into four categories based on suspension:

• Rigid: A frame with a rigid fork and fixed rear, no suspension.
• Hard tail: A frame with a front suspension fork and no rear suspension.
• Soft tail: A frame with small amount of rear suspension, activated by flex of the frame instead of pivots.
• Dual or full suspension: A front suspension fork and rear suspension with a rear shock and linkage that allow the rear wheel to move on pivots.