jonsonneborn
Member
I just watched "Klunkers" which is available through Netflix. It is a documentary about the history of Mountain Biking in Marin County California (just across the Golden Gate Bridge from San Francisco) from the early '70s to the early '80s. Without giving too much away it involves some key players in the invention of the Mountain bike including Gary Fisher, Joe Breeze, Charlie Kelly, Tom Richey and some other key players. They took pre-WWII Schwinn Cruisers and customized them with motorcycle drum brakes, bent the frames to accomidate gears, etc. The orignial guys were a combination of professional road racers and hippies who set up races down Mt. Tamalpais (Tam) in which the winner usually won a bag of weed! This was especially interesting to me since I live in Marin County and can see Mt Tam from my house.
Mike Sinyard, the founder of Specialized bought a Richey mt frame that was built up from Gary Fisher, took it to Japan and had it copied. That copy was the 1983 Specialized Rock Hopper!
Cheers,
Jon
Mike Sinyard, the founder of Specialized bought a Richey mt frame that was built up from Gary Fisher, took it to Japan and had it copied. That copy was the 1983 Specialized Rock Hopper!
Cheers,
Jon