Mountain biking started during the 1970's in California, USA. Mount Tamalpais, better known as Mt. Tam, is widely considered as where the mountain biking started. The often-hailed founding fathers of mountain biking such as Joe Breeze, Gary Fisher, Charlie Cunningham, Keith Bontrager and Tom Ritchey converted cruises and balloon-tire bicycles into human-powered machines that are capable of passing through all kinds of road conditions.
The first breeds of mountain bikes were purely down-hillers. They would ferry their bikes up a mountain with a truck and race downhill. These bikes used coaster brakes in order to slow down from the descent. However, these old-styled brakes would heat up during descents in which they would have to be repacked with grease before going down through another descent. This breaking mechanism was later replaced with cantilever brakes that were a lot lighter and much stronger.
Simultaneously, riders felt that they had to bike up the hills or mountains in order to appreciate riding the descent, thus the birth of multi-speed bikes with shifters and gears to aid riders ride up the hills and mountains.
During the early 1990's, champions such as John Tomac and Neel Overenel dominated the mountain the mountain biking scene. In 1996, the first mountain biking event was held at Atlanta Olympics and was won by Bart Jan Bhentjens from the Netherlands. From 1995, the first Extreme Games have been held in various cities around the United States. 1997 saw the Winter X-games concept being conceived. Of course, a mountain biking event was a part of it.
The first breeds of mountain bikes were purely down-hillers. They would ferry their bikes up a mountain with a truck and race downhill. These bikes used coaster brakes in order to slow down from the descent. However, these old-styled brakes would heat up during descents in which they would have to be repacked with grease before going down through another descent. This breaking mechanism was later replaced with cantilever brakes that were a lot lighter and much stronger.
Simultaneously, riders felt that they had to bike up the hills or mountains in order to appreciate riding the descent, thus the birth of multi-speed bikes with shifters and gears to aid riders ride up the hills and mountains.
During the early 1990's, champions such as John Tomac and Neel Overenel dominated the mountain the mountain biking scene. In 1996, the first mountain biking event was held at Atlanta Olympics and was won by Bart Jan Bhentjens from the Netherlands. From 1995, the first Extreme Games have been held in various cities around the United States. 1997 saw the Winter X-games concept being conceived. Of course, a mountain biking event was a part of it.
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