Mountain bikes are a lot older than people usually realize. The first use of off-road bicycles was with the US Army back in 1886. Bicycles in general date back to 1817. So they have been around for a long time. Of course, the modern variants have much higher technology and utility than those early versions. Here is a timeline of bicycle development and some of the people involved.

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1. 1817 – The Walking Machine.

Karl Drais was a German inventor who created the first two-wheeled bicycle-like machine. He called it the Draisine. It was a two-wheeled scooter as it relied on the rider to propel it in the same fashion as unpowered scooters. It failed to catch on because roads at that time were extremely rough, and it had wooden wheels with no buffer, so the rider would have been jostled about pretty awfully.

2. 1865 – The Velocipede.

Pierre Michaux, Pierre Lallement, and the Olivier brothers created the velocipede. It was a bicycle with a larger front wheel, and pedals like modern tricycles have. The power was applied directly to the front wheel without a chain or other transference mechanics. Getting enough power to move rapidly or uphill would have been out of the question.

3. 1870 – Penny Farthing.

Eugène Meyer from Paris, France, is credited with inventing the penny farthing. It is a velocipede, except the front wheel is very large, allowing it to go faster. It is called the penny farthing due to British coinage where pennies were relatively large, and farthings were small similar to the front and back wheels of the bicycle. It was so tall that it was hard to mount and dangerous if you fell off. So it was a short-lived fad.

4. 1880 – The Safety Bicycle.

This is the first bicycle that resembles modern bikes. It had the front and back wheels of the same size, a triangle frame, and a chain providing pedal power to the rear wheel. This was a response to how dangerous the penny farthing was. Many different engineers developed early safety bicycles, so it is hard to apply the label founder to any one person. Its development was a group effort by many enthusiasts.

5. 1886 – US Army adopts the bicycle.

The first true off-road bicycle usage was conducted by the US Army Buffalo soldiers. They went from Missoula, Montana, to Yellowstone on off-road bikes. Bicycles were cheaper than horses and wouldn’t get killed in combat. Shortly following this adoption, off-road cyclocross events started, which could be considered the beginning of true mountain biking as a sporting event and hobby.

6. 1902 – Road racing allows off-road travel as well.

Around this time, bicycle road racing was a popular event. It was decided to allow the racers to take shortcuts if they wanted. This was tremendously popular and as a result, the sport of cyclocross was invented. This is true mountain bike racing as it required going off-road onto rough terrain to shorten the distance. Cyclocross can be considered the start of genuine mountain bike racing.

7. 1953 – The Woodsie.

John Finley Scott created a new variant on the bicycle that could easily be referred to as a mountain bike. It had knobby balloon tires, multiple gears, and a derailleur system, flat handlebars, and was constructed from a Schwinn diamond frame. He called his new bike a “Woodsie”. Later famous mountain bike builders would also use the Schwinn frames with modified gear, so John Finley Scott could properly be referred to as the father of mountain bikes. His Woodsie is the template for all mountain bikes that followed.

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8. 1955 – The Rough Stuff Fellowship.

This was the first dedicated off-road bicycling club. You’d be right if you think the name doesn’t sound very American. The club started on the Welsh/English border, and if you know the area, you’d understand it is a hilly country perfect for the sport of mountain biking. They would wear shirts, ties, and bobble hats in true British fashion like proper British gentlemen. The club still exists; you can visit its website (https://www.rsf.org.uk/) if you like.

9. 1970 – The Klunkers.

Here, most people begin to hear names they know from their mountain biking forefathers. The Klunkers began to be created in Marin County, California. This is the home of the modern sport of mountain biking. Mount Tamalpais is the original dirt modern mountain bikes were created to traverse. The early bikes were based on Schwinn frames from the 1930s, which were rugged and could take the punishment mountain biking delivers. Special gears and drum brakes were added to these frames to create bikes able to handle the rugged terrain of Mount Tamalpais. Alan Bonds was an early builder of these Klunker bikes, but many in the local biking community made the sport explode.

10. 1977 – Breezer #1.

Joe Breeze is a well-known name in mountain biking history. He is responsible for creating the first deliberately engineered mountain bike frame, the Breezer #1. It was not only constructed for the rigors of mountain biking but was also made of Chromoly tubes, which were lightweight, unlike the old Schwinn frames, which were heavy steel. Mountain bike builders were using old but solid Schwinn bicycle frames from the 1930s to build their Klunkers, but eventually, these became hard to find, so Joe Breeze was contracted to start making purpose-built mountain bike frames. Charlie Kelly, Gary Fisher, and Tom Ritchey are other well-known names. They all collaborated to create the modern mountain bike. Tom Ritchey was a frame builder like Breeze, and when the amount of work needed exceeded what Breeze could provide, he was also contracted to start making frames. Ritchey was better set up to produce multiple frames and later founded the Ritchey/Mountain Bikes company.

11. 1981 – Specialized Stumpjumper.

Mike Sinyard was not one of the original founders but a newcomer who took to the mountain biking community. He went from fan to pro in short order and produced the Specialized Stumpjumper, the first mass-produced mountain bike. It was a road bike frame beefed up for mountain biking and allowed for larger tires. It also had flat handlebars for stability on offroad surfaces.

12. 1982 – Full Suspension.

Brain Skinner is credited with creating the first full-suspension mountain bike, the MCR Descender. It had shocks to allow mountain bikers to tackle terrain unheard of before. He is later known for developing the Shimano Deore and Deore XT components which are still available today. But his full suspension bike was the game changer.

13. 1990 – Proflex Offroad by Serrota.

This was the first production full-suspension bike ever produced. Brian Skinner came up with the idea, but this was the first full-suspension mountain bike enthusiasts could buy. You can still find these on eBay. There are new retro copies still being made too. A bit of nostalgia.

14. 1991 – Fisher RS-1.

Gary Fisher created an advanced full suspension mountain bike with disk brakes and 8 speeds among other advanced features. It weighed 30 pounds which is pretty heavy for a mountain bike but pioneered the way for later models. It was also not commercially successful as Fisher lost money on every bike sold, showing his devotion to mountain biking. In Fisher’s own words “I knew full suspension was going to be the future” and he was right.

So there is the history. Now you can find mountain bikes made from titanium or carbon fiber with disk brakes, heavy-duty shocks, and no flat tires, you name it. The technology being deployed now is unbelievable. You can also see those original Schwinn frames. There is a style of lazy rider bike called Beach Cruiser, which is a no-frills easy rider to just lazily wander the beach and uses the original Schwinn frame design. It’s a 1930s classic.

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