Mountain biking is a favorite past-time sport for many people, and its early beginnings have always been credited to Joe Breeze of Marin County, California. With the assistance of friends, Breeze worked on developing the first flat tire bike to handle mountainous terrain, such as the area of Mt. Tamalpais.

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Breeze is the most recognized name due to his mountain bike design – Breezer Series 1, developed in 1978 and comprised of Chromoly instead of traditional steel. He installed lightweight tubing in the bike tires, Schwinn S2 rims, Phil Wood hubs, and 26×2.125 Uniroyal Knobby Tyres. It’s the same bike that you can view at the Oakland Museum to this day.

Breeze and his team, Charlie Kelley, Gary Fisher, and Tom Ritchey, designed nine other bikes to sell to the public. Kelley and Fisher attempted to trademark the “Mountainbike” name and worked toward selling their bikes. Unfortunately, the bike didn’t take off until the National Off-Road Bicycle Association racers rose dramatically.

The 1980s design of the mountain bike used high-tech, lightweight materials – the first bikes to use this design were the Univega Alpina Pro and Specialized Stumpjumper. Specialized focused on producing frames based on Ritchey’s initial frame geometry in factories through Taiwan and Japan. These bikes had 15 gears that used five rear cogs, triple chainrings, and derailleur shifting.

Were There Mountain Bikes Before Breeze’s Time?

It may surprise you to know that mountain bikes were around for much longer than in the late 1970s. Though Breeze is credited with the “official” design, people who loved to ride in the mountains would retrofit 1930s beach cruisers, essentially turning them into mountain bikes. They had heavy tubing, a customized geometry, a wide frame, and form so wider tires could be used.

However, before even that, back in the 1890s, Buffalo soldiers took their bikes off-road. The turn-of-the-century infantry would use their bikes to carry their gear on rough terrain and covered roughly 800 miles. It was a simple goal – to find out how bikes could withstand the most challenging terrain for military use.

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Not surprising, there is some debate about when mountain bikes actually came about, as it boils down to definitions. For some, credit for the mountain bikes should go to Buffalo soldiers who would do off-road cycling with the military gear. For others, the credit stays with Breeze, who came up with a purposely-built mountain bike.

It Wasn’t Just A Fad.

Many in the bicycle industry saw the mountain bike as a short-term fad that would eventually fade away despite being mass-produced since 1982. However, a handful of lesser-known companies took a chance and invested in the mountain, producing and improving the mountain bike. During the 1990s, mountain bikes gathered a following that evolved into an area of sports. Many mountain bike races have been founded and enjoyed by the masses.

And, to this day, there seems to be no end to the mountain bike enthusiasm. As such, mountain bike manufacturers are constantly innovating the design and increasing their marketing efforts to ensure its longevity. Once only available through specialty shops or mail orders, mountain bikes can now be found in department stores like Wal-Mart, Target, etc., at low prices.

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