Even though in today’s mountain bike world the bikes are better, the clothing more appropriate, and there are more trails to ride, there’s no denying the early 90s were the Golden Age of Mountain Biking. Just look at these fellas, and tell me I’m wrong.
Tomac knew what was up. You don’t get such a badass Rainbow Jersey by accident, and his year in the bands (’92) was probably the last time the jersey looked that good. Plain black shorts, white socks, back flat as a pancake. And who else would you expect to be the first to rock a Troy Lee paint job on their helmet?
Tinker, well he’s a man unto himself. Probably the crowd favourite on the strength of recognition, being the only dreadlocked Hispanic riding a fluoro green or purple bike at the time making him easy to spot. That and his cadence, crunching the big ring where others, even Tomac and Ned, feared to tread. Legend has it that Tinker would fill a backpack with the biggest rocks he could find then set off into the mountains for a six hour training ride. Even if it’s an urban myth, the fact that it’s an urban myth about Tinker makes it more than a bit plausible.
Gumwall tyres, polished silver rims, colour matched forks, Campa… Campa? Multicoloured Sidis, Tinker made it all work. Even the Etto helmet looked good on him. Tomac was arguably the most Rule Compliant mountain biker ever. Even with limited resources to work with, these guys set the bar. Not many have reached it since.
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@Tuvelo Klein Klein Klein, Klein repeats
@Souleur
Good for you! Horses for Courses as they say - you follow the Rules even when not entirely required in the MTB-ing. In the second scenario, you relax and go with the flow/situation. Recharge the batteries and resume Rule compliance when necessary/required.
@ChrissyOne Now there's a broad who marches to the beat of her own drum. Fucking rockstar.
Jacquie Phelan - I quess she must be credited (or, rather, Charlie Cunningham should be) for the first Graveur.
WOMBATS jersey!!!
Jacquie is the effing shite.
@frank
WTF kind of stem is on that bike? I have no idea but it's pretty awesome.
Crazy how long ago the late 80s/early 90s MTB scene seems now. I don't really follow it now, but it sure had some characters back in the day: Tomac,. Tinker, Ned, Missy, Jackie.
A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away.... Complete article from the UCI MTB Worlds 1991, Lucca Di Bagna. Albert Itens skinsuite was a definite highlight..
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@frank Really? Drop bars on Tomac and Jaquie's bikes were awesome in their own right, but I've always thought that the origins of the graveur come from the Tour and Giro riders going over gravel roads in the Alps and Dolomites; particularly the legendary hardmen of the mid-century like Bottechia and Coppi...
@wiscot That, sir, is a Charlie Cunningham custom stem. It was called an L.D. stem, because it goes straight up and then curves "down", hence the Limp D... syndrome.
Charlie has a number of other (more significant) contributions to early mountain bikes: One of the first guys to weld up heat-treated oversized aluminum tubes into frames, one of the early advocates of a sloping top tube; as part of WTB (Wilderness Trail Bikes) helped invent the Dirt Drop handlebars, the rollercam brake, and Grease Guard hubs. He's a player. Wikipedia says that he designed the RM-20 for Araya and the Ground Control for Specializeed. I hadn't known about those.