1985
Hank Barlow launches Mountain Bike For the Adventure in Crested Butte, Colorado, publication as a bi-monthly...
At its inaugural running, Jimmy Deaton wins his first of five Mammoth Kamikaze downhills...
Brian Skinner develops the first rear-suspended Descender bike and shows up on the July cover of the world's first mountain bike rag, Fat Tire Flyer. The same issue has an ad for Fisher MountainBikes claiming they're the 1984 World Champions...
Some kid named John Tomac wins the first-ever Mountain Bike Scramble held in front of 40,000 spectators at the LA Coliseum during intermission for the Superbowl of Motocross, while roadie Nelson Vails finishes 17th...
At Tipper Gore's urging, the record industry agrees to institute a parental-advisory sticker on music with "obscene" lyrics-Wilderness Trail Bikes releases its Toe Flips which make for easier pedal rotation to get back into the clips...
0ne of the industry's first recalls involves the Suntour/Cunningham roller-cam brake which suffers from a too-weak spring...
Schwinn's High Sierra retails for $399...
"The Cosby Show" and "Family Ties" are top TV shows...
The MCS Dominator is offered with a triangulated, four-legged chromoly fork...
Jacquie Phelan wins her third consecutive NORBA championship...
ln his first season using toe clips, Joe Murray wins 12 consecutive races and his second NORBA title...
President Reagan undergoes surgery to have a cancerous tumor removed from his colon...
Suntour offers its 300mm Superbe XC seatpost, which provides nearly four inches of extra seat height...
After crashing more on the bicycle than motorcycle, Doug Bradbury decides to build a mountain bike that works. Manitou Mountain Bikes is born...
Gary Klein's first bikes, Introduced in the summer, are an overnight success...
The unemploy- ment rate of 6.8% is the country's lowest in nearly five years...
Fisher team riders work with Shimano to develop index shifting...
The rise of the Brat Pack is marked by the release of "The Breakfast Club"...
Ibis honch Scot NIcol is (some- how) the overall winner of the rig- orous Plumline 7500 over riders such as Joe Murray and Roy Rivers...
The land access contro- versy is born in May when the Sierra Club defines mountain bikes as off-road vehicles (ORVs), putting them in essentially the same class as motorcycles and snowmobiles. As an ORV, a mountain bike is deemed "objectionable in most areas because of the introduction of another product of technology whose consequences have not been fully understood"...
Gary Klein is granted a patent for his oversized aluminum frame, and claims Cannondale is infringing on the patent-In its "Forecast 1985" issue, People magazine calls mountain bike racing the sport to watch...
Sedis comes out with the SedisTraveler, an off-road-specific bike chain...
Nike and Specialized join forces to develop the Discovery off-road shoe...
The USCF passes a rule that beginning January 1, 1986, all riders are required to wear hardshell helmets in sanctioned racing...
Shimano introduces its ovalized Biopace chain-rings touting their "more gain—no strain hill-climbing" benefits...
Coca-Cola releases New Coke, but after a public outcry, returns to the old flavor under the name Coca-Cola Classic...
Au-currant mountain bike chi-chis of the day include the Breezer Hite-Rite (a seat locating spring)...
1986
After her seatpost breaks one mile into the Plumline 7500, Cindy Whitehead rides the remaining 49 miles standing and wins...
Former the first big-name Motocross racer Supercross champ and factory to switch to mountain bikes and he Yamaha rider Mike Bell becomes starts off by winning the Mammoth Mountain Kamikaze, then returns to the LA Coliseum, where eight years earlier he won the Superbowl of Molocross, to beat Tomac at the Mountain Bike Scramble...
Spike Lee emerges with his low-budget comedy "She's Gotta Have lt"...
Dan Hannebrink builds his 30-pound SE Shocker rear-suspension bike...
Marin initiates the first racer trade when it buys out Joe Murray's contract from Gary Fisher for $2.175...
Salsa stems show up with a unique roller mounted on the underside...
Slingshot suspension bikes first appear-.Fat City's chief welder, Gary Helfrich, builds the first titanium mountain bike...
20-year-old Mike Tyson becomes the youngest heavyweight boxing champ in history...
Jacquie Phelan finishes second to Cindy Whitehead at the Whiskeytown Downhill, Phelan's first defeat since 1980...
Shimano and Suntour introduce index shifting for mountain bikes...
Salsa Cycles intro- duces a new stem with a brazed-on roller cable guide...
Trips For Kids is formed when Marilyn Price takes some inner-city kids on a bike ride at Point Reyes Park.John Tomac has a surprise victory his first full year in mountain hiking at the Ross Stage Race...
Specialized starts the first neutral tech support program to help mountain bike racers and promoters at events across the country...
Greg LeMond becomes the first American to win the Tour de France...
The Bangles' "Walk Like An Egyptian" tops the singles charts...
Bell Helmets offers a $5,000 accidental loss of life insurance policy with the purchase of its helmets...
Ibis and Wilderness Trail Bikes create drop bars for mountain bikes...
Oakley introduces its completely interchangeable-lens Blade sunglasses...
The space shuttle Challenger explodes 74 seconds after lift-off at Cape Canaveral, killing all seven crew members aboard.
AXO—a longtime player in the motorcycle industry—jumps into mountain hiking with its AXO Mountain Bike Boot...
1987
Keith Bontrager unveils his Composite fork that has blades bolted to the crown...
Offroad (later known as Pro-Flex and K2) introduces its first bike...
With its pastel-green frame, yellow stem, lime-green bars and pink grips, the Cannondale SM900 (see inset cover, right) helps make ugly fashionable...
Some former BMX'er named Tinker Juarez shows up at his first mountain bike race...
TelevangelistRev. Jim Bakker resigns from the PTL ministry after admitting to an affair with church secretary Jessica Hahn...
Shogun beats GT to the punch with its own triple triangle frame on the Prairie Breaker...
A small company called Bushido releases photos of an advanced FS bike with disc brakes that gets a reported 10 inches of front and rear travel, weighs less than 28 pounds, and costs $2,000. A rideable version is never seen...
Giro releases its $70 foam bucket called the Prolight and it's an instant success...
The worst stock crash in the history of the NYSE occurs when the Dow falls 508 points-Mongoose sells a "Tomac" replica for $775, although Tomac's real race bike was built by Fat City Cycles...
In the small town of Steamboat Springs, Colorado, Kent Ericksen builds the first YBB (Why Be Beat) rear-suspension bike.-.The racing scene continues to "evolve" when Specialized hires Lisa Muhich away from Raleigh midseason...
Some guy named Hans Rey begins showing up at the races doing silly things with his bike...
Sara Ballantyne and Ned Overend win the first unofficial World Championships at Mammoth...
Iditabike, a 200-mile bike race on Alaska's snow-covered Iditarod Trail, is born...
Gary Fisher is named by Outside magazine as one of "50 Who Left Their Mark" in the last 10 years...
Seattle becomes one of the first U.S. cities to use mountain bikes on patrol.Jn Boulder, Colorado, all the trails in the Mountain Parks system and most in the Open Space Parks system are closed to bikes...
The federal government approves the use of AZT for AIDS patients...
A new on-bike energy food, PowerBar, is lntroduced...
Wilderness Trail Bikes comes out with the $225 Grease-Guard hubs...
Bill Cockroft showcases the first mountain bike dual-slalom competition...
Red M&Ms are added back into the traditional color blend after overwhelming requests...
CyclePro makes its PolyTex polyurethane inner-tubes in mountain bike sizes...
Browning Automatic Transmission unveils an electric push-button front derailleur-less gear system.
John Tomac starts showing up in a series of character ads and "Farmer John" is born.
"Fatal Attraction" earns Michael Douglas an Oscar and has married men thinking twice.
Two hot new shoes emerge from non-cycling companies— the Puma Touring S-ll (right) and the Asics Tiger.
1988
Durango's Edgemont Ranch and its famous water jump are used tor the last time as a National Race course...
The Diamomlback Arrival is the first 7000 Series production aluminum frame...
Ned Overend wins both the European and American versions of the "Unofficial World Championships"...
0dyssey releases a trio of strange products—Mohawk grips that have a center bulge to fill the palm, forward-bend handlebar for "belter" positioning and the Pro-Steer hydraulic (steering) damper which bolts to the fork and down tube water-bottle mounts...
John Tomac wins the National Criterium Championships...
The $80, non-mechanical Scott pedal introduces the clipless concept to mountain bikes...
An unknown, awfully cute Canadian teenager named Elladee Brown shows up at Mammoth Worlds and not only steals the dual-slalom win, but also quite a few hearts...
Mavic introduces its first off-road rim called the Oxygen M6...
"Rain Man" and Dustin Hoffman win Academy Awards...
The Nishiki Alien is the first big production bike to use elevated chainstays...
An unknown road racer named Juli Furtado shows up at the Sun Valley NORBA XC National and finishes seventh...
The Off-Road Flexstem appears...
A company known as Bold introduces a product called a "bar-end"...
Kestrel intro- duces the first full-suspension concept mountain bike at the Long Beach trade show...
Charlie Cunningham and Jacquie Phelan tie the knot atop Mt. Tamalpais...
Rodale Inc. buys MOUNTAIN BIKE magazine...
"Wearing a helmet doesn't mean you have to look like a dork" says Ned Overend in his pitch for Specialized's new foam helmet...
Bicycling magazine stops referring to mountain bikes as ATBs...
Fisher teammates Mike Kloser and Sara Ballantyne show the Euros who's boss by winning the European Championships...
Don Douglass and Glhson Anderson team to start the International Mountain Bicycling Association (IMBA)...
Guns N' Roses releases its chart-topping "Appetite For Destruction"...
The six-event Grundig Challenge Series, the forerunner of the Grundig World Cup Series, is born...
The Mountain Bike Hall of Fame inducts its first members at Fat Tire Bike Week in Crested Butte...
Greg Herbold wins the first of three NQRBA National Downhill Championships...
Mount Snow opens the country's first Mountain Bike School...
Ross Shafer sponsors the sport's first all-female race team, which includes Martha Kennedy, Linda DuPriest and Caria Culbertson...
The industry makes a universal switch to a flat bar and lower, longer stem, instead of using a riser bar...
Central Park closes its trails to mountain bikes...
Tioga makes a smooth-surface, off-road tire labeled the City Slicker.
Professional wrestling makes prime-time TV as Hulk Hogan faces ? Andre the Giant.
Uncle Knobby makes his debut in MB's September/October issue, answering the first of more than 600 reader questions.
1989
John Tomac rides his final year on the Celestial Seasonings squad before getting hired by the 7-Eleven team...
The United States Cycling Federation buys NORBA, and the NORBA Championship Series is born...
Riding for General Bicycle, Tinker Juarez claims his first NORBA National victory...
Under-the-bar shifting arrives in the form of Shimano's STI and Suntour's X-Press shifters.John Rader designs the threadless headset and a year later licenses it to Dia-Compe...
Nintendo's Gameboy is released...
The machined alu- minum "Trail Stem" is released by Geoff Ringle...
John Tomac secretly tests a new eight-speed Shimano drivetrain...
Yeti produces a new lugged carbon-fiber bike called the C-26...
The Grafton Speed Controller brake starts a new look in cantilever brakes...
Boone Lennon, whose aero- dynamic Scott handlebar is used by top triathletes and time trialists, turns his attention to mountain hiking with the Scott AT-4 off-road har...
Pete Rose is banned from baseball for life for allegedly betting on baseball games...
SR/Sakae introduces its coil-sprung QuikPost suspension seatpost...
Radar guns are used on Mount Tarn to dissuade speeding mountain bikers...
The Wall Street Journal publishes a front-page article titled "A New Menace Lurks in the Wilds: Supersonic Cyclist"...
MTV's Unplugged debuts...
Juli Furtado wins the National road championship...
For the first time ever, mountain bike models for sale in bike shops outnumber road bike models...
Answer joins with Easton to make the first lightweight, high-performance handlebar, the TaperLite (the precursor to the wildly popular Hyperlite) and, later, the Pro-Taper rise bar...
The straight versus curved (rigid) fork debate is the marketing war of the year...
Roadie Davis Phinney races at Mammoth on a borrowed YetL.For the second straight year, Americans win the U.S. and the Euro versions of the "Unofficial World Championships"...
Offroad introduces its version of a full-suspension cross-country bike, which uses the Flexstem up front and two small elastomer springs in the back to get just over an inch of rear traveL.The famously uncool Grammys add a Best Hard Rock/Metal category...
Greg Herbold wins the Big Bear DH National using a RockShox fork...
"Driving Miss Daisy" wins the Oscar for best picture...
The U.K.-based Kirk Precision releases a cast magnesium frame...
Valentino Campagnolo shows up at the Moab festival to introduce his Euclid gruppo and see firsthand what this thing called mountain hiking is all about.
The Berlin Wall is torn down, marking the end of the Cold War...
A new debate is raised when Gary Fisher shows an oversized "Evolution" headset, which is 25% larger and requires new frame fork and stem dimensions.
1990
To further appease John Tomac, Yeti's John Parker borrows from the throttle-twisters and shows up at Durango with the industry's first box truck, which sets in motion a box-truck revolution...
The first official (UGl-sanctioned) Mountain Bike World Championships are held in Durango...
With Campagnolo dollars making it possible, Don Myrah leaves team Ritchey and moves to Yeti, lasting only three months before moving to Fat Chance...
A new rage is begun when Onza introduces blackwall tires and white rubber Porcupines...
Milli Vanilli is forced to return its Best New Artist Grammy after it's revealed they lip-synched someone else's vocals...
Travis Brown wins the expert class cross-country at Mammoth...
Campagnolo scores first blood by winning the men's and women's pro XC classes at the Big Bear NORBA opener...
The Cool Tool minitool is introduced...
General Motors introduces its first new brand name in more than 60 years: Saturn...
Gannondale unveils its rear-suspended SE2000 at the Durango Worlds-Gary Fisher unveils the RS-1 full-suspension bike...
Grey LeMond bags a win at the Chequamegon Fat Tire Classic...
America Online is launched...
Dave Wiens wins the Park City XC NORBA National with a RockShoxlork...
Though he's used to getting a six-figure income, Tomac returns to the dirt for a handshake deal with John Parker at Yeti Cycles...
Specialized introduces M2 metal-matrix composite technology into bicycles...
Patrick Swayze romances Demi Moore from beyond the grave in the hit "Ghost"...
Pedro's Synlube debuts...
Mountain bikers sweep the Cyclocross Nationals with Don Myrah, Lisa Muhich and Joey Irwin taking the wins...
Schwinn becomes the first major mountain bike manufacturer to spec RockShox forks...
Doug Bradbury builds the first Manitou suspension fork. He gets two speeding tickets and loses his license bringing one to John Tomac...
Manufacturers begin specing the new GripShift twist-shifters on some bikes...
Budweiser introduces Bud Dry...
Mountain BIKE magazine becomes an insert in Bicycling magazine in January, increasing frequency from six times a year to 10...
Specialized produces a water bottle with IMBA's Rules of the Trail, and donates 50 cents to IMBA for each one sold...
Gary Fisher and Vittoria develop the Ranger, a $75 tubular tire.
Shimano brings [ out its first clipless pedal/shoe combo...
Fox scores big with the animated cartoon "The Simpsons." Bart becomes an icon for underachievers of all ages.
The world is introduced to a black backpack filled with water called a CamelBak.
1991
The Europeans get their act together and create the nine-race Grundig Series that includes three stops in America. For the first and only time, American riders (John Tomac and Susan DeMattei) top both classes...
Tomac nearly takes a double at the World Championships In II Clocco, Italy, with a win In the XC and second in the DH...
Campagnolo, Look and Grafton enter the clipless pedal market...
Volkswagen co-sponsors the Schwinn team...
"The Silence of the Lambs" sweeps the Academy Awards for Best Picture, Actor and Actress...
RockShox makes Its first appearance at the Paris-Rouhaix road race...
Mavic introduces a new rim with a ceramic coating on the brake surface...
Mongoose hires an Austrian motorcycle designer named Horst Leitner to aid the company with suspension designs...
Marzocchi shows off a new suspension fork...
Dia-Compe's outdated SS-5 brake levers and 986 cantilevers continue to rate among the best for their simplicity...
Nirvana's anarchic video "Smells Like Teen Spirit" hits MTV...
Former factory MX'er Johnny O'Mara and VW/Schwinn rider Scott Daubert split expert XC wins at the Durango NORBA National...
A crude-looking prototype suspension stem from Softride shows up at the races-Magic Johnson announces he's HIV-positive...
Ringle Ti Stix skewers are available in seven color combos...
World Cup points leader Juli Furtado Is forced to slop mid-way through the Mammoth World Cup and replace her Yeti jersey with the official Grundig jersey...
"Seinfeld" makes its TV debut...
Alain Daniel wins the first Tour de France VTT, a mountain bike version of the French road classic...
Mountain bike racing makes its broadcast network debut with the made-for-TV "Ride of Your Life," in Vail, Colorado...
Iditabike changes its name to Iditasport, adding skiers and snowshoers...
Jeffrey Dahmer is arrested for killing, dismembering and possibly eating at least 17 people-Scott USA jumps Into the FS/XC fray with Its CST bike which uses its coil-sprung Unishock fork with a simple coil-spring system in the rear...
Robert Reisinger brings out his Pro-Stop disc brake and inverted Suspenders fork that gets just over two inches of travel...
Anyone buying an Ibis automatically becomes an IMBA member, with Ibis picking up the $15 membership fee...
U.S. Cycling Federation members are required to purchase a NORBA license in order to compete in mountain bike events...
Sports Illustrated lor Kids prints cycling trading cards featuring John Tomac.
Mountain Goat shows off its full-suspension bike.
Giro introduces the first over- priced water bottle—the $12 BottleRocket with a possible 64 color combos.
After leading LA police on a car chase, Rodney King is arrested and severely beaten by LAPD officers. The incident is captured on videotape.
John Davis shows up at the Kamikaze in his wheelchair and finishes 82nd in the expert class.
1992
The Cactus Cup race is born, giving the mountain bike community a new way to kick off each season...
GT sells production bikes spec'd with RockShox forks...
Schwlnn shows off its SASS rear-suspension bike, which was co-designed by motorcycle builder Eric Buell, marking the company's first suspension effort since the Krate series of the late '60s...
Cannondale debuts its HeadShok suspension lork...
Shimano introduces the new high-end XTR gruppo...
Longtime rigid-fork maker Tange enters the suspension market with the ShockBlades...
Johnny Carson is replaced by Jay Leno as host of "The Tonight Show"...
Ned Overend wins his sixth NORBA National XC title...
John Tomac quits the Motorola road squad and comes back to the dirt full-time...
Trek partners with Japanese suspension giant Showa to market its own fork...
President George Bush puts on a public display of vomiting during a diplomatic visit to Japan...
Merlin shows off a FS/XC bike that weighs less than 20 pounds...
The Greg LeMond line of mountain bikes hits the market with Bob Roll as the first team rider...
Juli Furtado moves to the GT team...
Schwinn files for bankruptcy, listing $81 billion in debts against $117 million in assets...
The first-ever air shock from Fox is seen...
Mavic offers its first full mountain bike group...
A children's show about a stuffed purple dinosaur takes in more than $300 million in merchandise sales...
A British company called Hope shows off its new disc brake...
Trek advertises its first full-suspension bike...
The world gets its first look at Horst Leitner's Amp fork and a FS/XC bike that uses something called a "Horst Link"...
Yeti unveils its FS ARC...
A new bike company called Barracuda opens in Durango and hires Lisa Munich out of retirement...
Dave Wiens uses the Cactus Cup to test a 700c wheeled Diamondback...
Bungee jumping is all the rage as more than 200 jump sites pop up in the U.S...
Fat Chance makes a limited-edition Tenth-Anniversary bike...
Reebok sponsors the Eliminator DH race at Mammoth, only to find that the team it also co-sponsors only races XC...
John Stamstad sets a 24-hour off-road record of 275 miles during the World Cup festivities at Mammoth...
Captain Dondo writes his first column for MOUNTAIN BiKE...
Geoff Ringle debuts his Moby Post, saying "We want to do to the seatpost business what Hyperlite did to handlebars"...
MTV's The Real World debuts in New York...
Bridgestone specs a "mustache" handlebar on its XO-1 hybrid.
A little-known Arkansas Governor is elected president and a new era for America begins.
Dave Cullinan (right) and Juli Furtado win the DH Worlds in Canada, but the U.S. is shut-out in the XC.
1993
Cannondale hires Alex Pong to come up with something special for the bike show the never-rideable "Pona Bike" aoes down in infamy as the most far-fetched bike ever...
Marin Count! rangers discover the illegally built Paradigm Trail on Mann's Mount Tamalpais...
MOUNTAIN BIKE comes back out of the pages of Bicycling as a stand-alone publication and lures Zap away from Mountain Bikt Action...
At 15, Anne-Carollne Chausson wins the junior DH Worlds In her second mountain bike race ever, posting a lime onl' three seconds slower than Giovanna Bonazzi's pro win...
The final episode of "Cheers" attracts 93 million viewers...
Specialized becomes the first major bike company to establish a website...
Trek (finally) creates a race team...
'91 junior XC champ Johnny Mutolo's promising career is ended after he suffers a head injury at a Vail DH race...
RockShox wins the Paris-Roubaix road race for the second consecutive year...
After a standout '92 season, Daryl Price is lured from Specialized by Marin...
Housewife Lorena Bobbitt chops off her husband's penis while he sleeps...
The radical Cannondale Super-V hits the dealer floors...
Specialized is now relying on the talents of Horst Leitner and he delivers the first version of the FSR...
A year after Travis Brown races the prototype, Manitou unveils a FS bike that uses Manitou suspension front and rear...
The Dia-Compe AheadSet shows up on production bikes...
Merger-mania begins as Schwinn is acquired by Scott U.S.A. and Trek acquires Fisher...
Jimmy Deaton uses a 66T chainring to win the Mammoth Kamikaze...
Two new FS/XC bikes show up—an Intense and a Turner...
After a 51-day standoff, more than 70 members of the Branch Davidian cult die in a clash with federal agents...
Brent Foes unveils his first FS/DH bike...
Time enters the pedal market with John Tomac and Bob Roll using them...
Due to the high price of XC riders, team Yeti dedicates its effort to a full-time DH squad...
Halson Designs introduces a novel inverted suspension fork that retains the use of cantilever brakes...
Philippe Perakis's ATZ downhill bike sparks interest in unified rear-triangle suspension...
LA'S KCRW plays Beck's "Loser" over the alrwaves and alternative rock meets its future...
John Stamstad sets the course record in his first Iditasport win, finishing the 170 miles in 15 hours and 17 minutes...
Missy Giove receives a 20-day suspension for un- sportsmanlike conduct at June's Iron Horse Classic...
Bell comes out with its Reebok Pump, which allows riders to custom-fit the helmet using internal air chambers, on the $130 Avalanche.
Juli Furtado wins 17 consecutive XC races, including all six National Championship Series races and nine World Cup races, as well as the overall crown in both championships.
Steven Spielberg releases "Jurassic Park," which sets a then-record $50.2 million its opening weekend.
GT's first production FSbike,theRTS-1,is shipped to dealers.
1994
Paul Price takes the lead in the American-made derailleur renaissance, a hopeful moment soon crushed by Shimano dominance. ..
IMBA strikes a deal with the Sierra Club whereby the latter finally supports an agreement that states "Mountain bicycling is a legitimate form of recreation and transportation on trails"...
Bob Roll gives the Softride beam its best-ever National finish (9th) at the Washington NORBA National...
Female participation is on the rise, with NORBA license holders increasing from less than a thousand in 1990 to about 2,000 in 1994...
"Friends" and "ER" hit the airwaves...
Cannondale goes public...
Jimmy Deaton wins his fifth and final Mammoth Kamikaze...
Utah State Rep. Tom Matthews proposes a $10 surcharge on adult bikes bought in the state to "offset the impact cyclists have on the environment"...
John Tomac breaks out a black latex suit for DH duties...
GT shows up all the (by now) traditional box trucks with it! first (small) semi-truck...
Evian forms an all-woman squad with Jar Bolland, Lisa Munich, Susan DiBiase and Penny Davidson...
Mountain bikes are banned from the Cyclocross World Championships...
Henrik Djernis wins his third consecutive World Championship...
Dave Gullinan suffers a heart attack in his hotel room the night before the Cactus Cup and undergoes five hours of open-heart surgery...
NORBA participation increases 140% from 1991, with 23,000 members in 1994...
Dan Koeppel writes his first Hug the Bunny for MOUNTAIN BiKE...
Kurt Cobain disappears from an LA rehab clinic and commits suicide...
Shimano has a new pedal in the 747...
Avid enters the brake market with a line of exquisitely machined levers and brakes...
The AMP disc brake arrives...
Merger fever continues with Schwinn buying Yeti, Trek buying Bontrager and Fat City joining Serotta...
"NBC Nightly News" airs a story about the emergence of mountain hiking and the havoc it supposedly wreaks on multi-use trails..John Travolta makes a comeback in "Pulp Fiction"...
RockShox enters the rear shock market...
Bridgestone goes out of business...
MOUNTAIN BIKE'S annual "101 Tips That Don't Suck" hits the newsstands for the first time...
SRAM shows off a new rear derailleur at the Sea Otter...
Shimano adds optical gear displays to its shifters...
"Tread," a feature-length, fat-tire film, opens in March, with sponsors hoping it will do for mountain hiking what "Endless Summer" did for surfing...
Cook Brothers Racing adds the sleekly elegant "E" crank to its line...
GT signs World champ Mike King...
65% of all bikes sold are mountain bikes...
Doug Bradbury starts his own bike company, Bradbury Racing Components and shows off a road bike.
TV viewers watch as police are led on a slow-speed chase of a white Bronco carrying OJ Simpson, who's later arrested and acquitted for the brutal murders of Nicole Brown and Ron Goldman,
Volvo sponsors the Cannondale team which then goes on a buying spree of talent that pays off with seven World Championship medals.
1995
They were the giants of the American suspension revolution and, although the fork companies they founded were hugely profitable, Paul Turner and Doug Bradbury were already growing disillusioned with the empires they helped create. But the titans at RockShox and Manitou still had time for a friendly embrace...
GT goes public...
John Tomac races a prototype Giant featuring the LTD to a Znd-place in the downhill season opener...
The first New England Mountain Bike Festival is held in Randolph, Vermont...
Dave Turner's downhill bike—the Turner Burner DH—hits the market...
Suntour closes its U.S. offices...
Trek acquires Klein...
Cannondale introduces its Coda parts and accessories line, which includes a suspension seatpost, brake levers, bar-ends and crank.Jhe titanium Cool Tool is a hot new chi chL.The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame opens in Cleveland, Ohio...
MOUNTAIN BIKE goes online with its website "MB Electro"...
A week after a 12th-place finish at the World Cup finals, Specialized rider Jason McRoy is killed in a motorcycle accident...
Anne-Caroline Chausson is forced by the UCI to race as a junior at the Worlds, posts a faster time than the pros, and refuses to accept the rainbow jersey...
Large Hardwear leads the way with a baggy short, and is quickly followed by nearly every other clothing manufacturer...
Roadies continue to make the switch to mountain bikes as Steve Larsen, Andy Bishop and Joe Parkin join the race action...
Leigh Donovan wins unprecedented triple titles in the National dual-slalom series, National downhill series and World Downhill Championships...
The New York Times and The Washington Post print a rambling, 35,000-word mani- festo written by the "Unabomber"...
RockShox enters the rear-suspension market with its LTD (Linear Tracking Device) system...
Pepsi picks up Travis Brown for a commercial, but doesn't dig his alternative-style facial hair. Travis gives in and shaves...
VooDoo Bicycles, designed by Joe Murray, hits the market and offers consumers a "pick and choose" option of buying bikes...
RockShox introduces the Judy fork...
ESPN launches the Extreme Games...
"Mountain bike" appears in IVIerriam-Webster Collegiate Dictionary...
Ghad Gilstrap gets the MOUNTAIN BIKE logo tattooed on his leg for a lifetime subscription to the magazine...
Mountain hiking makes its debut at the Pan-American Games, with Tinker Juarez and Alison Sydor taking the golds...
A revitalized Schwinn turns 100...
Keizo Shimano, president of the Shimano division in Japan and one of three sons of the company's founder, dies after suffering heart failure...
Dave Cullinan comes back to racing after getting a new heart valve from a human donor...
GripShitt is spec'd on 460 bikes, compared with 65 in '94...
Shimano debuts the V-brakes...
Recall fever goes into overdrive. Between this and the previous year, 12,000 Specialized forks, more than 100,000 Trek, Fisher, Specialized and Cannondale seatposts, and 29,000 Control Tech road stems are recalled.
John Kemp organizes a team comprised of junior riders to com- pete in National series races. The RockShox Junior Development Team finishes '95 with three national titles.
A truck bomb explodes at a federal office build- ing in Oklahoma City, killing 168 people.
Rune Hoydahl makes history in men's racing by winning five XC World Cup races in one season, including three straight.
1996
The first-ever mountain bike Olympic race is held in the sweltering Atlanta heat with Paola Pezzo and Bart Brentjens taking the golds.
American Susan DeMattei claims a bronze...
GT founder Richard Long dies...
Nicolas Vouilioz wins his fifth rainbow jersey and shows off the brand-new Mike Cairns shoe...
41-year-old Ned Overend retires...
Lance Armstrong is diagnosed with testicular cancer that has spread through his body...
60 riders meet atop Kit. Tarn to celebrate the 20th anniversary ot Repack...
A little girl named JonBenet Ramsey is murdered in Boulder...
GT introduces the first production ther- moplastic carbon-fiber mountain bike...
0nza files for bankruptcy...
The Walt Street Journal spotlights Tom Ritchey and Mike Sinyard in a major story about America's pas- sion for inventing sports...
Porsche produces its own mountain bikes, built by Votec.John Stamstad rides the 24 Hours ot Canaan solo, entering under tour variations ot his name. The next year an official solo category is created...
100-year-old comedian George Burns dies...
Fisher introduces the "Joshua" dual-suspension hike...
Mountain Dew takes up co-sponsorship of Team Specialized...
Doctors discover that scar tissue on Dave Gullinan's aorta is splitting, requiring surgery if he wants to continue racing, so Cully goes under the knife for the third time...
Alanis Morissette tops the charts with "Jagged Little Pill"...
The RockShox downhill fork, the DHO-101, arrives...
The reader-generated "The Ridden Word" debuts in MOUNTAIN BIKE'S pages with "climb- ing"...
Ritchey releases its 2x9 18-speed drivetrain...
Giro takes helmets to a new level with its $129 high-end Helios RL, which features the RocLoc head retention system and 21 giant vents...
In advertisements for its endorphin carbon-fiber hardtail frame, Scott U.S.A. proclaims "Rigid suspension is not an oxymoron"...
Smith introduces the Slider sunglass with interchangeable lenses...
Extreme snowboarder Shaun Palmer bursts onto the mountain bike scene with a downhill victory at Big Bear...
The year of the independent films included "Swingers," "Sling Blade," and "Fargo."
Volkswagen begins selling the Trek/Jetta, a limited edition car which includes a roof rack and Trek/Jetta mountain bike for $15,000.
1997
In one of the more novel attempts to raise money tor a good cause, Shimano unveils 14 Action Hero figures, which are auctioned oil to benefit IMBA. More than $3,000 is raised..Another stage race is intro- duced to mountain hiking as the Tour of the Rockies premiers. Race promoter and ex-Coors Light road team coach Len Pettyjohn says: "American racers need to maintain a leadership position in the world. It's not enough to say that we invented the sport because that doesn't mean shit anymore"...
Cannondale's carbon-fiber Raven hits dealer floors...
Ibis comes out with the pivotless Bow Ti, the most-expensive production bike on the market at $6,250...
Gary Fisher releases a limited-edition Grateful Dead bike which sells out...
Ellen DeGeneres comes out on her ABC sitcom and draws an estimated 42 million viewers...
There are more full-suspension bikes available than unsuspended bikes...
Cannondale announces it will begin producing wheelchairs for daily use and sports competition...
Paola Pezzo tests positive for the banned substance nandroline, a steroid, at the World Cup finals, undergoing an investigation by the UC1 that eventually clears her of any drug violations...
RockShox makes iM? on Business M/eek's Hot Growth list...
Freeride comes to mountain biking...
Microsoft's Bill Gates buys $150 million worth of shares in Apple Computer...
The Junior Development Cycling Foundation is founded...
Jeep backs out as title sponsor tor the NORBA Championship Series...
RockShox introduces the SID fork...
NBC sportscaster Marv Albert loses his job after pleading guilty to biting a female acquaintance...
Polo Sport begins sponsoring a team. Riders include Shari Kain, Mark Howe, Mary Hearn and Peter Swenson...
Despite their retirements the year before, Ned Overend and Susan DeMattei appear at the Big Bear National...
Juli Furtado announces in early July that she has been diagnosed with lupus, and can no longer compete...
For the first time, non-Americans can compete and gather points in a NORBA series. Kirk Molday wins the series, but because he has a Canadian license, he can't take the National title, and the honor instead goes to Schwinn's Steve Larsen...
Four racers are booted from racing the World Championships tor having a high hematocrit level...
Miss America contestants are permitted to wear two-piece swimsuits and sport navel rings and tattoos...
Shimano unveils the Airlines shift system...
Northwave shoes come to America...
Cannondale shows off its downhill Fulcrum bike with a computer mapping system, which never sees active duty...
RockShox and Manitou show up with doublecrown XC forks with the Judy XL and X-Vert...
Marzocchi introduces the revolutionary Z.1 fork...
39 members of the "Heaven's Gate" cult commit mass suicide at a million-dollar mansion outside San Diego...
IMBA's inaugural Trail Care Crew—Mike and Jan Riter—travels the U.S. leading trailwork sessions, meeting land managers and working with IMBA-affiliated clubs. In '97, they cover 52,000 miles and participate in 150 trail projects...
1998
In response to threatened litigation from Cannondale over the term "freeride," the Rockv Mountain "froriders" are born...
Captain Dondo leaves MOUNTAIN BIKE...
Aged and retired mountain bike stars show they've still got the goods when 43-year-old Ned Overend wins the X-Terra Championship and Mike Kloser and Sara Ballantyne join Team Vail to win the Eco-Challenge...
Rails to Trails Conservancy unveils its 1,000th bike trail for more than 10,000 miles of converted rail lines...
Viagra, a popular new anti-impotence drug, is endorsed by Bob Dole...
Fisher unveils Genesis Geometry...
For the first time, Big Bear promoters have more downhill entries than cross-country entries...
SRAM buys Sachs Bicycle Components...
Lance Armstrong makes his mountain bike racing debut in Park City, and fails to finish. In December, he signs to ride a few off-road races for Trek/VW...
Northwave and Castelli develop a special line of women's clothing inspired by Paola Pezzo...
The final episode of "Seinfeld" attracts 108 million viewers...
Tour de France stage winner Raul Alcala comes out of retirement to race on the dirt for GT...
RockShox joins the trend with its own disc brake purchased from AMP...
RockShox's $1,099 Boxxer hits the market...
Mark McGwire and Sammy Sosa spark a renewed interest in baseball as they chase—- and break—Roger Marls' single-season home-run record...
Paola Pezzo is fined $200 for wearing a modified uniform that isn't up to UGI code at the Napa World Cup opener...
Bar-ends basically disappear from the race scene...
Front and rear tenders are prominent on the nasty-weather downhill race scene...
El Nino brings out the wettest U.S. winter on record. ..CamelBak makes a minimal, lower-profile pack called the AeroBak...
World Cup DH champ Regina Stiefl shows up in a German edition of Playboy magazine...
Giro's $190 Switchblade features a removable faceplate, so it can be used for XC and DH...
A cartoon about a group of foul-mouthed elementary schoolers debuts, and South Park grabs a loyal following...
John Tomac and Doug Bradbury form Tomac Bicycles, releasing a four-bike line...
1999
Following his Tour de France victory, Lance Armstrong shows up at Mount Snow and gets worked by the mountain bikers but still finishes in the top-10 in the cross-country and short-track...
The first single-speed World Championships are held in Southern California, with multi-gear regulars Travis Brown and Maria Streb taking the wins...
Shimano introduces the nine-speed drivetrain...
Anatomically friendly saddles flood the market...
GT's i-Drive line of full-suspension bikes—available in six models from $899-$3,599—hits dealer floors...
RockShox releases its first air shock, the SID...
MP3 music files hit the Internet...
Shimano brings out its Flight Deck, a computer that's linked to the shifting system...
Saab becomes a title sponsor for the Gary Fisher team...
All helmets made after March 10 must now meet the new Consumer Product Safety Commission safety standard...
Mavic, Sun/Ringle and Bontrager come out with disc-brake compatible wheelsets...
Rishi Grewal wins the World Solo 24-Hour Championships in Canmore, Alberta...
"The Blair Witch Project," which costs less than $100,000 to produce, is a box-office hit...
Trek moves away from its Y-bike design with the non-unified VRX series...
MOUNTAIN BIKE begins its MB15 Countdown in August...
After four years without a new FS model, Scnwinn introduces the Mert Lawwill-designed 4-Banger...
Swobo sues MOUNTAIN BIKE after Zap makes fun of its founder's work ethic...
Following the success of the Marzocchi Z.1, Manitou and RockShox make tour-inch single-crown forks...
Huffy closes U.S. factories after 65 years...
The International Police Mountain Bike Association becomes an independent non-profit organization...
Cyclocross World champ Matt Kelly makes his pro NORBA debut...
Spinergy shows off its new Spox wheel...
GT sponsors the Lotto road team and gets in the Tour de France-Former DH National winner Jake Watson dies in a practice crash...
Steve Peat wins the Big Bear DH National on Michelin slick tires...
NORBA debuts the short-track XC...
Cannondale's Lefty fork wins the Les Gets dual-slalom...
Misguided product managers mistakenly choose fashion over function and spec crappy mechanical disc brakes on low-end bikes...
Cannondale unveils its Raven 2 with the single-sided Lefty fork...
Hosted by monochromatic Regis Philbin, ( "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire" starts a prime-time game-show craze...
Nicolas Vouilioz wins his eighth consecutive DH World Championship...
2000
Mountain bikes show up at the Olympics for a second time. Once again the Americans get smoked and Paola Pezzo claims gold. France's Miguel Martinez caps his already sensational year with his first Olympic win...
Jerome Chiotti admits to using EPO when he won the '96 World Championships. After four silver medals, Thomas Frischknecht is finally awarded his rainbow jersey when Chiotti gives his up...
Anne-Caroline Chausson becomes the all-time winningest World champion with nine (8 DH/1 DS) titles...
Joe Breeze gets a national grant for safe trails to school...
The union between Time Warner and AOL becomes the largest corporate merger ever...
A naked Maria Streb graces the inside of Outeide magazine...
Dan seeks out a girlfriend in his Hug the Bunny co/umn...
Mary Grigson wins the Napa World Cup on Fisher's newest full-suspension bike, the Sugar...
David Letterman has quintuple-bypass surgery...
For the first time, Worlds dual-slalom winners receive a rain- bow jersey...
29-inch-wheels have the industry buzzing...
Nicolas Vouilioz suffers a flat tire at the World Championships, breaking his seven-year win streak...
Americans reclaim some honor at the Worlds with three golds, two silvers and bronze...
Bobby Knight is fired as Indiana University's basketball coach...
Tubeless tires gain some momentum...
Trek drops its downhill program and focuses on its five-rider cross-country squad. Its new Fuel bike is ridden by Chantal Daucourt at Worlds...
Fisher and Specialized also dump their DH programs...
Manitou introduces its Mars line of suspension forks...
RockShox unveils the Psylo, its first all-new fork since the Judy...
K2 (formerly Pro-Flex), which made only full-suspension bikes, begins manufacturing a hardtail...
Swobo goes out of business...
RockShox stock goes from an all-time high of $17.50 in 1996 to an all-lime low of 44 cents, and the company relocates to Colorado Springs...
Shock rapper Eminem grabs three MTV Music Video awards...
After building frames for 18 years, Fat City Cycles goes out of business...
NORBA sanctions a National title for 24-hour racing...
The planned Freeride World Championships in Whistler, B.C. are canceled when event sponsors fail to materialize...
The long-awaited PlayStation 2 hits store shelves....
John Tomac retires after a 15-year career...
SRAM, makers of GripShift twist-shifters, show off a new trigger shift system...
Though not available to the public yet, Shimano unveils a new DH fork and off-road wheelset...
Steve Larsen is named to the Olympic team, but then removed by the Selection Committee. He goes on to win three consecutive NORBA Nationals...
Avid's mechanical disc brake kicks ass on most hydraulic brakes-More upside-down forks are shown with Manitou's DH Dorado and Marzocchi's XC RAG...
Garey Hart pulls the world's first motorcycle backflip at the Gravity Games...
Litespeed assumes the titanium throne once and for all with its purchase of Merlin...
The World Cup series visits Mexico for the first time...
Specialized follows in Cannondale and GT's footsteps by sponsoring a Euro road team...
The UCI announces that the World Championships will return to Vail, Colorado, in 2001...
Two years after the project started, Cannondale's MX400 is in production.
Americans get saturated with reality TV with the mega-hit "Survivor" and mega-bomb "Big Brother."
After cutting all ties with RockShox, Paul Turner starts his own company, Maverick, and builds FS bikes.
(ïî ìàòåðèàëàì Mountan Bike)