A Brief History of Human Powered Transportation

The Mountain Bike was born in California in the 1970's. Early bikes used old Schwinn Excelsior frames and removed unnecessary components. Their heavy (23 kg) construction made them durable, but not easy to get to the top of a mountain! By 1977, special bikes with weights as low as 16 kg were being made. An interesting 'modern' example is the Moulton Mountain ATB shown below. It has both front and rear suspension, small diameter high-pressure tires, and a triangulated multi-tube frame.