WandsworthRouleur
Pace Fan
I don't really remember there being a difference between MTBs and ATBs. Two names for the same thing. Of course, there were cheap MTBs and AT s, and expensive MTBs and ATBs!
I don't think front suss in itself was a new segment. The basic bikes were the same (indeed, most models in the early 90s could be bought as rigid or with sus forks).
My recollection is that downhill bikes were the first to be properly segmented as something wholly new. And not just a regular MTB (I guess we'd now call the XC rigs) with front sus, a bigger ring and a DCD! The first proper DH bikes were bigger, heavier and aimed o lay at going downhill fast. You needed a ski lift to get back up.
At around the same time, we started to see the emergence of trials style and dual slalom bikes. These were pretty niche, so not sure if the qualify as a segment in their own right.
Then I guess not too much until Gary Fisher and others started dicking about with 29" wheels...
I don't think front suss in itself was a new segment. The basic bikes were the same (indeed, most models in the early 90s could be bought as rigid or with sus forks).
My recollection is that downhill bikes were the first to be properly segmented as something wholly new. And not just a regular MTB (I guess we'd now call the XC rigs) with front sus, a bigger ring and a DCD! The first proper DH bikes were bigger, heavier and aimed o lay at going downhill fast. You needed a ski lift to get back up.
At around the same time, we started to see the emergence of trials style and dual slalom bikes. These were pretty niche, so not sure if the qualify as a segment in their own right.
Then I guess not too much until Gary Fisher and others started dicking about with 29" wheels...
