Downhill thinking...

[scant]

Julie Furtado was a legend alright, but she didn't win both titles;

Furtado crashed out (problem with the front cantis on her GT Xizang) on the first lap of the '92 Bromont worlds XC (which I think Ruthie Matthes won?) so she rode the Downhill on a 14 inch RTS. And she won it!

Does that make the RTS the first DH bike?

furtado AFAIK is the only women to win both titles in worlds XC & DH, but on different years.
the RTS was certainly never marketed as a DH bike.. but then neither was the yeti ultimate & I remeber when that was viewed as a DH rig

 

[Raumer]

First production DH bike was IIRC the Cannondale DH4000. Caused a big stir when it came out. Somewhere my brother has a specialized FSR with long travel conversion on it which must date from the mid 90's.

Ed

 

[cce]

does anyone recall steve peat winning the 94 uk championship on an all-rigid kona?

the mouthy DH kids of today dont believe me when i say stevie p would kick their sorry bottoms on my bike. or a wheelie bin for that matter.

 

[Woodie]

My recollection, though it was a while ago, was that the RTS was aimed at downhill because (correct me if I'm wrong) the suspension locks out when pedalling. Wouldn't that make the RTS the first time a production DH bike hit the mainstream?

On the subject of what makes a DH bike, triple clamped forks add to the "meaning business" look

 

[Ziggy]

stevie p would kick their sorry bottoms on my bike. or a wheelie bin for that matter.

Where have I heard that before?! An old mbuk maybe? :?

 

[cce]

stevie p would kick their sorry bottoms on my bike. or a wheelie bin for that matter.

Where have I heard that before?! An old mbuk maybe? :?

you might be right actually. it's just one of those phrases i've used for years with no recall of where i got it from

 

[Ziggy]

you might be right actually. it's just one of those phrases i've used for years with no recall of where i got it from

That's gonna annoy me now! Ah well... if only I'd kept all my old mags

 

[FairfaxPat]

Downhill thinking

In late 1991 I introduced a local Fairfax boy, Myles Rockwell, to the owner of Boulder bikes-Rich Williams. Myles went on to win many downhill races, including the Mammoth Mt. Kamikaze downhill, on Boulder bikes and later on other brands. The first bike they built for him had extended rear travel-5 inches and a Frankenfork made from two forks put together to get 4.5 inches of travel. They combined a Cannondale in the head tube fork with a Rockshox to get the 4.5 inches of travel.

 

[stevet1]

Re: Downhill thinking

They combined a Cannondale in the head tube fork with a Rockshox to get the 4.5 inches of travel.

Awesome. Should have put a flexstem on there to make the 5" mark.

 

[scant]

Re: Downhill thinking

In late 1991 I introduced a local Fairfax boy, Myles Rockwell, to the owner of Boulder bikes-Rich Williams. Myles went on to win many downhill races, including the Mammoth Mt. Kamikaze downhill, on Boulder bikes and later on other brands. The first bike they built for him had extended rear travel-5 inches and a Frankenfork made from two forks put together to get 4.5 inches of travel. They combined a Cannondale in the head tube fork with a Rockshox to get the 4.5 inches of travel.

i've seen footage of myles going propper sideways at speed on some very dusty fireroad on a boulder