Geoff Apps RIP

[27motorhead]

Super sad news. My thoughts are with his friends and family. RIP Geoff.

This is well worth a watch with Geoff being interviewed and riding around!

 

[MattiThundrrr]

 

[legrandefromage]

A bright shining engineered and unique wavelength light snuffed out

Yes, he was eccentric but he knew what he wanted which most of us rarely can say

I had the pleasure of meeting and riding with him some 10 years ago which also coincided with the production and filming of the documentary Mountain Biking: The Untold British Story (as shown above, I can be found in the credits!)

We chatted, he liked the bike I was riding at the time and complimented my traversing of the lumpiest muddiest bits his beloved Wendover could throw at us that day - I was flattered to say the least,

His approach to the UK off-road bike really did plow its own path though, slow and steady over just about anything. Something I grew up with when I got my first proper off road bike in 1985 completely at odds with the scene we all know so well and how it is today

Goodbye chap!

The golden ark will be in your honour everytime I see an Armitage Shanks signature!!

@danson67

 

[firedfromthecircus]

Very sad to hear the passing of a true one of a kind.

Like the big cheese above, I also had the pleasure of meeting Geoff.

The first time was when he came to visit me and photograph Aventura #5, I think for a book that was being done at the time.

We went for a ride on some of my local trails and back to the house for some tea and cake and plenty of chat!

I was later invited down to Geoff's house for the return leg! A ride on his local trails followed by copious amounts of tea and nattering. He was kind enough to give me a large poster of my bike (the picture above) which still hangs on my wall to this day.

A genuine out of the box thinker, and one of those 'men in sheds' that Britain seems to like to produce. He loved discussing his ideas and thoughts about bikes amongst other things, and his passing is a loss to cycling innovation and the grand pastime of having fun splashing about in muddy woods!

 

[danson67]

Sad news indeed.

I rode a around Wendover and the Surrey Hills with him a couple of times back around 1985, before US 'Mountainbikes' had really arrived. I was just getting into off-road riding, and the 'cross-country bicycle' really aligned with how I wanted to travel. Quiet, uncompetitive, no racing...touring, bimbling around your real space and head space.

After a couple of more recent annual Wendover Bash anniversary rides, in 2019, I was commissioned by Geoff to make a prototype production version of his current Landseer bike.

Like so many single-minded and obsessive detail guys, he could be hard to collaborate with. We had many discussions on supply chains, pricing, practicality and current fashion, along with the needs of actually producing and selling several bikes compared with designing just one example of the best possible solution...While ultimately fruitless, the discussion was always good natured and constructive.

Here it is without its mudguards and and mud deflectors for the chain/belt:



He ploughed his own muddy furrow for a lifetime with so little acknowledgement or return, except from a handful of devoted followers and advocates.
Despite lifelong mental health and identity issues, he always looked to the future and how it might be improved in so many ways.

All the best,

 

[danson67]

For those who might like to attend:

Geoff’s funeral is being held at the Borders Crematorium (near Melrose – post code: TD6 9HA) on Wednesday, September 4th at 10:00 am.
All are welcome.
The plan is for tea and coffee after the service, probably back at the village hall in Chirnside where Geoff lived.

All the best,

 

[TZEDS]

After reading "Richards Mountainbike Book",and the chapter eccentric case studdles,he inspired me and a couple of my buddies. We attempted to ride up mount Snowdon.After a bit of all terrain biking and carrying(we went up the pig track, rather than the ranger path,which Apps did )we made it to the top.I was 16,to think you could ride a bicycle up a mountain.
Cheers Geoff RIP

 

[GrahamJohnWallace]

I recieved the following tribute from Joe Breeze on the 16th of August:


I’m very sorry to hear of your loss. It is our loss really, as Geoff was an inspiration to our shared movement.

That more mountain bikers are not aware of Geoff Apps’ contributions to the sport should be remedied. I regret that he did not live to see himself inducted into the MTB Hall of Fame...

Sincerely,

Joe Breeze

 

[27motorhead]

I recieved the following tribute from Joe Breeze on the 16th of August:


I’m very sorry to hear of your loss. It is our loss really, as Geoff was an inspiration to our shared movement.

That more mountain bikers are not aware of Geoff Apps’ contributions to the sport should be remedied. I regret that he did not live to see himself inducted into the MTB Hall of Fame...

Sincerely,

Joe Breeze

Well said Joe Breeze. RIP Geoff

 

[GrahamJohnWallace]

And this from Jeremy Torr, frame-builder for Cleland Cycles & English Cycles and co-founder of the UK Mountain Bike Club:


Geoff was a brilliantly free thinker and impressively original designer and creator of all sorts of things, including bicycles.

He shared his ideas on bikes with me way back in the early 80s, and we were lucky enough to give birth together to some of the very first off-road bikes produced in the UK. I still value his faith in me to build his ideas into rolling realities, and also value with fondness his never-ending cup of tea and biscuit breaks.

He wasn’t your average bloke, and could take a while to get to know, but he definitely brought a smile to many, many faces.

Any more to ask?
I don’t think so; Vale Geoff.