Rewriting Mountain Bike History?

[GrahamJohnWallace]

The French, Dutch and English built specialized off road bicycles in the late 1940s and 50s but as soon as the war recovery kicked in and they had money they bought scooters, MX bikes and cars. It was short lived phenomenon and only lasted about 10 years before dying out. They were a combo of kids and young adults that built theses bikes. I was in Europe in the mid 60s riding motorcycles everywhere and I saw urban and road bicycles, scooters, motorized bicycles, motorcycles and tiny cars. No off road bicycles by then. Car, motorcycle and road bike camping seemed Ike the big adventure everyone was on everywhere I went. My sister toured Europe by bicycle a few years later. She said she never saw any trackers either. She did England and the continent as far as Greece, south into Italy, Spain, Alps and the Low Countries. Wales and Holland were our favorite places.

Its interesting to get a more European perspective on the post-war teenage off-road bike phenomenon as apart from the VCCP, I only know about what happened in Britain.

In the UK it began with teenagers riding their bikes on cleared bombsites and ended up as the popular sport of Cycle-Speedway short-track racing. A few years later there were Cycle-Speedway clubs in most towns and national competitions were being held. Many towns built stadiums as it became a popular spectator sport and even the Duke of Edinburgh was said to be a fan.

The other influence was motorcycle-scrambling now known as Motocross. Young people could go with a dad or older brother to motorcycle-scrambling meets, along side which bicycle events were held to see who could; jump the furthest, hold a wheelie longest or ride the fastest around a course. Things really took off in the 60s and 70s when motorcycle-scrambling began to be regularly shown on Saturday Sports TV programs. Teenagers would fit knobbly Avon 'Skidway Gripster tyres, wide cow-horn handlebars to an old bike they could afford to ride to destruction. Then they would head off with their friends to a local wood or inner-city waste land where they would emulate the antics of the scrambler motorbikes they had seen on TV.

 

[Nabeaquam]

It is a well known fact that I, LGF the Sane invented mountain biking as we know it

Fact

Was he a king, like Ethel Red the Unhip or Knut the Boneless?

 

[MattiThundrrr]

Hi. Canada here. We've been building rugged bikes for a few years, probably did a little bit of racing too, eh?
'"Out to the bush" whenever you feel like it!'
1930 CCM advertisement

 

[RetroDavy]

Hi. Canada here. We've been building rugged bikes for a few years, probably did a little bit of racing too, eh?View attachment 762204
'"Out to the bush" whenever you feel like it!'
1930 CCM advertisement

Everything about this advert is wonderful, 'Lead the regular fellows...' , 'snappy new 1930 models', and especially the word "Bike" in quotation marks. It might catch on.

 

[Woz]

Just had a look at https://confreriedes650.org/la-confrerie/historique/ - who I assume have a fair amount of knowledge, anyhow, here is a section which peaked my interest (translation to English):

"Alas, for low commercial reasons, in competition with the much more demanded 700C, a rewarding image of racing, and 26 inches of mountain biking, with an adventurous connotation, the 650B was in the mid-1970s pushed towards the exit and towards a disappearance. which some called for."

Reading this, it just seems a bit odd why anyone would even start fiddling with 650B in the late 1970s when the writing apparently was on the wall. Perhaps I'm making 2 + 2 = 5 and/or simplifying history. Thought I would share it all the same.

 

[GrahamJohnWallace]

Just had a look at https://confreriedes650.org/la-confrerie/historique/ - who I assume have a fair amount of knowledge, anyhow, here is a section which peaked my interest (translation to English):

"Alas, for low commercial reasons, in competition with the much more demanded 700C, a rewarding image of racing, and 26 inches of mountain biking, with an adventurous connotation, the 650B was in the mid-1970s pushed towards the exit and towards a disappearance. which some called for."

Reading this, it just seems a bit odd why anyone would even start fiddling with 650B in the late 1970s when the writing apparently was on the wall. Perhaps I'm making 2 + 2 = 5 and/or simplifying history. Thought I would share it all the same.

"and 26 inches of mountain biking" must refer to the mid 1980s when US mountain bikes first appeared in Europe. Though maybe the 1990s when 26 inch wheeled mountain bike trend took off in Europe and 26" became more commonplace.

"the 650B was in the mid-1970s pushed towards the exit and towards a disappearance." I suspect that this refers to the mid 1970s popularity of 700c ten speed racing bikes. As far as I am aware, in the mid 1970s and 80s, 650b was remained a popular size in France and elsewhere for tandems, randonneur, utility, and probably children's bikes?

It is however possible that by the mid 1970s there had been big improvements to the poorly maintained roads of the post WWII era. If so, 35-40mm wide 650b balloon tyres may have no longer been the best option for the long distances randonneur riders .

 

[Woz]

It's an interesting statement.

I guess a more complete factual answer would be scanning catalogues to see when the 650B was dropped. A very very quick none-exhaustive look says Peugeot's last serious 650B Randonneur for men was in 1978. Interestingly shown alongside a 700C tourer.

https://bikeboompeugeot.com/Brochures France/Peugeot 1978 France Brochure/Peugeot_1978_French_Catalog_Gentlemen_Randonneurs_BikeBoomPeugeot.JPG

I'd imagine the 650B was dropped much earlier for export models. A Mavic or Rigida catalogue would be interesting to find.

EDIT: Reading this, there seems a lot of bullshit said at the Ritchey stand
https://www.singletracks.com/mtb-ge...the-650b-godfather-revolution-and-650b-sales/

 

[Frankenorange]

It's an interesting statement.

I guess a more complete factual answer would be scanning catalogues to see when the 650B was dropped. A very very quick none-exhaustive look says Peugeot's last serious 650B Randonneur for men was in 1978. Interestingly shown alongside a 700C tourer.

https://bikeboompeugeot.com/Brochures France/Peugeot 1978 France Brochure/Peugeot_1978_French_Catalog_Gentlemen_Randonneurs_BikeBoomPeugeot.JPG

I'd imagine the 650B was dropped much earlier for export models. A Mavic or Rigida catalogue would be interesting to find.

EDIT: Reading this, there seems a lot of bullshit said at the Ritchey stand
https://www.singletracks.com/mtb-ge...the-650b-godfather-revolution-and-650b-sales/

This godfather of mtb and wheelsize crap is so fecking boring. Whoop-ee do a man put 650b wheels into a cyclocross frame and used some flat bars to steer it. As for the russians buying up the worlds supply of 650b.....well i call bullsh!t.

 

[GrahamJohnWallace]

This godfather of mtb and wheelsize crap is so fecking boring. Whoop-ee do a man put 650b wheels into a cyclocross frame and used some flat bars to steer it. As for the russians buying up the worlds supply of 650b.....well i call bullsh!t.

These were Hakkapeliitta winter snow and ice tyres were made in Finland not used there or produced all year round. When stocks ran out, buyers would have to wait until next winter's batch had been made. Just like with studded car ice tyres, they are normally only fitted in winter and not well suited to use on metaled roads.

The widest 650x54B Hakkapeliitta variants were specifically made for the Jaeger Brigade cycle/ski regiments of the Finnish Army. These heavily treaded, studded tyres, were used by specialist artic-warfare troops when the snow conditions were patchy and not well suited to ski use. They were intended for guerrilla warfare operations against the Russians in the vast expanse of the Finnish pine forests. It is highly unlikely that the Finns would have sold these tyres to their Russian enemies.

It is well documented that Geoff Apps was sending these tyres to Gary Fisher and Charlie Kelly in the early 1980s. A handful of Californian frame=builders made frames to fit them including Ritchey. It is not clear that any of these frame-builders were ever told where the tyres came from, though Joe Breeze knew.

Photos of Finnish army bikes taken in the summer, usually show them fitted with much smoother balloon tyres and never with Hakkapeliittas.

 

[GrahamJohnWallace]

I'd imagine the 650B was dropped much earlier for export models. A Mavic or Rigida catalogue would be interesting to find.

I looked at a Richmond Cycles' catalogue from 1983 and the only 650b rim listed was the Model 58 Super Champion, and not one of the six Mavic rim types listed was 650b. The size is listed as being for touring and tandem use.

A 1985 Ron Kitching catalogue lists both the Model 58 Super Champion rim and a stronger box-section Module 4 rim from Mavic.

This chronology is as I remember with new improved products from Mavic appearing on the UK market in the mid 1980s. Later on, around 1986 Mavic introduced a narrower Module 3 rim.

These catalogues imply that 560B was still popular for tandems and heavy touring bikes in the 1980s. Probably because the smaller size made for stronger wheels than either 27" or 700C and wider tyres being available. Also, these fatter tyres could absorb shocks better and so were likely to give a more comfortable ride than their narrower counterparts.