Take a walk through mountain bike history with Velo Cult - James Huang / Immediate Media
Rear-suspended mountain bike frames are hardly a new concept. In fact, this Skinner Descender harkens back to 1982 with a whopping six inches of travel using a motocross-based swingarm suspension design - James Huang / Immediate Media
Such disparate suspension numbers - six inches rear, and zero up front - would never even be considered today. Building a suspension fork is a lot more work than a pivoting rear end, though, and it's not something that lends itself well to hand fabrication - James Huang / Immediate Media
Even back in 1982, the Skinner Descender included adjustable travel via two shock positions in the upper rocker arms - James Huang / Immediate Media
The main pivot for the 1982 Skinner Descender sat directly behind the bottom bracket shell - well before anyone really considered the impact of chain tension on suspension movement. Note the chainring sizes on the triple crankset, too - James Huang / Immediate Media
Allsop pushed the concept of suspending the rider, not the bike, and its add-on carbon and elastomer beam sprouted a flurry of custom builds. This 1994 machine from Ti Cycles was originally intended for use on both the road and track (although it could easily have been raced in a triathlon, too) - James Huang / Immediate Media
Ti Cycles also custom made the titanium aero bars, too. Since the bike was meant to be ridden on the road, the bar-end shifters are mounted to the ends of the base bar instead of the extensions as would normally be done - James Huang / Immediate Media
Many would argue that the pinnacle of bicycle componentry aesthetics came in the early-to-mid 1990s - James Huang / Immediate Media
Since there were no seatstays, the titanium chainstays had to be made extra-large - James Huang / Immediate Media
Moots is known for its titanium bikes today but like most back in the day, the company started out making steel frames. This Zirkel dates back to 1989 - James Huang / Immediate Media
The 'Moots Mounts' brake mounts could be moved upwards to accommodate 700c wheels in addition to the standard 26in ones - James Huang / Immediate Media
Fork tips featured dual dropouts so that riders could choose their preferred rake and handling characteristics - James Huang / Immediate Media
These roller cam brakes might be old but the mechanics behind their design are timeless. Several modern road brakes feature similar construction hidden beneath smooth aero covers - James Huang / Immediate Media
The 1994 Retrotec Dirt Craft used fork blades at both ends, with the rear bolstered by two pairs of braided steel cables - James Huang / Immediate Media
Skateboard bushings were built into the steel cables to provide a small measure of suspension - James Huang / Immediate Media
Even with the dramatically milled-out main tube, we suspect this frame was still plenty heavy - James Huang / Immediate Media
This 1984 'Huffy' wore the signature colors of the famed 7-Eleven team. Despite the decals, it was actually made by Serotta - James Huang / Immediate Media
Think fat bikes are a modern invention? Think again. This prototype Hanebrink Extreme Terrain was conceived in 1993, and Hanebrink still sells bikes using a similar design today - James Huang / Immediate Media
The suspended fork houses all of its important guts completely inside the extended steerer tube - James Huang / Immediate Media
Servicing the fork requires an access hole drilled through the head tube - James Huang / Immediate Media
The frame takes some expectedly radical turns to accommodate the unusual treads and custom drivetrain - James Huang / Immediate Media
The wild drivetrain produces insanely low gearing that produces speeds barely faster than walking - but still faster, nonetheless - James Huang / Immediate Media
While modern fat bikes typically use tires around 4in wide, the Hanebrink Extreme Terrain uses ones that are roughly double that - James Huang / Immediate Media
These old Pro-Stop disc brake calipers use a hybrid mechanical/hydraulic design, similar to what TRP uses now on its HY/RD model - James Huang / Immediate Media
These started out as ATV tires but were shaved down, basically by hand. Screws provide some grip on icy terrain - James Huang / Immediate Media
Trimble was an early carbon pioneer, using the then-exotic composite material in this Inverse model from 1993 - James Huang / Immediate Media
Tioga tension disk rear wheels somehow never cease to be striking. If we close our eyes, we can almost hear the rumbling again - James Huang / Immediate Media
Holy spikes! - James Huang / Immediate Media
This 1993 Trimble Inverse also sported a one-piece wrapped composite cockpit - James Huang / Immediate Media
This 1992 Yeti Ultimate was the result of Mountain Bike Action's quest for the 'ultimate mountain bike'. At the time, elevated chainstays were a radical idea - James Huang / Immediate Media
Yet another iteration of Yeti's once-trademark looped stays - James Huang / Immediate Media
Nothing says early 1990s like purple anodizing - James Huang / Immediate Media
We can't decide what's cooler here: the old clunkers in the bed or the cherry Subaru Brat? - James Huang / Immediate Media
These original 'Klunkers' provide a glimpse back at the birth of mountain biking - James Huang / Immediate Media
Back in the late 1970s, Klunkers were basically just Schwinn cruisers modified for off-road travel - James Huang / Immediate Media
Early mountain bikers had to cobble together bikes from whatever parts they could find - James Huang / Immediate Media
The original cruiser frames were only meant to be used with coaster brakes so custom cantilever mounts had to be fabricated from scratch - James Huang / Immediate Media
Few modern mountain bikers would consider these to be reasonable off-road treads - James Huang / Immediate Media
Grab a hold of some history - James Huang / Immediate Media
Traveling exhibits are commonplace when it comes to the arts and sciences but it’s rare for a bicycle museum to let a substantial portion of its collection roam outside its doors. For this month’s Throwback Thursday, we take a special look at some vintage bikes from Portland, Oregon shop Velo Cult, which graciously loaned out several of its prized machines to a display that Subaru put on at this year’s Sea Otter Classic.
While many see Velo Cult as a bike shop that happens to have a vintage bike collection, the reality is the latter came first and actually allowed the former to exist.
Rear-suspended mountain bike frames are hardly a new concept. in fact, this skinner descender harkens back to 1982 with a whopping six inches of travel using a motocross-based swingarm suspension design
The Skinner Descender sported six inches of rear wheel travel - in 1982!
“I own Velo Cult bike shop but really my shop started as an online business buying, restoring and selling vintage road bikes,” said shop owner Sky Boyer. “This was quite a few years back and while my business was restoring and selling road bikes, my personal passion is classic mountain bikes. Since my job was finding classic bikes, it was a full time objective searching them out and at the time classic mountain bikes were easier to find and not worth nearly what they are today. Not being worth much meant I could buy quite a few and trade up often. Selling off most of that collection is how I funded the build-out of my new store.”
On the surface, the collection certainly is extremely diverse, comprising everything from a Ti Cycles beam bike to a 1950s Hetchins to a late 1970s Victor Vincente Topanga.
“My collection is pretty much reserved for custom made rarest of the rare bikes,” he said. “I have an affinity for mountain bikes that were game changers in the industry so my collection can seem very diverse for that reason.”
This 1992 yeti ultimate was the result of mountain bike action's quest for the 'ultimate mountain bike'. at the time, elevated chainstays were a radical idea
The Yeti Ultimate was unquestionably an object of lust in the early 1990s
Subaru’s display at Sea Otter paired several generations of the Japanese company’s cars with bikes of similar vintage. Modern steeds such as from Argonaut and Breadwinner decorated newer models but we were obviously more interested in the older stuff. Booth PR coordinator Billy Sinkford told BikeRadar that of all the bikes he’s had shipped over the years, he was certainly most worried about these. While many bikes are expensive, the ones that Boyer loaned out were simply irreplaceable.
“My favorite would be the Yeti Ultimate for its iconic look and backstory on those frames,” Boyer said. “Second would be the Skinner Descender from 1982. That’s the same year as the first production Stumpjumper yet it has long travel rear suspension and a rigid fork. Both those bikes are indicative of early Los Angeles mountain bikes, which took their style cues from BMX and motocross. Bay Area bikes took their cues from 1930's Schwinn cruiser bikes.”
Trimble was an early pioneer of carbon fiber, using the then-exotic composite material in this inverse model from 1993
Carbon is hardly a new phenomenon in mountain bikes. This Trimble dates back to 1993
Perhaps not surprisingly, Boyer doesn’t grant himself the luxury of riding the bikes in his collection. Many are priceless, after all, and the reality is that modern bikes are often simply better suited for the job.
“I have other bikes I prefer to ride and honestly Portland has very few trails; ones we do have are suited to full suspension modern bikes. Maybe someday Portland will see the light and more trails and trails of different types will pop up. Until then I will continue to ride my four regular go-to bikes.”
Moots is known for its titanium bikes today but like most back in the day, the company started out making steel frames. this zirkel dates back to 1989
Moots is best known for its titanium frames now but it started out with steel
Though the Velo Cult museum is quite well stocked already, Boyer admits that it’s always a work in progress with several notable omissions.
“I have owned most every rad bike out there but there are two that have eluded me actually: a Doug Bradbury Manitou and a Cunningham.”
Anyone out there have one they’d like to sell? You can contact Boyer – and take a virtual tour through the museum – at www.velocult.com.
