Now THAT Was a Bike: 1977 Breezer, Series-1
Naysayers claim that the modern mountain bike was the product of convergent evolution - that road and BMX bikes on at least three continents had begun to develop the vestiges of what would eventually become the first recognized mountain bike well before Joe Breeze brazed together Breezer number one and then rode it to victory on its maiden voyage at the Repack Downhill race October, 1977 near Marin, California. Cycling is infamous, however, for its many revisionists, who incessantly rewrite history to defend their own cultures as the recognized birthplace of all significant inventions - so I'm calling bullsh*t on the convergent theory.
Suntour derailleurs provided the best shifting when six-speed freewheels with 26-tooth cogs were the largest options.
Breezer number one is the Homo Habilis of the modern mountain bike. While it may be true that creator Joe Breeze could not have escaped their influences; place an English three-speed, an Asian Flying Pidgeon, a Swiss Military cycle, a US Paperboy balloon-tire bike, or a 26-inch wheel BMX racer beside the Breezer number one, and the only possible conclusion is that they are lesser apes - undeniably, the lowest branches of the mountain bike's family tree. As Charles Kelly states in his book, "Fat Tire Flyer: Repack and the Birth of Mountain Biking:"
 | The most important bicycle of the 20th century. ...the first chrome-moly mountain bike frame assembled with all-new components. |
Joe breeze, who now is the curator of the Marin Museum of Bicycling, is much too nice of a man to make such claims, but he did take the time to show Jarrad Lokes from The Pro's Closet his original Breezer, and walk him through the creative process, from conception through construction, of this beautiful and historical bicycle in the following video:
Joe Breeze made a number of his Series-1 models, most of which were snapped up by fellow Repack racers and San Francisco area riders who had been making do on converted Schwinn balloon-tire single-speeds. For a short while, Breezers dominated California's budding racing scene. The '78 Breezer Series-1 featured in these still photographs belongs to Otis Guy - a Bay Area pioneer and racer who was (and is) an absolute crusher on a mountain bike. I believe that it is Breezer number two.
Filet-brazed chromoly tubes were nickel plated - a Breeze signature.
French Ma-Fac cantilever brakes were designed for Tandems.
Breezers quickly evolved, and the twin lateral tubes were abandoned in favor of the simplified diamond-frame hardtail design used today. The nickel plating, however, remained the hallmark of Joe Breeze's handiwork. Before Joe moved on from frame-building to become a cycling designer and advocate, he and friend Josh Angel invented another product that would also alter the landscape of off-road cycling: the Hite-Rite seatpost dropper system. Eventually Joe sold the rights to the Breezer brand to Advanced Sports International, where he also resides as a consultant and ambassador.
Special thanks to The Pro's Closet for the opportunity to share its vintage photo and video collection.
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PinkBike, you should contact Mert Lawwill & the Koski Bros about the 78 Procruiser. Thats likely a lesser known bike, with an interesting back story.
Two years after we started our business in a rented garage, the bikes we sold were reverse engineered and became the template for every mass produced mountain bike built before 1985.
My book traces the path from a goofy hobby to a revolution in cycling. It is a first person account because I took part in these events. Anyone who disagrees should write their own book.
WTF are you to call BS on others experiences?
And the name Mountainbike.
And the the idea to only race down the hill.
You were just riding cyclocross style bikes. In a cyclocross style race.
Off road races and riding are as old as the bicycle...
Raiser-bars-off-road-rubbed bikes were off the shelf items long before the 70's.
Look at old Italian catalogs.
In the 1910's Bianchi already had dual suspension off-road bikes.
Slack angle, super short stem, fat pedals...
Made to be ridden down the mountains.
3.bp.blogspot.com/-KcVtG1qYOL4/VK65z7bV7PI/AAAAAAAACD4/-wh8JwNNgxQ/s1600/02.jpg
I'm not a revisionist, but I'll take the infamous bullsh*t theory. I find it more credible.
The marin people made the first bikes with 26 fat tires and derailers to be used on mountains.
They were the first ones to call it "MountainBikes". They package it.
The start point of what we know as mtb is there.
One great guy in the UK developed his own off-road bike, called Lailand (I think, sorry). Totally different bikes.
And saying that RC is not aware of history of mtb... he IS the history of mtb.
'nuff said.
Genius!
It doesn't take a rocket scientist to put wider tires on a coventional bicycle and get an "alleged" mountain bike, right? I mean, my grandfather, a farmer, did just that on his old steel bike for riding offroad in the late sixties, and I'd never say he invented mountain biking.
The real technological revolution, which in my opinion made the difference between the "alleged" mountain bike and the classic bike took place in the mid-2000s, maybe earlier, when we began to see the first bikes with a very aggresive geometry, clearly designed for downhill riding (mountain bike was basically designed for pedaling so far), and reliable suspensions. That did start mountain biking as we know it now.
I also think the latest innovations introduced in recent years (wheel diameter, hub width, carbon frame, singlering....) did not result in a significant change.
Reading RC, I had never heard of him till recently, so I dont have an informed opinion about him. He seems to be a down to earth person, except when talking about avid brakes. I don't know if he IS the history of mtb, I thought the history of any sport were athletes such as Palmer, not journalists.
RC and I are both "journalists" in the sense that we have both written extensively about the sport, but we both had plenty to do with creating the sport that you seem to believe started 30 years after I more or less invented downhill racing. My friends and I were not the first to race downhill, but I devised the form of competition that is now used for all DH events, a time trial. The bikes were first defined and later refined by the sport. They didn't just pop up out of nowhere when you first noticed them
RC and i are both inductees to the Mountain Bike Hall of Fame. I was a unanimous vote on the first ballot, for whatever that is worth. If you are known for a contribution to the sport, please elucidate.
I wrote the only book that will ever be necessary on the history of mountain biking. You are entitled to write your own, but you won't. Check out fattireflyer.com After that, see my website: www.sonic.net/~ckelly/Seekay/mtbwelcome.htm
Is RC one of the most influential individuals the sport has seen? I dont know, maybe where you live he is but I'm pretty sure here, in Europe, most mtbikers have not even heard of him. That's a fact.
Are RC and you both "journalists"? I think so because both of you wrote and write stuff about this sport.
Do I believe mtbiking started 30 years ago? Frankly I don't know when the sport started, and frankly I don't care.
Did you more or less invent downhill racing? If so, good for you.
Did mtbikes pop up out of nowhere when I first noticed them? No they didn't. Read it again.
Were RC and you inductees to the Mountain Bike Hall of Fame? If so, good for you.
...........
I'm not sure what's your point here. Are you accusing me of not hearing about you or your famous book? Should I? I dont think so. Is it a crime not to know RC? Should I? I dont think so.
I got the feeling you think that you all are the centre of the world, but you aren't.
Look, it's true, you Californians were the ones who invented mountain biking and the mountain bike. So what? Not that it's the theory of relativity, right?
*puts on flame suit*
Where out of the blue the video shifted on a newer bike?