Throwback Thursday: Mountain Biking on Mount Seymour in 1985

Apr 15, 2021
by Sarah Moore  


The bikes, the techniques, the clothing, the hair... It's all changed a fair bit in the past 35 years!

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163 Comments
  • 111 0
 Neither my hair nor my technique are noticeably different today.
  • 25 0
 I now have WAAAAAAY less hair! :-/
  • 21 0
 My hair now exists. and the rest of my body also now exists. And I learned how to walk since then and ride a bike so I guess my technique improved?
  • 19 0
 I think there’s enough hairspray in dude’s do that it might qualify as a helmet
  • 7 0
 @mtallman2: when I saw that guy at first I thought "Oh, that guy's wearing a helmet!" then he got closer and I was like "nope! That's his hair."
  • 96 0
 Ah, the memories...I gotta dig up some stuff from ‘83 now! Thanks for posting this!!
  • 3 0
 Yes
  • 4 0
 Riding bikes on trails in the woods never gets old... Do it!
  • 1 0
 Alright! Big Grin
  • 8 0
 All I know, is its a party man.
  • 3 0
 @aka-bigsteve: No, it sure doesn't. Unfortunately I do though!
  • 2 0
 I would upvote Tippie but he's sitting on +69 right now I don't wana ruin the stats
  • 2 0
 @dkendy1: somebody bumped him up to 70 and I can't down vote Tippie!
  • 57 0
 I feel bad for the poor bastard that had to lug a 5kg VHS camcorder and probably two or three 1kg NiCad battery packs around all day. Plus, those things were super delicate and would shut down at the first sign of moisture. I guess that's why the one guy has a rack on his bike.
  • 13 0
 beer rack, fit 12 very nicely
  • 3 0
 @shredhead59: Now you'd be ridiculed for not having a $400 bespoke frame bag to haul your beves.
  • 4 0
 Video is too good for VHS, was probably a Beta recorder.
  • 4 0
 Many of us had racks on our bikes back in those, the good 'ol days. That was back when the notion of suspension on a bike was considered too much. And so it went.
  • 2 0
 @carym: So 4.8kg... got it.
  • 49 2
 Sweet gravel bike...right???
  • 37 2
 Man - the video quality is awful - I bet that's not even 4k and some goof probably filmed it with his phone, not wearing a face mask.
  • 32 0
 At least it's not portrait
  • 15 0
 I don't understand, there are no slow motion replays..and music.
  • 6 0
 @oscartheballer:
The origin of the raw edit....I would like to know what that rattling noise is though? Sounds like one of them has a metal toolbox with a crescent wrench and a 4 screwdrivers attached to his frame somewhere.
I love it.
  • 13 0
 Yeah, and poor editing. They aren't even cutting to a new shot every 1-2 seconds to keep our ADD brains entertained.
  • 12 0
 @slish: That's steel on steel chain slap baby! Didn't need a bear bell in the early days!
  • 2 0
 That's more VHS tape degradation than the original recording being bad.
  • 4 0
 @pourquois-pas: That bucket of bolts sound has got to be the beer rack?
  • 7 0
 @ snarf: the only dude with a cell phone in 1985 drove a Delorean.....
  • 30 0
 Doesn't look like a Session
  • 30 3
 *just waiting for the “No helmet.....not cool” comments* Cop
  • 11 1
 This video reminds me of shuttling Rabbit Ears Pass near Steamboat Springs, Colorado back in like 88 when no one had helmets. We all brought our thickest wooly winter hats to wear on the downhills....for padding....when we crashed.
  • 28 0
 We grew up playing lawn darts, safety wasn't a big thing in those days.
  • 9 0
 @imbiker: Neither was intelligence in our family. We played lawn darts with one person/pair on each end. You had to be quick if one of those missiles went off track. Maybe that's why our parents had six kids - Murphy's Law insurance policy.
  • 3 0
 there was little to no choice for helmets back then unless it was a moto helmet
  • 8 0
 You didn't need a helmet with bar ends. Those will keep you safe!
  • 3 0
 @7hhuman: Dude I'm talking pre bar ends!
  • 2 0
 I had one of those ecru colored hard shell Bell helmets with some orange safety tape pinstriping that I wore in 1990 when I rode Slickrock on my Giant AT740. Was my first trip west. That helmet was ill-fitting, heavy and hot and anything but stylish, lol.
  • 2 3
 helmets not needed at gravel bike speeds
  • 2 0
 @shredhead59: A styrofoam cooler with a paper thin plastic shell on it. As much as bike tech has changed, the helmet tech is so much more advanced.
  • 2 0
 They had hair helmets, it was the 80's man.
  • 2 0
 @rrolly: Interesting game when it's windy for sure.
  • 1 0
 @Yaan: Yours had a plastic shell? Wow, that's pretty trick. Mine just had a mesh fabric cover.
  • 1 0
 @commental: plastic shell? dentist. . .
  • 32 11
 Looks so much more fun than people trying to beat Strava times, worrying about batteries running out, and having to queue at the start of trails.
  • 4 0
 I was thinking the same thing - it's slow enough I can picture myself drinking beer all day, having a good time and still being safe riding like this.
  • 4 0
 This is a pretty timely video. A few buddies and I have gathered some 80s/90s mountain bikes with the hopes of doing a regular retro ride around here. Both to enjoy the slower pace and to appreciate how good our modern bikes are.

I can't wait to get twice as beat up going half the speed!
  • 1 0
 @maximumunicorn: If you ride a "retro" bike the same way you do a modern bike sure you gonna feel a difference. Body English & rider skill is much more important on the vintage than the new monster truck "point & shoot" way of modern bikes.

I'll bet the more time you spend on an old bike the better you'll be on a new 1.
  • 22 0
 Bikes that sound like an actual box of spanners, them were the days!
  • 12 0
 They cling and clang so much it sounds like they brought prospecting equipment.
  • 3 0
 Starting with mtb in the eighties is exactly why I love my bike too be as silent as possible.
  • 2 0
 Also, you had to carry a box of spanners on every ride to fix the inevitable breakdown. Anyone remember threaded headsets?
  • 1 0
 @Skooks: yes and having to adjust the angle of the brake pads half way down cause they were wearing out so fast. We met at the coach house parking lot every sunday then went in to watch the dancers after.
  • 18 0
 Carriers, aviator shades, white vests, whiter runner-boots and Don Johnson hair-dos, undeniable style.
  • 2 0
 I particularly admire the guy rocking the aerobics instructor look.
  • 5 0
 Croakies, don't forget the croakies
  • 1 0
 @phillyforester: yessss! Croakies LOL!
  • 16 0
 In that era every ride ended with a loose headset and a list of broken parts I didn't have money to repair...
  • 1 0
 And itchy hands from the trail vibrations
  • 12 0
 Everything in here in legend: the bikes, the skills, the look... OMG the blond dude with the Ray-Ban's / moustache / sleeveless lycra combo!

Great reminder where modern trail riding comes from, it has gone a long way since then.
  • 15 0
 Mountain biking has come stupid far since these suicidal pioneers rode their shopping carts in them mountains.
  • 1 0
 always needed a "beer rack" on the back
  • 2 0
 Can you imagine how thoroughly you'd blow these guys minds by handing them a modern bike?
  • 5 1
 @kelpaso: What makes you think they aren't still riding on a modern bike?
  • 3 0
 @kelpaso: I bought my first mtb in 1984. I started racing DH in 2012. Modern bikes are nothing short of awesome.
  • 1 0
 @Skooks: I meant if you could travel back to 1984 and hand them one right after they finished a run on those old bikes. Of course if I did this I would have to make sure my dad took my mom to the Enchantment Under the Sea Dance. I should go practice Johnny B. Goode on the guitar in case this ever happens.
  • 15 1
 who wants to feel super old!?

if those guys are 25yr old in this video, they are 61yr old today....
  • 5 1
 61 is the new 21 with some cush
  • 13 0
 I'm 61 in 3 weeks. I do feel old at times. Other times like a teen when I mtb or skateboard.
  • 6 0
 @shredhead59: I've borrowed an '85 MTB and ridden it on the shore a few times.

Surprisingly not bad to ride. Raked out forks were slack, steel tubes forgiving, slack seat angle, bullmoose bars are stiff.

Early 90's weight weenie road inspired MTB bikes however are a nightmare off-road.
  • 3 0
 I resemble that remark!
  • 11 0
 That has got the memory wheel turning. I started riding the shore about that era. Toe clips, u-brakes, headers.....
  • 8 0
 Then you built a timeless trail Mr Leppard
  • 2 0
 @leelau: One of my favourites!
  • 2 0
 @leelau: did that not bring back memorys?
  • 1 0
 @edwardbear: I didn't start till 1996. Had cantis and proper shifting by then so am a n00b compared to these guys
  • 7 0
 Looks like a blast to me. I remember seeing MTB's in the ski shop 1985. Drooling over them. Then hearing about this North Shore riding from some guys who had MTB's and travelled there. That was the start of the addiction...and I still like to look at old bikes they are so freaking cool.
  • 10 0
 Makes you wonder how today's bikes & looks will be judged in the 2050s
  • 9 0
 Many people thing they look like Nino Schurter when they ride, when they actually look like these guys.
  • 6 0
 Would love a dig-in to see who these riders are and what they're up to today. We DO know how good we have it these days... wow, like dragging a carriage of bolts & metal parts behind ya back then
  • 3 4
 Have a listen to the recent PB podcast with Richard Cunningham as the guest. He’s one of the guys who invented mountain bikes.
  • 5 0
 @MB3: Huge props to RC and all that he's accomplished and seen, but he was a long way from here during that time.
  • 4 1
 @MB3: I have - but was thinking of the actual people in this video. But for RC it would almost make more sense to have a video (or series) of him showing some of these things. I started riding in 1991-but I don't have that bike or even remember any of the gear on it. This is all just superfluous but it would be cool to physically see a video showing the trans from shit 80s / 90s gear onward to what we have now...esp for people who we even riding back then but aren't gonna remember 1/2 the crap we rode on
  • 4 0
 I converted my BRC "Explorer" to a 1x in 1989. I removed the two outer rings and used the front dr as a 'chain guide.' I got the widest bars I could find off a Raleigh, whose rear triangle broke at the seatstays, and then added some ODI mushroom grips for "shock absorption." My mind was blown when I got Panaracer Smokes in 1991, but they made it clear the cantis were not working. So I fitted an Oddessey Pitbull to the rear Smile
  • 1 0
 Smokes!
  • 1 0
 No Dart on the front?
  • 7 1
 TBH this looks cooler to me than the narrow bar tiny bike hockey pads DH racing of like 10 years ago
  • 8 0
 That would've been much more than 10yrs ago LoL
  • 3 0
 Oh the memories! Although it was 1991 for me, riding at Skeggs prior to the trail "modernization". Drop seat, point down sketchy section and have a blast! Still have that 1991 bike and now I'm tempted to take it out this weekend. I'll spend Saturday adjusting the toe-in on the canti brakes, and maybe Sunday will ride!
  • 1 0
 Go for it, bro!
  • 5 1
 To me it looked like 85% of riding was serious and 15% was a laugh. I'll take the reverse ratio thanks.

I don't miss old bikes.
  • 2 0
 Good old rigid bikes, no droppers, thumb shifters (Shimano XT's are still the best!), and Blackburn rear racks - I still have them all. My two bikes are now converted to road commuters with 1" tires - one beat up for riding to work (before the pandemic). Love the chromoly frames - they just last! And who needs helmets back in the day - just messes up the mullets! Big Grin
  • 5 0
 Sarah's been lurking in the "Who is that guy on CBC" thread on NSMB I see. Smile
  • 3 0
 Yeah, that was such an obscure forum thread/post, I was very surprised it ended up on PB the very next day. Probably scouring the competition for spyshotsWink
  • 2 0
 the real goods are always on nsmb
  • 2 0
 At first it seems like almost everything has changed since those days, but a few things struck me as not all that different from today: the sunglasses, the mustaches, the sounds of spoke pinging and tires ripping dirt, and most of all - the stoke! Bikes always have been and always will be awesome.
  • 3 0
 FM that may as well have been me back in the day! It was shit. But we enjoyed it so much. Now the speed looks super slow and I don't wish to go back.
  • 2 2
 I learned to ride in 96 on the shore and i can’t say it looked much different.
  • 4 0
 @powderturns: Bars were way narrower, and head angles were way steeper. They figured a few things out on the 80's bikes, but things took a U-turn away from stability in the 90's.
  • 3 0
 @mammal: Yup. 80's took their geometry cues from cruiser bikes. Look at those raked out curved forks.

90's took their geo cues from road bikes. Doh.
  • 5 0
 Any ride is a good ride!!
  • 1 0
 That's right, Brujo! Plus, back then, I was relatively young!
  • 3 0
 "It's a party, man." Immediately thought of Yoann's "sounds like a shopping cart" comment. Have we really come all that far today?
  • 2 0
 Wade rode great in that video!!! What an amazing trail. Natural, no electronics , no bullshit, honestly as much as I make a living off technology and tech, I miss my brc and shredding in jeans
  • 5 0
 I'm pretty sure one of those guys is Billy Idol.
  • 3 0
 My mom, uncle amd her friends used to drive up fromme in the 80s before the gate was there, usually end up tipping the car and walking st Georges trail back down to Lonsdale
  • 1 0
 Man I wish I grew up riding rigid bikes in a place like this. Instead I grew up riding rigid bikes on steep fire roads riddled with rain ruts that ate my front wheel and my face on a number of occasions. Might snag an old school rigid and take it somewhere nice this summer for an easy spin.
  • 2 0
 hehe, good one. I hate to admit running a flat rack on the back of my CT special back in 85, but it carried the beer home, or to Lost lake.
  • 3 0
 Things i don‘t miss : Analog speedometers with a bumping needle and v-brakes melting away.
  • 12 0
 This is before V brakes, at least V brakes stopped you in the dry, and after several rotations they started to work in the wet. Canti brakes were iffy at the best of times.
  • 9 0
 @materials-guy: so many hours spent fine tuning my 986's to get the perfect rim alignment and toe-in to get rid of the squeal and avoid wearing a slot in the sidewall at all costs!
  • 5 0
 @materials-guy: Especially if you were only mediocre at the three dimensional black arts of setting them up.
  • 3 0
 @sourmix: LoL Oh man, the hours spent fiddling with pad alignment & spring tension...

I still love Vbrakes in the dry TBH
  • 3 0
 @materials-guy: this was 85, at that point my bike didn't even have cantilever on it. In 87 I bought a Fisher with the 'good brakes' and I was ready to ripp. Good times but I'm ready for this weekend and hydraulics.
  • 5 0
 @sourmix: And then the slightest wheel out of true would ruin everything! lol
  • 1 0
 @materials-guy: Especially with the flexy SLR 4 finger levers.
  • 4 0
 who knew Bob and Doug mountain biked!?! "its a party!!"
  • 3 0
 Take off hoser
  • 1 0
 15 second stair descent at 4:50 with celebratory wheelie was my fave. In '84 at age 10 I bought my first MTB. A Norco Bigfoot with thumbies and a bullmoose bar. $259 + tax I think? I wheelied the shit out that thing...
  • 3 0
 I cringe.... at the sketchiness of the bikes and the riding outfits.
  • 3 0
 About 4 years before I first started on my day-glo pink Muddy Fox :-)
  • 2 0
 My 1st "real" MTB was a Muddy Fox Courier. Which replaced a Toys R Us Raleigh Tomahawk. The good ol' days... Smile
  • 2 0
 Makes you wonder how many of those trails are now for hiking, or gone, or have been made into the ones we ride today.
  • 3 0
 Good question, where the hell are they?
  • 1 0
 Back then the only trails we had were hiking trails. Most of these are still being ridden today, although they look quite different.
  • 2 0
 This is a really great blast from the past. Wish we had the foresight back then to snap pics and vids.
  • 1 0
 Hmm, 1985, was still riding a BMX bike for mountain biking. It wasn’t until 1988 I rode some crazy bike froma brand called Gary Fisher.
  • 2 0
 Mountain biking may have started in Marin County..... But is was born on the North Shore.
  • 2 0
 Awesome! Pretty good riding considering the equipment. Love the rat trap...
  • 4 1
 They need the grim donut
  • 2 0
 35 years lads. Take your shoes and socks off if youre struggling
  • 1 0
 Looks like cornflake sized pixel-war of a piratecopy from Rambo on VHS. But yeah - Cool.
  • 2 0
 No stinking helmets... just some hairspray for the “Bouffant “. Smile
  • 3 0
 It's a Party!!
  • 3 0
 OG dumpster crew
  • 1 0
 No Helmets and Hair straight back! This video brought to you by Pit Vipers! Smile
  • 2 0
 Vintage MTB Festival this august: www.vintagemtb.org
  • 2 0
 Even the accents are straight out of an 80s movie
  • 1 0
 lol - the views on this thing have pretty much doubled since I first saw it last week
  • 2 0
 I think those guys were on to something...
  • 1 0
 I so wish I could send just one Commencal video back to 1985... and give the MTB community an aneurism.
  • 2 0
 thug life....
  • 1 0
 Their helmets need haircuts.
  • 6 7
 I am keeping this video for everyone that complains about new standards and that the bike industry just makes new stuff to sell you. Ok Jimbo! have fun back in 1985!
  • 18 0
 Looked to me like they were having a lot of fun, at least that hasn’t changed!
  • 2 0
 Trevor just killing it
  • 2 1
 I used to ride Amish bikes.
  • 1 0
 Excuse me, I asked for the slow riders?
  • 5 3
 IT'S A PARTY!!!
  • 7 0
 Not sure why the down-votes, that reoccurring quote is one of my favorite things about this video. That and the mandatory wheelie attempt after every "move".
  • 1 0
 Makes my neck hurt watching this.
  • 1 0
 No helmet, no pads, no shocks...no speed either. Understandable.
  • 1 0
 Same same. Next thing we’ll all have @thedumpsters are those rat traps.
  • 1 0
 I'm pretty sure Bigfoot was in the background on one of those clips......
  • 1 0
 My nads are recoiling in horror at the top tube height
  • 2 0
 Mount Seymour Bumps
  • 2 0
 Git'R Done!
  • 1 0
 ThrowBack Thursdays on LOCK Big Grin \m/
  • 1 0
 Uncle Rico rips the NS State Champs.
  • 1 0
 Sound of speed!
  • 2 1
 ...the math
  • 1 0
 It is in fact. A Party!
  • 1 0
 Wat did i just witness?







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