A lot of other names are associated with the transformation of the mtb, such as Joe Breeze, who realized the importance of the frame and taking the same legendary Excelsior (sorry about the repetition – can’t help it) created a much lighter steel model.

Joe Breeze’s encounter in 1976 with another Repack racer, Tom Ritchie, and their collaboration led to the production of certain bike parts. They opened a small store which they called Mountain Bike and that was the first appearance of the name still used for the bike so many love.

The simple pastime of touring and also the first marathon (the “Canyon Gang” in Colorado) created demand, so production was stepped up. However, a real explosion was held back by the lack of mechanical parts for the new bikes. It wasn’t till 1979 that production of spare parts began and Fischer, Breeze & Co. were able to enjoy creating new models, which were still few in number and very expensive. In 1981, Specialized started mass production of the Stumpjumper, which was for many years the industry benchmark.

The first firm in Italy to understand that this strange bike had a real future was Cinelli, which in spring 1985 presented it in the nature magazine Airone under the fantastic name of Rampichino (treecreeper!), soon to become synonymous with mtb in Italy. The boom had started. By 1993 sales had reached nine million bikes; evolution was (still is) incredibly fast and bikes changed completely, getting ever lighter and shock-absorbing. But this is all recent history.

Anyway, jump on your marvellous and (not always) economical bike and take its fat wheels off the asphalt, which they’re not designed for. Don’t be content with going out to buy a newspaper. Take this advice and discover sensations you’ll become hooked on.