streetstomper

Pulled an old issue of Bicycle Sport magazine from my shelf and it really makes me feel like an old fogey. January 1984 issue, bought just over 31 years ago. Too bad the title was short-lived. It was a decent magazine and almost as good as the big three at the time. Very far ranging coverage of the sport in just that one issue: articles on weight loss, touring in Florida, touring bike review, world championships on road and track, IHPVA races, Shimano and Suntour mountain bike gruppos, among others. No obsession with being fast or being cool like Bicycling nowadays.

One of the articles is about the then young Fat Tire Bike Week, now called Crested Butte Bike Week. One photo of the starting line for the ride over Pearl Pass showed it looked like a mining town plucked from the days of the Old West, except for the pickup trucks and mountain bikes. Fast forward three decades and Crested Butte now looks like your average ski resort town, at least on Google Street View. Likewise, everything about the sport has become so high tech. Seeing the old bikes, people riding in jeans, I miss the old days. Things were much simpler then.

sloar 

I mountain biked crested butte back in 92, and if I remember correctly it still looked like an old mining town then. It's a shame if they changed it, it was a really cool town.

arex

It still looks pretty much the same. Most of the development is up the highway at Mt. Crested Butte, where the actual ski resort is. There's still a mountain bike museum in Crested Butte...small, but informative.

More Cowbell

This is part 1 of 2. There are some pretty remarkable trails out there

bikemig 

In the US, cycling seems to start as a kind of outlaw/out of the mainstream movement before it becomes "normalized" and monetized by industry.

The bike boom in the 60s/70s was driven in part by the counter-cultural movement. One of my favorite bike books (I wish I still had it) was full of pictures of hippies riding fancy bikes in blue jeans.

Mountain biking was very much counter-cultural before it became part of the mainstream industry.

Gravel biking is the latest example of this. It's just a bunch of people getting together to race/ride bikes. There aren't a bunch of regulations and rules that stop people from putting together whatever they want. A lot if not most of these events are free. There is no set idea of what makes for a good gravel bike.

All good stuff.

bikemig 

In the US, cycling seems to start as a kind of outlaw/out of the mainstream movement before it becomes "normalized" and monetized by industry.

The bike boom in the 60s/70s was driven in part by the counter-cultural movement. One of my favorite bike books (I wish I still had it) was full of pictures of hippies riding fancy bikes in blue jeans.

Mountain biking was very much counter-cultural before it became part of the mainstream industry.

Gravel biking is the latest example of this. It's just a bunch of people getting together to race/ride bikes. There aren't a bunch of regulations and rules that stop people from putting together whatever they want. A lot if not most of these events are free. There is no set idea of what makes for a good gravel bike.

All good stuff.

By the way, I still ride the heck out of my 1988 specialized stumpjumper comp. It's my favorite bike to ride when the weather drops down below freezing. There's a lot to be said for fat tires and platform pedals so you can wear winter boots when it gets really cold.

streetstomper

I'm not so sure. In that old pic, I couldn't even really make out sidewalks, and parking was rather haphazard. Now according to Street View, sidewalks have pretty planting strips along the curb with trees and grass, with cars parallel parked all along Elk, looking like an average suburb, although obviously with that gorgeous Rockies backdrop. I had a hard time finding the building where the Grubstake used to be because it just looks so generic today. And there are tennis courts, brick crosswalks and condominiums. But what can you do? Obviously, I can't begrudge town residents for wanting modern amenities.

I should try to scan that photo.

streetstomper

I guess fat bikes are a little like that. Not big in the mainstream yet, and I doubt it will ever develop an emphasis on speed. Just getting out and riding. Doubt I'll ever get one myself, though. I'm already slow enough as it is without trying to push heavy, soft 4" tires.

northbend 

Great video! I remember reading about it back in the day and thinking how much that sounded.

Grand Bois

How much?