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The Birth of Dirt
Origins of Mountain Biking
by Frank J. Berto
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| Format: |
5½ x 8½ inch trade paperback |
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Description: |
128 pages with
50 black & white photographs and other illustrations |
| ISBN: |
1-892495-10-4 |
| Price: |
US$14.95 |
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Living history, if ever it
was written: Author Frank
Berto, himself a resident of
Marin County, California,
where the mountain bike was
born, interviewed all the
men and women who stood at
the cradle of the greatest
thing since sliced bread:
the mountain bike.
Fascinating reading, even
for those whose interest in
the mountain bike is limited
to riding one. And the book
serves future historians of
the bicycle by presenting
the facts before they get
perverted by the
self-serving urban legends
put out by those who merely
wanted to capitalize on the
product. |
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So who did invent
the mountain bike? Read on… |
About the book
Relive the birth of a sport and
the invention of a machine. In this
fascinating book, Frank Berto,
former engineering editor of
Bicycling magazine, leaves no
stone unturned in his quest for the
truth about the beginnings of
mountain biking and the invention of
the mountain bike.
Illustrated with period documents
and vivid photographs by two of the
early pioneers themselves (Wende
Cragg and Erik Koski), this book
should put an end to the question of
who invented the mountain bike. At
the same time, it will let you
experience the pioneering days of
the sport for yourself.
About the author
Frank J. Berto was engineering
editor for Bicycling magazine
during the ten-year period
coinciding with the rise of mountain
biking. Intrigued by the question,
"Who invented the mountain bike," he
set out to trace the roots of
mountain biking for this book by
interviewing the men and women
involved since the early days.
His
earlier book Bicycling Magazine’s
Complete Guide to Upgrading Your
Bike was published by Rodale
Press. He is also the author of
The Dancing Chain: History and
Development of the Derailleur
Bicycle, which is due to be
published in its second, updated and
expanded edition October 2004. He lives in Marin County,
California.
Table of Contents
Part I. Who Invented the
Mountain Bike?
1. Introduction
2. Cast of Characters
3. Definitions
4. Criteria for Mountain Bike
Invention
5. The Chronological Story
6. Predecessors That Weren’t
Mountain Bikes
7. Origin of the Name "Mountain
Bike"
8. Looking at Figures
9. Summing Up
10. So Who Did Invent the
Mountain Bike?
11. Lessons for Cycle Historians |
Part II. Response and Reply
12. Response from Gary
Fisher
13. Berto’s Reply
14. Response from Joe Breeze
15. Berto’s Reply
Part III. Reliving the
Beginnings of Mountain Biking
16. Repack Revisited
17. Repack Reunion (by Charles
Kelly)
Part IV. Back Matter: Backing
Up the Story
Bibliography and List of
References
Index |
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From the contents |
Scene at the start of a 1977 Repack
race.
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Early production
mountain bikes
plodding uphill on Marin County's Mount
Tam.
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