Hits and misses of MTB History

Some things that really paned out quite well, and some that... didn’t

Hits

Suspension: While early models were noodley, had weather dependent damping properties and spent more time being serviced than ridden, suspension has really helped our sport to continue to develop. Tubeless tech: Ditching tubes has paid dividends, even though early tyres, tape, valve and and rim combos were limited and well, sucked.

Lock on grips: You can still make the braaarpp noises, but without the involuntarily braaappp wrist movement.

Disc Brakes: Frenzied, fast, multi concept 90s development from cable to hydro, to 8 pot craziness, to dual front fork leg stoppers, they experimented, they got it right, viva la disc brakes!

SPDs/Clip in pedals: Flats are cool too, but the SPD design Shimano developed in 1990 has not fundamentally changed and is still the most popular way to turn cranks on a mountain bike. Nailed it first time.

Two piece cranksets: Lighter, more reliable, easier. The most common now being Shimano’s Hollowtech 2, but originally given birth by a tiny company called Magic Motorcycle bought by Cannondale and brought to the mass market. Two piece cranks eliminated the reliability and weight challenges of the internal BB and axle unit.

Misses

Unified Rear Triangles (URT):

So good, everyone did it... and then they didn’t. Just trust us. Google it

U brakes: Maybe they’re still cool for a pub bike? But with limited performance, tyre clearance and maintainability their path offroad was never clear.

Shimano Dual Control levers: What works for road MUST work for the mountain bike, right?

More travel without less headangle... plus more BB height. 200mm of travel and a 69 degree headangle? No thanks! Why did it take so long to start playing with the headangle? Scandium, magnesium and butterlloy: One minute, the the new jeebus of materials to make stuff from, nekminute we ain't seeing no scandium or magnesium frames no more.

Flexstems: Need to add more excitement and uncertainty to your descents? Here, let your bars wander around a bit.