The ‘rock ’n’ roll’ years of mountain biking – and we were all ready to make some noise

Every young ’un goes through an experimental, rebellious phase and ours lasted longer than just the ’90s. Do mountain bikers every really come out of that? No, thought not! We wanted to discover everything possible that could be done on a mountain bike, to see how far we could push them, and nothing was off-limits. We upped the ante and broke away from convention, pedalling out of planes, strapping hot air balloons to our backs, hitting walls of death, jumping through rings of fire, riding underwater… Pretty much everything you wouldn’t dream of doing on a bike, we did! And our readers loved it. It was all the encouragement we needed to keep a wild streak surging through MBUK.

The professional circuit was a huge draw, bigger even than today, and largely sculpted the scene at the time. Jason McRoy led the British charge overseas, hitting the big time after finishing second at the Kamikaze Eliminator in California, which saw him become the first British rider to land a major downhill sponsorship deal (with Specialized). He oozed style and charisma and was destined for great things, but was tragically killed in a motorcycle crash in 1995, at the age of just 23. His death rocked the mountain biking community.

MBUK’s very own race team made its first appearance in the early ’90s and featured Dave Hemming and Sally Hibberd, but was later to include the likes of Jason McRoy, Steve Peat, Danny Hart and Will Longden, among many now-familiar riders.

We introduced our readers to trials riders Martyn Ashton and Martin Hawyes, who went on to make regular appearances in MBUK with their unique style and personalities, while the now-singular global DH World Championships was dominated through the ’90s by Anne-Caroline Chausson and Nicolas Vouilloz. Although in 1996, moto-gear-clad pro snowboarder Shaun Palmer broke onto the scene to challenge Nico’s dominance, having a huge impact on the look and feel of mountain biking into the bargain.

Up until that point, most mountain bikers wore Lycra (yep, sickening right?!) and rode multiple disciplines on the same bike. X-Lite bar ends, Tioga Disc Drive wheels and RockShox’s RS-1 fork were the kit everyone lusted after, while the Girvin Flexstem and Allsop Softride beam bike were some of the weirder items out there.

As the decade progressed, so did the sport, with the bikes and kit becoming far more specialist. Towards the end of the ’90s, dedicated downhill bikes emerged – hefty, coil-sprung beasts ridden by racers sporting head-to-toe Dainese body armour and peakless full-face helmets. That man Shaun Palmer changed things forever, though, with his full-on moto look, which set the trend for years to come.

In XC, more bikes started sporting a suspension fork up front but most continued to use V-brakes rather than heavier disc brakes and rear suspension wouldn’t even have been considered.