I have been rooting through my voluminous files lately looking for stuff to entertain this forum. A few days ago I came across an envelope with photos I haven't seen in over 20 years.
There were photos of my Breezer #2 in mint condition, one of Alan Bonds' awesome klunkers, and some negatives that I could tell from the size were from Gary Fisher's Hasselblad camera.
Here are a few of them. I'll post more down the thread if these are well received.
The Breezer:
This was a contact print, but because it was from the large format Hasselblad negative, I was able to get a halfway decent scan. This is one of the nine bikes that Tom Ritchey fronted to Gary and me in September of 1979, and which we used to start our business. The photo was taken in what would have been the "dining room" if a normal family had lived in the house at 1320 San Anselmo Avenue, but served us as the shop before we rented a commercial space two blocks away.
Thank Hewlitt-Packard for scanners! Years ago I would have had to trudge to the photo store and have these developed, only to find that most of them were out of focus or badly lit. This one wasn't. Gary took this photo of me on his bike, one of Tom's first run of three mountain bikes built in early 1979. Purists will note that the t-shirt is the same one that Billy Savage is wearing on the cover of Decline Magazine.
You can really see the modern mountain bike evolve from clunker to a true purpose built mountain bike at that moment. I'd say those design were copied for at least a decade or more without major changes from that point forward.
One. That's Joe's Breezer #1. All the rest, mine included, came with Red Line forks and were nickel-plated instead of painted. Did anyone notice that the seatpost is Campy micro-adjusting?
As far as where the Ritchey bikes went, I know where two of them are. Fred Wolf still has his. One of the others was sold to my uncle, and a few years ago I took it to Tom to see what he would give him for it. Thomas Frischknecht traded my uncle straight across for one of his full-race top of the line bikes.
As far as where the Ritchey bikes went, I know where two of them are. Fred Wolf still has his. One of the others was sold to my uncle, and a few years ago I took it to Tom to see what he would give him for it. Thomas Frischknecht traded my uncle straight across for one of his full-race top of the line bikes.
I certainly don't mean any disrespect to a legend and pioneer of the sport but aren't the forks on the early bikes made by Cook Bros? They are dead ringers for my two sets of CBR forks from the era.
I certainly don't mean any disrespect to a legend and pioneer of the sport but aren't the forks on the early bikes made by Cook Bros? They are dead ringers for my two sets of CBR forks from the era.
RedLine. Pretty much identical to CBR, just a 3" longer BMX fork. Joe made his own fork with curved tapered tubing, but he bought all the others.
Interesting, Redline never made a production 26" bike. A picture did surface recently of a one off 26" Redline from 1975. It did feature a 26" redline fork but was of the original style with solid drop outs. Maybe the Breezer/ Redline fork was produced to spec and not a off the shelf item? Cool stuff thanks for the pics!
A quick note. Cook Brothers was among the first to copy the tubular fork design developed by Redline for the BMX market in 74/75. Not making them very popular with the owner of Redline. That was what made me question the Breezer fork as being a CBR. I found it very strange Redline would use a CBR style dropout as there was no love lost between the two companies.
If your talking about the forks on the Lawwill those are not Cook Bros. What is interesting is the gold one has what look to be 26" Redline forks. Several makers were producing a similiar fork by then and I bet they are Gary Littlejohn forks. The forks on the red bike are most likely modified Diamond Back units.Probably an overseas unit judging by the construction. Very few BMX companies had the dual drop out set up. Speedo, Motopro, Bandito, Diamond Back being the most well known.
Here are a couple of shots I know you guys will like.
These were taken in June of 1979. The bikes from left to right are Alan Bonds' Excelsior klunker, my Breezer #2, Mike Castelli's 1979 Jeffey Richman and Gary Fisher's first Ritchey.
Here are a couple of shots I know you guys will like.
These were taken in June of 1979. The bikes from left to right are Alan Bonds' Excelsior klunker, my Breezer #2, Mike Castelli's 1979 Jeffey Richman and Gary Fisher's first Ritchey.
I think Larry Kragg still has one of those Breezers under his porch?
Originally Posted by Repack Rider
I have been rooting through my voluminous files lately looking for stuff to entertain this forum. A few days ago I came across an envelope with photos I haven't seen in over 20 years.
There were photos of my Breezer #2 in mint condition, one of Alan Bonds' awesome klunkers, and some negatives that I could tell from the size were from Gary Fisher's Hasselblad camera.
Here are a few of them. I'll post more down the thread if these are well received.
The Breezer:
This was a contact print, but because it was from the large format Hasselblad negative, I was able to get a halfway decent scan. This is one of the nine bikes that Tom Ritchey fronted to Gary and me in September of 1979, and which we used to start our business. The photo was taken in what would have been the "dining room" if a normal family had lived in the house at 1320 San Anselmo Avenue, but served us as the shop before we rented a commercial space two blocks away.
Thank Hewlitt-Packard for scanners! Years ago I would have had to trudge to the photo store and have these developed, only to find that most of them were out of focus or badly lit. This one wasn't. Gary took this photo of me on his bike, one of Tom's first run of three mountain bikes built in early 1979. Purists will note that the t-shirt is the same one that Billy Savage is wearing on the cover of Decline Magazine.
Another pile of old photos has surfaced in my collection, so I thought I would bring back this thread rather than starting another, so they would all be in the same place. These are mostly InstaMatic shots, with limited quality because the negatives are so small.
Around 1975 we took a ride in Point Reyes and got busted. This is Bob Klock talking to the ranger, and Gary Fisher in the foreground.
Take a close look at Gary's shifters, barely in the photo at the bottom. It is a pair of "stem shifters" moved to the handlebars, with both levers operated by the same hand. This was what we used before thumb shifters.
Time to bump this one back to the top, and I have just the stuff.
Here is a better scan of a photo on my website, taken in 1976 after a Repack race. From left, Alan Bonds, Benny Hendricks, Ross Parkerson, Jim Stern and me. Every bike is a Schwinn Excelsior. I have blown up my own bike, which as you can see has an Alan Bonds paint job.
Some of us are wearing Excelsior t-shirts printed by Alan. I am wearing my standard Repack attire, my Army fatigue shirt with my name still over the pocket.
Parking lot of the Fairfax Theater, 1981. My first Ritchey is second from the left, red with brass plated bars and everything anodized gold.
I can identify Tom Meyers in the white pants, Dennis Leonard in the white jersey, and myself in the red hat. The bike at far left is a Murray Baja, which Gary gave me as a joke, and which then fell into the hands of Steve Wilde, who rode it into the ground in short order.
Joe Breeze and I raced in the Tilden Park CycloCross on our Breezers in 1978. I was a DNF with bike damage (bent my wimpy TA chainring), and Joe finished out of the money, but our teammate Joe Ryan won on a standard 'cross bike.
Here are myself, Denise Caramagno, Joe Ryan and Gary Fisher after the race.
Last edited by Repack Rider; 10-18-2007 at 10:08 AM.
In 1980 we drove down to Glenn Odell's race in San Luis Obispo, the Central Coast Clunker Classic. Here are Ken Fuetsch and Joe Breeze after the race. The three bikes are all Breezers. Mine is closest to the camera and Joe's is in the middle. The third bike is a type II Breezer without the extra tubes.
Parking lot of the Fairfax Theater, 1981. My first Ritchey is second from the left, red with brass plated bars and everything anodized gold.
I can identify Tom Meyers in the white pants, Dennis Leonard in the white jersey, and myself in the red hat. The bike at far left is a Murray Baja, which Gary gave me as a joke, and which then fell into the hands of Steve Wilde, who rode it into the ground in short order.
Joe Breeze and I raced in the Tilden Park CycloCross on our Breezers in 1979. I was a DNF with bike damage (bent my wimpy TA chainring), and Joe finished out of the money, but our teammate Joe Ryan won on a standard 'cross bike.
Here are myself, Denise Caramagno, Joe Ryan and Gary Fisher after the race.
I debated even posting it, since there aren't any bikes in the shot.
I need to correct the date of the photo; it's actually 1978, not 1979.
That was my first "date" with Denise, who moved in with me a short time later and was instrumental in starting the Fat Tire Flyer. (She named the publication and acted as the publisher, starting at the age of 19.) Denise is now in the MTB Hall of Fame.
I debated even posting it, since there aren't any bikes in the shot.
I need to correct the date of the photo; it's actually 1978, not 1979.
That was my first "date" with Denise, who moved in with me a short time later and was instrumental in starting the Fat Tire Flyer. (She named the publication and acted as the publisher, starting at the age of 19.) Denise is now in the MTB Hall of Fame.
please, dont hesitate to post any of the photos you got
Oh man, I wish you would have opened that envelope a year ago! I could have used a few more shots of you riding on the trails on that MB. Thanks for posting and for all the support, CK. I just wish we were on our way to London for the premiere there. It's gonna rock. Thanks Rumpfy, and the rest of you folks on this site for keeping in the klunk alive.
Ride on!
All the bikes are Ritcheys. The one without a rider is Denise Caramagno's. From left, John Troja in front of Dennett Colescott, and Mike Flanagan is standing behind me.
I have included a detail shot of my red 1980 Ritchey, with brass plated bars, gold anodized brake levers, cranks, rims, pedals and Blackburn rack (which doubled as a rear fender in those days). It even has red leather covers for the brake levers and red cable housings. Black anodized TA chainset.
Definitely one of the coolest looking Ritcheys that ever hit dirt.
Mike's bike, behind mine, is painted flat black, and everything else is black anodized.
Nice stuff CK. When's the book coming out? You know me... I'm thinking Klunkerz 2...The Chromoly Years! How did Joe Ryan win the Tilden 'Cross race after a face-plant? He looks like he's bleeding pretty good. Keep 'em coming!
All the bikes are Ritcheys. The one without a rider is Denise Caramagno's. From left, John Troja in front of Dennett Colescott, and Mike Flanagan is standing behind me.
I have included a detail shot of my red 1980 Ritchey, with brass plated bars, gold anodized brake levers, cranks, rims, pedals and Blackburn rack (which doubled as a rear fender in those days). It even has red leather covers for the brake levers and red cable housings. Black anodized TA chainset.
Definitely one of the coolest looking Ritcheys that ever hit dirt.
Mike's bike, behind mine, is painted flat black, and everything else is black anodized.
Super cool. This needs to go in the Ritchey thread. I like that black one. Ive seen a real early (82ish) Mt Goat Deluxe with red paint, red Magura covers, and gold ano parts. Pretty neat.
love the klunker & early mtb stuff. the early repack/pearl pass photos in 'bicycling' and 'outside' fired up my imagination and got me into cycling. i see qbp has 'klunkerz' in stock now, i better go put together a totally unneccessary parts order.......
One of my marketing tools when I sold Ritchey MountainBikes was to take my bike out on the road century rides and kick ass. This was the best century I ever rode on fat tires, the 1981 Hekaton starting and ending in Dublin (East Bay) It had 8000 feet of climbing, and I rode my gold-trimmed red Ritchey, while my friend Mark Edwards rode my Breezer #2.
I'm getting away with posting some pretty bad photos here.
This is Denise Caramagno right after a race, with my Breezer #2. I'm thinking this was the 1980 Central Coast Clunker Classic, or possibly the 1981 version of that race.
Denise suffered a little damage, which she shows off proudly.
The third shot is Dave Epperson's photo of Denise and Wende Cragg practicing on the Pacifica Cyclocross course before the 1981 National Championships.
Denise has her own Ritchey, and Wende has an original Breezer.
Joe Murray, Ned Overend, Roy Rivers and Paul Thomasberg, Virginia City around 1984.
Ned Overend's Schwinn Paramountain.
I wonder who made Ned's frame.
You sure thats Joe Murray? Doesnt look like him to me and wouldnt he be on a Fisher then? You know better than me for sure. How about that Ritchey rider in the background, is that Tom?
You sure thats Joe Murray? Doesnt look like him to me and wouldnt he be on a Fisher then? You know better than me for sure. How about that Ritchey rider in the background, is that Tom?
The guy with the beard looks familiar too.
I assumed it was Joe, 'cuz it looks like him and it's the right crowd for the time, but the bike looks Cannondale-ish, so I might be wrong. I found some so-so shots of Joe at the time, and I will post them for comparison.
I looked at the Ritchey rider in the background, and he looks too short and too thick of leg to be Tom. I suspect it's Max Jones.
I'm getting away with posting some pretty bad photos here.
This is Denise Caramagno right after a race, with my Breezer #2. I'm thinking this was the 1980 Central Coast Clunker Classic, or possibly the 1981 version of that race.
Denise suffered a little damage, which she shows off proudly.
The third shot is Dave Epperson's photo of Denise and Wende Cragg practicing on the Pacifica Cyclocross course before the 1981 National Championships.
Denise has her own Ritchey, and Wende has an original Breezer.
Joe Murray, Ned Overend, Roy Rivers and Paul Thomasberg, Virginia City around 1984.
I am sorry to go way back to a previous post, but the tires on Ned's and Roy's bikes look like Ground Controls. That would place the date as 1985 at the earliest. Both bikes look like the ones that they used at the 1985 NORBA Nationals in Santa Barbara, CA. My guess is that it is 1985.
No matter the date, all of the pictures (bikes and/or people) are fantastic! This is history.
Good catch on the Ground Control tires. Some photos are easier to date than others. If I'm in the photo, I generally knew when and where it was taken. I wasn't sure which year Ned switched to Specialized, but he rode the 1986 Nationals on a Schwinn. I have a lot of photos from Edgemont Ranch from that year and he's still with Schwinn.
Here's Crested Butte rider Tracy Smith with his Cunningham at the 1986 Plumline Challenge near Bishop, California.
Here's Crested Butte rider Tracy Smith with his Cunningham at the 1986 Plumline Challenge near Bishop, California.
SMITH aka Seldom Seen~I have a pic of that bike that I took at his condo a few years ago somewhere in the archives......he can still ride all day perty darn fast to this day. He also has a 700c 'Ham. You must have one of his teammate S Cook also?
I thought I had already posted this one, or at least had it on my website, but apparently not because I couldn't locate it anywhere. Sorry if it's a repeat.
This is from Repack, 1979, and apparently Gary won something, because I'm on the big rock that served as the podium for race finishes, handing him some sort of prize.
Yesterday I scanned the Crested Butte newspapers from September, 1978, which detail how the California riders took the place by storm. Knowing what we know now about CB, this is pretty interesting, so I put up a new page on my site for them.
Rather than duplicate it all here, I'll just post this link to my new page.
I thought I had already posted this one, or at least had it on my website, but apparently not because I couldn't locate it anywhere. Sorry if it's a repeat.
This is from Repack, 1979, and apparently Gary won something, because I'm on the big rock that served as the podium for race finishes, handing him some sort of prize.
Yesterday I scanned the Crested Butte newspapers from September, 1978, which detail how the California riders took the place by storm. Knowing what we know now about CB, this is pretty interesting, so I put up a new page on my site for them.
Rather than duplicate it all here, I'll just post this link to my new page.
Neat article. On that Pearl Pass shot with everyone lined up, were the CB locals the ones with the "ape hanger" bars or did some of the CA guys have those as well? The high bars seem to look different from what Ive seen on Repack shots.
Edit: after closer inspection, I see that most of the Marin guys have the lower motorcycle bars.
Please keep this stuff coming!
Last edited by Fillet-brazed; 10-25-2007 at 10:13 AM.
I have been following this thread and while I cannot consider myself a mountain bike history buff, I would like to be one. Is there a book considered to be the crème de la crème of mountain bike history? Any other mediums that could help me get a grasp of what mtbing was like back in the day?
this site, particularly this thread rock, thank you.
I have been following this thread and while I cannot consider myself a mountain bike history buff, I would like to be one. Is there a book considered to be the crème de la crème of mountain bike history? Any other mediums that could help me get a grasp of what mtbing was like back in the day?
But...who could WRITE such a thing. All the mountain bikers I know are functionally illiterate.
You guys like shots of interesting groups of people. I found this photo from Crested Butte in an old Suntour company bulletin from 1982. It includes mountain biking's most famous fugitive, Neil Murdoch (Richard Bannister) and the president of Suntour, Junzo Kawai.
When Richard Bannister fled to the tiny backwater of CB and assumed a new name, he probably never figured he would get famous under his alias and that the sleepy little town would be written large on some maps.
But...who could WRITE such a thing. All the mountain bikers I know are functionally illiterate.
You guys like shots of interesting groups of people. I found this photo from Crested Butte in an old Suntour company bulletin from 1982. It includes mountain biking's most famous fugitive, Neil Murdoch (Richard Bannister) and the president of Suntour, Junzo Kawai.
When Richard Bannister fled to the tiny backwater of CB and assumed a new name, he probably never figured he would get famous under his alias and that the sleepy little town would be written large on some maps.
These guys dreamed of guiding the company in a new direction. They were young, they were hanging out in Crested Butte and they saw what was going on. Or maybe they were groupies for people who WERE making a difference, who knows?
As it turned out, Murray didn't get any of our market share.
Here's a cover shot from the Fat Tire Flyer, taken before a race in Colorado in 1984.
From left, Jim Deaton, winner of the first two NORBA downhill events, Gavin Chilcott, who had already raced as a road pro in Italy, Alan Ott, Sandy Hague, Dave McLaughlin, Sandy Chapman and defending NORBA champion Steve Tilford.
From left, Jim Deaton, Gavin Chilcott, Alan Ott, Sandy Hague, Dave McLaughlin, Sandy Chapman and Steve Tilford.
I love that shot. Gavin is managing the BMC domestic cycling team, Dave Mac is running the Luna Chix team after a pretty long mtb carreer with Specialized and then Ritchey. Tilford is still racing I think! Im pretty sure his Raleigh there is really a Moots.
Cyclocross, 1984 John Loomis (Fisher) left, Dave McLaughlin (Specialized) right
I like the shifters on the inside of the bullmoose struts.
Hey, and I have that frame Dave's riding. He rode it that year in the '84 cyclocross worlds in Munich, Germany. Need to get it repainted and built.
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I like the shifters on the inside of the bullmoose struts.
Hey, and I have that frame Dave's riding. He rode it that year in the '84 cyclocross worlds in Munich, Germany. Need to get it repainted and built.
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Originally Posted by Rumpfy
Classis pics.
