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The Birth of Dirt
Origins of Mountain Biking
by Frank J. Berto
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| Format: |
6 x
9 inch trade paperback |
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Description: |
144 pages with
70
color and
duotone photographs and other illustrations |
| ISBN: |
978-1-892495-61-7 |
| Price: |
US$18.95 |
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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.
This much
expanded and updated new
edition contains many more
color illustrations and an
expanded and updated text.
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NOTE: Please do not be deceived
by "Internet bargains" offered
elsewhere, because those are
invariably of the earlier, outdated
edition. We only supply the current,
expanded, updated, full-color
edition (January 2009) |
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 (including
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 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 |
What the
Critics Say
With The
Birth of Dirt, Frank Berto
tackles a contentious subject:
Who really invented the
“Mountain Bike”? Berto points
out that riding bicycles off the
beaten path hardly is a new
pastime. However, Berto points
out that these riders did not
market their ideas, and so their
efforts did not ignite a
mountain bike movement. Berto’s
focus is specific: The mountain
bike, by definition, was
invented in Marin Country,
California, The movement
centered around the Repack
Downhill races started the
mountain bike craze that swept
across the planet.
Of course,
this means that the mountain
bike was a cultural, rather than
a technical, invention, The
technical solutions of the
Marin pioneers were not without
precedent, but their marketing
of wide-tired, multi-geared
bicycles as a means to ride
across technical terrain was
ground-breaking. Therefore, one
might conclude that the inventor
of the mountain bike was the
person who created the term
“Mountain Bike;’ or perhaps
those who first marketed
“Mountain Bikes” to a wider
audience.
Berto
instead examines the merits of
various Marin County pioneers’
claims to have been the first to
equip old balloon-tire
“clunkers” with derailleurs.
When his
first edition came out 10 years
ago, Berto’s insistence on the
“Whodunnit” detracted from the
fascinating story of how the
mountain bike movement
germinated from a handful of
small builders to span the globe
in a few short years. The second
edition addresses these concerns
and describes the development of
the mountain bike as the
collaborative effort that it
really was.
The facts
often are murky, because the
protagonists weren’t historians,
and many had and have commercial
interests in the claim to have
invented the mountain bike. For
example, Gary Fisher paraded a
bike that he claimed was the
first mountain bike, but it was
easy for Frank Berto to show
that many of the components were
not yet available when the bike
supposedly was built. Gary
Fisher admitted that it was a
replica loosely based on the
long-lost original, which leaves
open the question whether the
original bike really was a
“first.” Joe Breeze says that
Gary might have had derailleurs
on his bike at the claimed date.
The Birth of Dirt includes
letters from several key
players, in which they explain
their version of the events.
Berto
deserves credit for being the
first author who has tried to
research these often conflicting
claims. In the process, the
reader learns much about the
founders of the mountain bike
movement and how they went about
modifying their bikes. Berto
livens up the history with
anecdotes, and the result is a
very readable book.
Berto talked to most of the
players involved, and obtained a
wealth of color photos that
alone make the book well worth
its cover price.
Jan Heine
in Bicycle Quarterly,
Spring 2009 |
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From the contents |
Joe Breeze's design
sketch for the first purpose-built mountain bike.
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Charlie Kelly coming
down Repack in 1976
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One of Alan Bonds' pre-mountain bikes
of the mid-1970s
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