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.

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