GMBN Tech Ride The First EVER Mountain Bike In Europe - 1976 KLUNKER / MTB

[@charleskelly1887]

The head tube sticker almost certainly came from the motorcycle shop where Gary bought the brake levers.

[@jameshardy2220]

Thank you for your input. A little bit star struck to be honest.

[@CommaCam]

Yeah thanks for chiming in Mr. Kelly. Nice to see you in the GMBN comments!

[@jimhansen5395]

So much royalty in this thread...

[@SevernBeach]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/m4OypaeEaLKEqbM

[@charleskelly1887]

@@SevernBeach Don't believe everything you see on the Internet.

[@cb6866]

Mr Dodd...the smile on your face is what cycling is about ! Takes you back, huh ? Thanks for sharing that , it was great .

[@Scrooks1]

I grew up in the 1960’s in Phoenix, Arizona and we were building dirt bikes from our old Schwinn’s, Huffy’s and Murray’s starting around 1968-69. I believe this was also happening in Southern California at the same time so all of these guys like Gary Fisher were not the first, but they were the first to capitalize on the idea. We called the larger paperboy sized bikes with 24” - 26” wheels “Choats” or “Choaters”. We also used Schwinn Stingrays to make BMX bikes. We made dirt tracks on the dirt piles dumped on vacant lots from swimming pools that were being built in many residential back yards.

[@charleskelly1887]

The thumbshifters are original. At first they were made for cheap 5-speeds, and were only for the right side. That's why one was turned around.

[@BLAKERIDES]

In 1982 for my sixth grade graduation, I got a Schwinn ATB. By high school ,I had a Diamondback Apex. Before college I’d saved up enough for a Yeti Ultimate that cost more than my VW Westfallia. Many bikes and technical advancements later, I’ve sourced a German designed restomod homage to the original klunkers. In 3 weeks, I’ll be departing on my outfitted Wethepeople Avenger 27.5 to navigate 800 miles through my beloved home state on the backcountry Arizona Trail. I’ve been lucky in my life to have lived in the pioneering era of action sports. The silly things we were doing as kids have become lifelong pursuits and a direct connection to pure joy.

[@martinh2783]

Best t-shirt ever.

[@jameshardy2220]

I like Doddy's shirt too.

[@powertrip111]

How awesome to see just how truly excited Doddy is to have this experience. Like meeting a childhood hero. This is the video that really shows how much he loves his job and how honestly passionate he is about mountain biking. Love it!

[@smoothisfast6644]

Doddy's pure joy is palpable.

[@seanhuntley6722]

His T-shirt is great!

[@WristwatchAddiction]

Met Gary In 98’ at a friends bike shop he literally just dropped in at because he was visiting friends in the area. Gary Fisher was and is a super nice man! Totally in love with cycling & genuinely just wants you to go ride no matter if it’s road, BMX, mountain or anything else! Had my Supercaliber downtube signed but he also complimented many non-fisher bikes while there. He clearly just loves the machine. Great video! Sad I found it so late! That Klunker is a thing of absolute beauty!!!

[@ThunderStruckMTB]

This was awesome! As soon as it was over, I grabbed my DVD of Klunkerz and watched the whole thing again for probably the 15th time. I'm 53 and grew up in SoCal and my first MTB was an '87 GT Avalanche, and while I wasn't exactly at the start of the sport, I wasn't too far off either. I only ride a modern hardtail to this day because it takes me back to what mountain biking truly is - at least to me anyway.

[@billderas3420]

At the 15:06 mark of the video, I did note the partial yellow decal on the frame showing "...hine Bicycle". That would be Sunshine Bicycle of Fairfax, CA founded in 1971. They provided great support to the original MTBers way back then. Always felt like a kid in a candy store visiting this excellent bike shop.

[@jameshardy2220]

Spot on observation.

[@leoncaravelli]

Doddy's like a kid on Christmas morning!

[@marcalvarez4890]

Question is....Which Xmas morning? ! 1949 bike. 1976 klunker. 2021 classic.

[@SingleTrackMined]

When I was 11-14 ish (1968-71) I and all the other guys around did the same thing our bikes. I stripped my Western Flyer of its fake gas tank (with dual headlights), removed the chrome fenders, put an oversized rear tire on and pointed the ends of the bars straight down. I grew up in central Maine so no mountains but we rode them on every kind of terrain so similar idea. Also, Gary Turner was in that group at Mt. Tam. Later to be known better by his initials and the triple triangle

[@bartmullin8018]

The history is cool and the happiness Doddy is showing reminds me of how I felt when I discovered mountain-biking in '89. The freedom and grin factor is what the sport's truly about at the end of the day still (!). Seeing the old magazines was also cool; many of them predating my baptism into the sport. (Victor Vincinte of America bombing down the fire road in the Mt. Wilson area in SoCal was our big local mtb. pioneer btw...) Seeing the history, thinking about how much has or hasn't changed, how much cross-pollination is rife in the sport, what's come and gone over the decades, and how I've evolved as a rider/person is a pleasant yet 'wow' moment as I'm also looking to explore the world of bikepacking and whole next level expansion to my all-day rides as a new chapter of my cycling evolution. [Done tons of day trail rides but, tripling or quadrupling the distance radically changes the equation obviously]. I remember the 'grin factor' but, as many of us probably have over the years, have gotten too wrapped up with the numbers here and there plus tribalism within the tribes. Returning to the childlike joy of simply riding a bike in the dirt is something all of us more experienced riders need to return to and the noobs to the sport Have to worry less about specs on paper and more about what works to paste that grin on one's face. Too much technicality and seriousness has crept into the room (!).

[@ANTheWhizkid]

This episode is a great special. Thank you guys!

[@gmbntech]

Great to hear you liked the video! 🙌

[@Shopsmith10er]

Great episode. In the video here is a glimpse of John Finley-Scott 1953 built 'Woodsie' based on a '51 Schwinn World. He was in college at the time with way ahead thinking for off-road cycling. The 'Woodsie' was about traveling not just downhill, but ascents, gearing, the conventional strong diamond frame was more in appearance to the modern developed mountain bike. Tom Ritchey knew him as well. John Finley-Scott also learned of Charlie Kelly and Gary Fisher's klunker conversion shop, became a source for them in parts, eventually the financier to help launch their 'Mountain Bike's, with many of the new designed specific mountain frames produced by Tom Ritchey.

[@weedfreer]

what a beaut! It makes me wanna go do the tourist thing over in Marin county to check out the original trails and see the museum with all the bikes! Also, Gary Fisher man...what an incredible dude!

[@rajm1976]

Doddy nerding out on this stuff is great. I remember firing down the Malven hills on my old 1992 GT Outpost. Amazing times.

[@carloscolmenares4054]

After geeking out and trying the latest and greatest mtb tech for over 15 years, I recently got myself a Wtp klunker with 27.5" wheels and disc brakes. Man other than the tall gearing, I love that bike.

[@apatriotofhopedanjohn4781]

You’re right again Doddy...... ABSOLUTE GOLD !!! CONGRATULATIONS

[@rong1924]

I’m heading out to ride Repack next week, and check out the museum. Can’t wait.

[@TheMisterranger]

Dodd the genuine excitement that you have for this piece of history was captured in this video. Thank you for sharing

[@onedsf]

Congratulations Doddy! You absolutely deserved this moment. Thanks for sharing it with us.

[@wadsefrgthzjkl]

the "on bike" footage from that old VHS looks better than 50% of "on bike" footage these days!

For a moment i thought that was some fake old footage :D

[@jameshardy2220]

Trust me its real footage, in those days I had a cable from the camera lense into a backpack that contained the recorder and battery pack, it weighed about 25lbs.

[@Stalker-kt6tv]

@@jameshardy2220 Honestly, I get paranoid when my seat-post starts to creak on my Stumpy FSR, so believe me when I say that I have total respect for the things you guys did on that piece of steel. We owe you a debt of gratitude sir.

[@jameshardy2220]

@@Stalker-kt6tv When I rode for a large US manufacturer, the ali bikes outsold their steel by some margin. So they wanted me to ride a steel frame. I got to know that in a race, if heard "that squeak" I had roughly a lap before the frame snapped. The squeak was the two surfaces of the crack in the downtube rubbing together. Fun times!

[@Stalker-kt6tv]

@@jameshardy2220 Is that where the term ‘balls of steel’ comes from? Ha ha! I’ll stick to my nice, comfortable, ridiculously over-engineered modern clone - if it’s all the same to you. :)

[@breandendaniels8735]

Truly a capstone video for Doddy! What a thrill that had to have been.

[@OldschoolDT]

I'm stoked about the old Klunkers and I'm building my own from an old Rixe Mountaincruiser from th 90's. I put a BMX stem, an old motcross handlebar and a Lepper leathersaddle on it. It has cantilever sockets so I bought non period correct fancy v-brakes, but I love some bling on the bike. And the bike is yellow! And there for it will get Yamaha style speedblocks!

[@Extremegaz25]

Loving this video it's like going back in time...88 miles n hour!. Back in the 70's we had to make our mountain bikes and build them from a scrap bike and add westrix wheels and new components as we went along via 3 paper rounds. Them were the days, kids these days don't know how lucky they are.

[@fourutubez7294]

I also loved those Richard's books and can't believe I'm seeing THAT bike

[@wesellis4135]

It's crazy to think that one of the things I love doing most stems back to some dudes just having fun in Cali. Amazing.

[@daledoesmtb7402]

Geometry on that bike almost looks like a 'pedal forward' sort of thing. Cool bike.

[@djkennyg2065]

The good old days. Great to see that bike. Thanks for sharing it with us.

[@grahamtv21]

My opinion has always been that Richard Grant, who brought back this Gary Fisher Klunker back in 1977, is one of the great, unsung heroes of British mountain-biking. After decades of rumours of this bike rusting away in Richard Grant's cellar, it is wonderful to see that this bike has survived and is in good, original order. After Richard brought it over in 1977, he showed it for many years at numerous UK bike shows. The reaction from the a British bike-trade that was well aware of the UK tradition of teenagers making their own 'dirt-track' off-road bikes, was one of total derision. They probably thought that it was just another example of these home-made 'scrambler' bikes but with fatter tyres. Back in the late 70s and early 80s the UK bike-trade could not understand why anyone would pay good money for a bicycle that would soon be wrecked by being ridden off road. Even when high quality 'roughstuff' bikes, like those made by Jack Taylor or Geoff Apps bikes were shown, they were considered to be very niche' and unsalable to the mass market. What the bike-trade failed to understand is that teenagers, who had grown up riding homemade 'dirt-track bikes', would want to continue doing so as adults. As adults earning surplus income they would also be prepared to pay 'top dollar' for modern; high-quality, strong, and lightweight off-road bicycles.

[@jameshardy2220]

Richard tells a story of taking this bike into his local bike shop in around 1980 and being ordered to leave the shop as this type of bicycle would ruin cycling.

[@grahamtv21]

​@@jameshardy2220 The UK cycling establishment in the 1970's and early 80's believed there was no market for adult off-road bicycles. In 1978 Geoff Apps entered an ATB into the leisure-bike category of a national UK bicycle of the future design competition. The judges, drawn from the great and good of UK cycling, rejected his design seeing it as a 'scramble' motorbike without an engine and issued no a award. In 1981, Gary Fisher and Charlie Kelly took a couple of mountain-bikes to the New York cycle show and received an enthusiastic reception. Especially so from young riders and representatives of the Japanese cycle industry. That same year, Tony Oliver, an UK amateur frame-builder, displayed a US style mountain-bike he made at the York cycle show. He says it 'got laughed at'. In 1982, Geoff Apps offered his design to UK manufacturers like Dawes, but was rejected. Meanwhile in the US, companies like Specialized had started mass producing mountain-bikes.

[@grahamtv21]

FYI. The rear brake on this Gary Fisher bike is fitted with the same excellent 'Leleu' drum-brake that Geoff Apps used on his early bikes. The two shoes inside all drum-brakes wear unevenly. But these have a patented mechanism that compensates for this uneven wear so you should be able to lock the rear wheel easily. If not, it is most likely that the brake-shoes are worn or contaminated with grease or oil, or there is a problem with the cable. I have spares for these brakes if you need them.

[@sixtyinsix]

Thank you Both for this fun bit of history! 👏👏👏👍🚵

[@ltrtg13]

It's great to see a bike from the start of mountain biking. A few years ago I did a factory tour of the Brooks factory in Smethwich. How about a video about the Brooks factory. Maybe a collaboration with GCN Tech?

[@GaryDonosti]

Thanks to everyone involved for this video. It was a treat to watch. I'm going to make my carbon framed 29er full sus watch it to learn his roots.

[@robmarshall2529]

Think that is the best GMBN I've ever watched, thanks Doddy.

[@tim__sadler]

Kept this for a quiet Friday morning to enjoy. Having lived not so far from Fairfax for a couple of years (and ridden the famous hillsides with the likes of Mr Kelly, Ritchey, Breeze and Guy...along with Peaty, Bender and other hall of famers..) this bike sums up everything about those hazy trails...and by hazy I mean the dust and the clouds of 'relaxing smoke'. So it does look proper strange on some UK trails. But it's clear that this bike was one of those sparks which lit the fire... ....but come on, what the actual flip happened to handlebars?? How did we go from what looked like a sensible wide grip with great angles (maybe not on this bike, but on some of the other Klunkers with more BMX/Moto style bars), to silly long stems and narrow bars?? I'd love to see a comparison between angles from the history of bikes - something tells me we are closer to the 70's than the 90's these days... I sense a series coming on....

[@TheVintageDownhillMounta-io8pp]

Love this! The algorhythm just fed me this video and I loved watching it. We just wrapped up a podcast with Gary Fisher yesterday - which I'm looking forward to sharing. Also, having grown up in Marin and working at WTB - I got to spend a lot of time with these guys and riding these bikes. They're rolling history - and we should share more of this! Thanks! - Chuck

[@dunkie976]

Fantastic vid Doddy, so many memories attached to the footage in there, watching it actually made me feel quite emotional, thank you.

[@BrianRPaterson]

This video made my day! The Dodster delivers once again!

[@letour32rr]

Doddy, I’d love to see you built up your own Klunker and run a series of tests for the ultimate Rewind episode.

[@Jayneflakes]

That was a really lovely video, the enthusiasm was obvious and it is great to see our history so well displayed. Thank you to the GMBN Tech team and Doddy in particular.

[@ImoonPeople]

Full circle is right! I'm glad you took it all in, that's amazing!

[@kasmith29]

Your words and enthusiasm after the test ride combined with the music! You got me.

[@gmbntech]

Thanks a lot Bob! :)

[@JohanAndersson78]

Love how this bike have better geometry than most -80.s fancy 26".ers and now we're back. Beautiful bike.

[@gjs-1379]

Easy Doddy... Your joy is infectious! Thank you for sharing. :-)

[@jimrutherford2773]

In around 1975 or 76 I built my first crude mountain bike from an old Stingray. I hadn't the money to buy a BMX bike so in order to ride with my friends on single-track and fire roads in Los Angeles, I had to get creative.

[@marcalvarez4890]

Man, my old purple stingray is a fine memory to me too. Ride safe, have fun!

[@David-rb3tk]

Sting Ray! Had a Coppertone one from 1968.

[@sionjones1675]

I love this, wonderful. Doddy's enthusiasm and excitement absolutely shines through!

[@tomb2289]

What a brilliant film, love the passion Doddy!

[@osvaldovegacasanova3559]

What a piece of bike & video . Awesome work !

[@andyjohnson4367]

This is brilliant. It's very easy to take for granted and just accept as a given a sport you love. Kudos.

[@AndreasRavnestad]

Amazing work on this content piece! Even an interview with Gary Fisher himself, wow! So much interesting history to unpack and absorb here, I had to pause and hit google/wikipedia several times during this video. Great job, this was a real banger!

[@donbenincasa7442]

I had those Ashtabula forks and stem…Great memories!

[@AndrewGibson22]

Still have my first mtb's; two fully rigid Gary Fisher Wahoos (M and L). Spent lockdown restoring them.

[@gaddmeister]

Cracking video! Thanks for sharing that with us.

[@captnnintendom2284]

This is special, i'm really happy for you #Doddy, full MTB circle indeed. Great video.

[@volvobrynk]

I would love to hassle a replica around! That would be epic! There is something about that frame that eggs me on!

[@Youdatguy]

Great video 🤙💯thank you for putting your energy into this it oozes out of the film. Much love this was amazing

[@robbchastain3036]

When you were riding that beauty, Doddy, you made it look like 1976 all over again.

[@greenmonstah8753]

Simply awesome video. Love the history. Doddy was very emotional you can tell. 👍

[@bigtsperspective5831]

I keep watching this episode. Absolutely one of the best. Been a viewer for years and this is one of those epically awesome episodes. Completely satisfies the bike nerd living in side me . 🚲

[@bosanderspublictheology]

I am only 3:30 in and I am delighted. The excitement and dedication are contagious. I don't even can what happens in the rest of the video TBH ... The nerd level is intoxicating.

[@yankohristov2361]

What an episode!

[@ronaldtartaglia4459]

Doddy, I’m really enjoying your enthusiasm about this machine. I can tell how much it means to you. I am happy for you!

[@lachlanpurton5073]

Doddies passion for bikes is amzing and I bet loads of kids watch this show and get inspired by him every single day

[@siwalder1618]

What a great episode, thanks.

[@nicholkid]

Love a bit of mountain bike history and it's great to see doddy so excited

[@SargeHitch95]

Seeing the Ashtabula gooseneck reminded me of my bmx days. My first BMX bike had Ashtabula forks. That was the only brand that wouldn't collapse being abused. Way before Tange produce tubed forks.

[@davidsnow1481]

Such an awesome bike thanks for sharing.

[@chrisarnold462]

Awesome video. Your excitement is very evident. What an amazing experience.

[@stephaniekent8483]

the thing is, we in England where building them in the early 60s, any old farm bike or dads old bike, or bike off the dump, we would strip them down give them a fixed wheel, very low geared, with tires ahd seats from south africa , ( they had bad roads and they had the biggest tyre it was about one inch and a quarter and the seats where big sprung things) them we would use motorbike handlebars of scrambles motorbikes and we would weld/braze steel rods front and rear to strengthen the fame and of we went, not down mountains, but on the railway cinder tracks, so yeah not a lot of people know this :)

[@JustB1892]

Amazing Klunkers! So nice to Doddy's reaction and excitement like a kid who got his first bike :) Where I live, I got a friend who have the Transition Klunker replica, so NICE, I trying to find 1 as well Great video!!!

[@alexguir903]

This is an awesome video, thanks for sharing your passion with all of us. I started watching GMBN (and other GCN channels) a few month ago and they have become by far my favorite. BTW Daddy, I just washed my bike thoroughly for the first time thanks to your video about cleaning you bike. You are an inspiration!

[@snat6299]

One of my 1st MTB was a Gary Fisher back in the early 90’s so this was cool to see more history about these bikes.

[@heekongyap]

Thanks for the lovely video, the change of mountain biking.

[@chrishorbatt3504]

Really good episode! Really like seeing the history of the sport

[@NDKY67]

Ah! I remember reading about ‘Repack’ in American magazines that I got from this one newsagents in Southport that sold a load of different magazine imported from the US. I spent a fortune in there on Skating, Surfing, BMX and Mountain Biking magazines.

[@modderfreak]

Great video! Currently building a clunker just for fun, and all the shots of the details gave me a better idea of what it should become

[@iainrossiter758]

Like a cafe racer. So so cool. Love seeing how much it means to Doddy.

[@mountainbiking_moray5754]

Damn mtb has come so far

[@DamonJanelle]

Old shovel done a resto on one of these frames. It's a great video and great video doddy 👍🏻.

[@griftereck]

I used to get the BMX magazines. I had that Totally wild video. I tried hopping about, I couldnt manage much else. Ive read all the various Richards books. I had a Carlton Corsair touring bike. That had Raleigh branded, Suntour gears. I always wanted a Klunker bike. I found a Raleigh Lancer 1950s cruiser bike. a friend gave me his dads old ridgeback mtb, from the mid eighties. I remember seeing those in the Freewheel catalogue. I was going to fit the ridgeback parts to the raleigh. But the curse of Raleighs non standard sizing caught me out.

[@Uathankicks]

Love the old school stuff Doddy!!

[@Rufiioh]

I always love seeing Dobby going full nerd speaking about old bikes :D

[@lastsunofkrypton7950]

Imagine the carnage back in the day with these bikes if Mega Avalanche existed.

[@jamiecox2506]

Good work fella, I'm envious!

[@peterrecchia6830]

Good for you Doddy, and thank you!!!

[@redbomberr4594]

Love the story, love the bike.

[@garygrant2000]

This was absolutely epic, what an episode!

[@petergledhill5925]

One of the best stories to date. Whilst I owned a Gary fisher trek mtb I never knew what he looked like. Loved the mo

[@rayfrazier8783]

Doddy I think the kid in you really shines in this video nice content!

[@luminousfractal420]

i have to make one of those seatpost clamps.. beautiful stuff

[@nickmassey9104]

Great video Doddy .Great history. Made by some legends 👏

[@edmundscycles1]

Damn and there was me thinking : HEY GREAT A CLYDESDALE . The mountain bike Geoff Apps . They guy that was running 29ers back in the 70's

[@AppleJack76]

If you were born in the 70's, celebrate MTBing every time on your birthday. Thanks to all the MTB pioneers worldwide for making life better.

[@woodenheaddad]

Sweetest video I’ve seen in a while. Child like enthusiasm. Very, very neat!

[@stevenconnor4221]

No dody in my memory it was the "stunt" bike I coggled together out of bits of old bikes circa 1979 at 8 years old. It had a front brake and no rear brake, pedaling backwards would lock up the rear wheel 🤣 it had a rear hub 3 speed gears and weighed a lot 😁 it was styled after a scrambler motorbike and as kids we would setup.ramps and carreer down the hill into the ramp (there were less cars in those days) then take it into the woods for some fun.. had no tinterweb so knew not a jot nor cared what anyone else was doing at that time, So forget this nonscense that america gave us the mtb. 😀 this was a stepup from the humble "bogey", cobbled together out of old prams. 😂

[@floydblandston108]

Same thing going on here in the USA back then as well- a proper BMX bike was as rare as a Bentley. One day after breaking our bikes on jumps, we finished by taking turns rolling each other down the side of the reservoir towards town in my cousins old pram. This lasted until he had such a good run he didn't bail out, rolled into the housing subdivision at full speed and destroyed the old thing against a tree. The police arrived soon after...

[@stevenconnor4221]

@@floydblandston108 🤣🤣🤣🤣 we did similiar with a near vehicular miss and a bailout into and over tbe hedge after hitting the kerb. None other than a shopping trolley with coaster wheels.. good times ans memories growing up my friend. Ps i was not allowed a BMX (i think that was early 80s here) as i already had a bike in my.mums view a 16" eddy merx orange racer with campagnolo. This was a stepup from a racer for me and the people i grew up with. No one i knew or.grew up.with had money so i am sure everywhere kids were all doing similar. Necessity they say is the mother of invention.

[@charlieharper4975]

Actually, tire traction was quite poor. I don't remember a good tire until the Panaracer Smoke came along. I think all tires today are just variations of the basic Smoke tire. It really was a revolutionary tire. Coming along about the same time V-Brakes came made for a double revolution. Those old cantis were just so-so for stopping. I grew up near Marin during the 70s. It amuses me that many people think they are riding a 'mountain bike trail' when really it was just an old cow trail.

[@mikecollings2808]

I'm a pioneer and didn't realise it till now......as kids we were putting cow horn and bull horn handlebars on our racers pre 76, rode off road and we raced each other speedway styleeeee