The Murder of a Mountain Bike Pioneer

[@MossieRidesBikes]

The actual court trial is pretty interesting as well. If there is any interest I will do a follow up video on just that. Thank you all for the continued support and keep the deep dive ideas coming!

[@Younghead]

What would you class as a Cyclist…? My first Mountain Bike was a white Muddy Fox with 26” in the mid 80’s I think. You couldn’t get me of that bike.😃

[@Autoshyne79]

Great video great story!

[@keyboard-commentator]

do a deep dive! i wanna see some hour long docs about all these super interesting bicycle world godfathers. especially BMX stuff. it'd be awesome to see a good doc about dave mirra

[@tedecker3792]

I first rode Pearl pass in 1986 on my first mountain bike, a Jamis Dakota. Only had the bike for a week when I went to the Butte for the fat tire festival. Stopped at the pass with Charlie Kelley and friends. There were no paved streets in Crested Butte at the time.

[@lennyharp]

I was into bicycles from 1978 to 2000 or so. I built a dozen bicycles and about the same amount of trailers to tow behind the bicycle. One bike frame was an elevated chain stay mountain bike a friend asked me to build. I love riding and rode at least 50,000 miles during that time. I delivered papers with a bicycle, baskets, and a trailer. I organized Wata Race and a few smaller events, raced the Arizona Challenge 3 times and supported Jim Elliott in the RAAM, Race Across America. Life in bicycling has been and adventure and fun.

[@absolince]

Do you recommend any books I can read to learn how to build trailers

[@roddas26]

Thank you for making this. Cheers from New Zealand 🇳🇿

[@chrismathes3647]

I attended Barnett Bicycle Institute November of 2014. Rocky Mountain Highwheeler was just a few buildings away. Rust family business...they entire Colorado Springs community had great stories regarding Mike, his family and their exploits riding their creations over the mountains. Thanks for making this video! BTW, Tom Ritchie wanted 29" rims at 1st but went with 26" due to tariffs on adult bicycles vs what was considered kids bikes. The smaller 26 rims were cheaper to import. Believe this was late 70s early 80s.

[@joshmanwaring3848]

I love the history of mountain biking, we take all these technological advances for granted. It's wild to think it all started with people huckin it down trails on beach cruisers and track bikes

[@Mike-vd2qt]

Nice video, thanks! I owned one of the early Specialized Stumpjumpers. Then I got a Ross Shafer, Salsa Alacarte, painted in "Poofdiflage" camo colors. We used to ride around in cut-offs and T-shirts. Great memories.

[@themichiganphoenix1377]

I’m really stoked I found this channel. Learning a ton.

[@MossieRidesBikes]

I appreciate the support!

[@Shelleys1991]

I was 17 when I got my first mountain bike 🇬🇧👍Scott boulder 1988 and it lasted for a very long time,superb bike‼️and Mike is a legend thanks for the video

[@bigred8438]

I was captivated by the Mountain bike scene and bought one of the first ones available in my city in Australia in 1984. I still have that bike. It was/is called a Graycross Pathfinder 18 or 21 speed, if my memory serves mecorrectly. Old enough to be on a e-bike now of a similar ilk.

[@The-Jokes-on-You]

Another banger of a video Mossie, thank you for doing them!

[@daveanolik8837]

Great vid man! Along these lines, there was another builder in the same era/area, Wes Williams of "Willits", that I think was the first to use 29rs on his drop-bar "hybrids", essentially a contemporary gravel bike. At any rate, great to have a Rust video out there that bookends the whole story.

[@HUKIT.]

I was born in 1974 so I was still racing BMX during a lot of when mountain bikes took off so these videos are always interesting. Well done lad!

[@Taliesin-cymru]

Same, these vids are great, I was born in 1973 so we were sort of making what you could call now mini clunkers I guess, converting 20” dragster and chopper frames into bmx style bikes. Wasn’t big enough to ride a mountain bike until around 85 when the first purpose built units came went on the market in Australia still riding then at 51. Best thing since sliced bread.

[@wannabecarguy]

But did you have bullseye hubs?

[@Taliesin-cymru]

@@wannabecarguy The stuff dreams were made of, nah out here in Aus it was Joytech or if you were lucky and had a contact in a shop Suzy was on the cards. We didn’t start seeing Bullseye hubs on the shelves where I lived until the late 80s when freestyle started to take off. It may have been a different story in the major cities though.

[@MikeBarbarossa]

Scwinn came out with the first commercial mountain bike for them called Sierra. 10 speeds, cantilever brakes and one piece steel crank and steel frame for $300. I bought one as soon as they became available, as I loved the idea as a long time outdoors guy and cyclist

[@goodtimes2045]

Absolutely love it! I have been passionate about bikes forever and worked in the industry for over 20 yrs. I have seen a lot. I appreciate this!

[@lesschaub985]

I got to know Mike the Bike in Crested Butte in the late 1970's. He was the mechanic at the local bike shop, which also has a really fascinating story -google Murdoch. I built my first mtn bike, with a great deal of guidance from Mike, in 1979 (I think). It was on a Littlejohn frame. He built a nearly identical one for himself. If you watch "The Rider and the Wolf", which was produced by his brothers before his remains were located, the only bit of video of him on a mt bike is on the Littlejohn. Thanks for keeping his memory alive.

[@MossieRidesBikes]

I love hearing stuff like this and will look further into the shop! Thank you for the support

[@lesschaub985]

@@MossieRidesBikes The shop was called Bicycles, ETC. I believe it is still in biz. Google 1980 Crested Butte to Aspen Klunker to see where the small action clip Mike on mt bike came from that is used in the Rider and the Wolf, which was produced by his brothers before his remains were located, I think. Murdoch is interviewed in the vid, but his story is much bigger than just that bike shop. In that clip of Mike he is pedaling past me while I dismount-while he is loaded with all his camping gear and I am empty. He was very strong. BTW, I still have that bike.

[@whitecompany18]

Great story, rest in peace Mike👍

[@MrJFunk]

Wow great job on this story! Gonna check out the Vimeo video!

[@dantoth3199]

Know this story well and the scene, bmx and skated thru the late 70s, 80s and got my 1st StumpJumper in 86, currently have 3 (86, 90 & 92) great video!!

[@floydblandston108]

Having grown up in one during that time, I can tell you those ski town drop out 'hippies' were a lot of fun. The bikes were just another offshoot of the fun/adventure/party lifestyle they came for, along with canoes/kayaks, wood heat and weed. Some locals joined in too, since they'd been goofing around like that for years. Lots of home made beer wine, and cider too. A cynic might say the end of the military draft, Reagan making huge cuts in the unemployment/welfare system many of them lived on, and the clampdown on their 'cash crop' made that sort of lifestyle untenable. Most of them cut their hair, moved into the nearest city, and became 'yuppies', using their college degrees for actual gain. Some became teachers in our rural schools, and some just settled in and became 'locals' themselves. 😊

[@f_youtubecensorshipf_nazis]

"actual gain" = sold the next generations out after those systems they gutted gave them a leg up

[@standdownrobots_ihaveoldglory]

My son’s college grad speaker was the retired Chemistry Dept chair (small budget grad, it was nice). He got most of his speech material, tho, from his time as a dirtbag mountain guy, just figuring out life. I live near Red Lodge MT, we still get these types, but they’ve been priced out of most housing, and they def have to give lessons or outfit to make ends meet. One of the OG extreme sports dirtbags is now the sales manager for the HOA near Big Sky MT that has loads of celebrities living there…

[@robbchastain3036]

Thank you, Mossie, for sharing this story about another cycling legend, tragic that Mike lost his life in a gunfight with thieves. And thanks for showing the clip of the bike jump at the start, lots of fun in the early days for anyone with a Sting-Ray and a mound of dirt or wooden ramp. And thanks for showing us the innovations created by Mike and his fellow fabricators in Colorado. I accidently discovered larger wheels on a production bike when I bought a used GT Continuum MTB in '95 and, hmm, it was a big roller with 700D GT Gila Monster tires. I don't think GT sold that wheelset for long as I bought out the tire stock of a local bike shop because of sidewall failures. Still, it was fun to experience those larger wheels and the bike did turn heads when I rolled into the parking lot at the end of a trail, like someone was different about it but what.

[@ChristianPareATLAS]

Such a sad end of life 😢 At least he helped the mountain bike community to grow and brought technology and engineering into the sport

[@johnschlaefflin2100]

Man, just watched the really well done film! Thanks for your video, and the heads up on a terrible death, but a life well lived.

[@carldreher]

I'm liking these history videos but I miss the racing ones. I missed you at the Winter Short Track this year. Hope you come to the Summer Short Track Shootout.

[@irish2200]

Thank you for making this video.

[@kdm6287]

Great video, RIP Mike,

[@bikedibley]

Learnt something new. Well presented, Nice job. Subscribed from the UK

[@Wyatt1314.]

Thank you for the super respectful video. Truly touching, brother.

[@gaypreator8547]

Sad, true. Thanks for sharing. ✌️

[@keirfarnum6811]

Interesting story. Sad but it’s cool to learn about this pioneer of mountain biking.

[@barneybrightbart7080]

Wow, I did not know that Mike Rust's killer was finally found--and convicted! Thank you soooo much for doing this deep dive into his life and how his family got closure.

[@jawaraoconnor]

Brother, I love your videos…..I love bikes and it’s so interesting to hear the history of a sport I loved so much as a kid.

[@jamesswift5545]

Thank you for this. Fascinating and sad.

[@Fatbikersrides]

Another excellent video Camron

[@Pachoslavus]

Be well. Your story telling has a heart and a soul.

[@boatbyrd]

Thank You for that!!! I did not know.❤

[@bobzelley5100]

Good story. At the end he was murdered by a man that was stealing from his castle that got the drop on mike. His contribution to cycling is everlong

[@nicolashuffman4312]

I wish Mike could take a ride on my bike to see what he thinks of modern bikes.

[@kramalin]

Thanks Mike for bringing mtb to the world 🙏

[@davehunt2191]

Gary Fisher’s 2-9 bike was made by Steve Potts of WTB fame. The Bianchi Project bike was famously raced by SF based MTB racer Joe Blanco. Balco also appeared on their add copies. What is also lesser known the area of Colorado which Mike lived was a big hub of illegal drug trafficking.

[@cenotvph9350]

Here to boost the algorithm

[@MossieRidesBikes]

Much appreciated!

[@stevebernard7267]

Actually Bruce Gordon offered the first 29er called the Rock-n-Road.

[@mikestivers8302]

what do you think.. personal opinion only: was a better invention the wider rim/tire combo or the suspension fork?

[@ironhombre76]

Thanks for putting this video together. Does this Mike have any relation to the Mike Bikes shops in Northern California?

[@tonkshred]

Rip King , thanks for the video! Always have some big dogs….

[@randalhampton2966]

Awsome life, not wasted. R.I.P fellow biker dude.

[@dougmcdougall3997]

thanks very interesting !

[@MrRobworrell]

Kent Erickson who developed Moots was a very similar innovator of mtb in the early 80s as this guy. Would be great to tell Kent’s story.

[@Professionalminutestealer]

Was making them the highwheelers too... im confused im gonna have to look into who we were making them for. Made a bunch of pearl pass ones for quiet a few years

[@glennlevisson]

This is sooo cool 🤩

[@joshonwheels2]

Great story! I think you’ve found your niche.

[@scottlink1693]

You could watch the movie The rider and the wolf

[@onefishfrank9145]

Rest in peace Mike Rust.

[@mandretti2381]

1/2 way through video. Gary Fisher bikes designed an elevated change stay. That was my first mountain bike in 1993. Gary Fisher Montare. Of course there was no front suspension either then and that frame broke at the seat tube bend I believe. Warranty replaced. Brake mount snapped off by a rock. Jersey shop tried to talk me into RockShox. I later bought a light steel Kona explosif from them with Suntour components

[@dingle9897]

Hope he in his piece of paradise 🙏 Rest in peace ✌️

[@bogdanvlad9165]

Chasing after a robber is a bad ideea

[@din75cschmoo]

Very interesting 🤔

[@Surfratglass]

What area was Mike living?

[@rianbey1]

A tattoo skull neckless is telling.

[@gaypreator8547]

A beer, an old polo shirt and a bicycle. 🚲🍺

[@guyrivera3100]

A free spirit ✊🏽👍🏾🤙🏾✌🏾🫶🏽🙏🏾

[@cinada2220]

RIP Mike RIP Colorado Cyclist

[@nigelcarren]

“Hell is other people!” Rest in peace free spirit 🇬🇧

[@hoppygoodness]

never found out if the murder of Tim Watkins another great colorado mtn biker was solved.

[@anthonycordero5733]

Now with all this endurance and other craziness now just ride your bike man...

[@davidgold5961]

The very first mountain bikes were newspaper boy delivery bikes that they modified because they were rugged.

[@ThomasMitchell-kr8yy]

Rip mike

[@anthonycordero5733]

The garbage got him .

[@Pleasestopthat]

Good video but lazy AI generated thumbnail that has a dirt bike Instead of a mountain bike.

[@MossieRidesBikes]

It's supposed to be a red motorcycle hidden in the woods representing how long it took the authorities to find their first clues. I'm trying to get better at the thumbnails/algorithm stuff but I really just enjoy the video making process if I'm being honest 😅

[@wannabecarguy]

It's fine.

[@dialeddirt]

History of trail building

[@atomiccat2002]

27.5 for life!

[@roygumpel8415]

"him and his brothers..." basic english... He and his brothers.! He did this. He and his brothers did this. simple.

[@TiBiAstro]

I'm begging you bro, stop using AI photos in your thumbnails and videos.

[@Twowheeledchaos]

So did u just watch the documentary about him (The Rider and the Wolf) and rip it off for 60k views? Weak bud

[@coreyhitchcock7039]

I hate to say it but your story is all over the place and in horrible order. Work on it kid, you'll eventually figure it out.

[@roddas26]

Thank you for making this. Cheers from New Zealand 🇳🇿