1. All started in 1976 in California. These races called 'repack races' consisted in going straight down a mountain on a bike. Three friends (Tom Ritchey, Gary Fisher & Jo Breeze) were more creative and did some modifications to theirs bikes... they had invented the Mountain Bike. 2. It was only in 1983 that the Mountain Bike arrived in Europe. The first demonstration took place at La Plagne with Gary Fisher himself. Peugeot and MBK were the first manufactures of mountain bikes, called Velo Tout Terrain (VTT). 3. The first official tour took place in 1984, from Paris to Dauville (GR12). Also in 84, Paul Loxton does the first Chamonix-Nice by the GR5. The first official competition to be organized was called the Roc d'Azur and today it has more than 15000 athletes. The materiel also changed a lot. The firsts MBK bikes weighted more than 16kg. Now, all the manufacturers propose bikes with full suspension and much more for only 9kg. 4. Important dates: 1989: the first fork was manufactured 1990: 21 speed show up in the market 1992: the first full suspended mountain bike 1996: the brakes 'V-Break' & the Cross Country becomes Olympic sport. 1998: the disc brakes show up 2001: the first mountain bike in carbon Today the mountain bike represents more than 70% of the bike market in France.
