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NEXTFisher and other riders started grafting moto parts—like thumbshift-operated derailleurs and motorcycle lever-operated drum brakes—onto cruiser bikes to ride dirt trails in Marin County, California. A pack of riders made bikes for themselves, but other riders were starting to ask various members of that crew to sell them a bike. In 1979, Gary Fisher and Charlie Kelly finally decided to capitalize on the popularity of their creation and started a bicycle company. They called it Mountain Bikes, naming a business and sport simultaneously.
One of Fischer’s earliest mountain bikes
Photo: Courtesy of Trek Bicycles
