TESTING TIMES

We've come a long way from the boneshakers of the '80s and the wacky creations of the '90s; Guy Kestevan charts the last 25 years of mountain bike tech. "I were right about that saddle though"

- Guy Kestevan

James is on the Giant, but none of the words he is using are 'peach'. I still remember that line from my first ever bike test for mbr back in 1997, probably because I peaked early with that pun. Back in year one things were a lot more Top Gear than now, and while the Robin Hood-themed test in issue two was enough to stop then editor Brant Richards (more from him later) ever wanting to do a bike test again, the first bargain bike test - and my first test - was pretty memorable. Trying to ride the West Highland Way on entry-level rigs was also pretty memorable. Not just for James and his less than cordial relationship with his saddle, but also watching the brakes on Brant's £99 Apollo catch fire on the descent off the Devil's Staircase. Oh, and American Eagle getting quite cross that its £280 bike lost out to a 'second-hand £50 Trek' (it was actually Brant's dad's) even though its bike had colour-matched blue tyres. Back then though, with the vast majority of bikes being hardtails, made from tubes, using basically road geometry, with rim brakes for stopping, there wasn't really much difference between the most expensive bikes we tested for the magazine and Brant's dad's Trek. Obviously a lot has changed in 25 years, so how did we get here?

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