Winners & Binners!

WE SALUTE THE RETRO TECH THAT PAVED THE WAY FOR TODAY'S BIKES AND SAY 'SAYONARA' TO THE 'INNOVATIONS' THAT WERE DESTINED FOR THE DUSTBIN OF HISTORY

- STEVE THOMAS

The early days of mountain biking were hit-and-miss when it came to tech innovation. Everything was new, and there was no rulebook or standard to follow when it came to bike and component design. Naturally, this led to a whole heap of leftfield developments, some of which were simply bonkers, while others had an impact on how we ride to this day. Here are eight retro products that made waves when they were launched - some of which proved to be long-lasting wins for mountain biking, while others were swiftly ditched.

TIOGA DISC WHEEL 

Aero looks, scare-o performance

Back in the early 1990s there was a rumble in the jungle (or rather, the woods), and that was the unmistakable drumroll like echo of the ultimate mountain bike component of the era the Tioga Disc Drive rear wheel. Introduced in 1992, this wasn't simply a standard spoked wheel with an 'aero' cover, like modern road disc wheels. Instead, the disc was structural, made from an aluminium mesh with Kevlar tensioning cords. For around £400 (at the time) you could get yourself the innards of the wheel, on top of which you had to buy a rim and hub. Later, a lighter and more fragile Pro version was launched. These wheels offered a little extra rear 'suspension, which aided grip, but were prone to breaking, and let's not even mention what they were like to ride with in a crosswind... Stars-of-theday John Tomac and Greg 'H-Ball' Herbold made the Disc Drive famous, and it did look the dog's bollocks. But it soon went the way of its namesake, the floppy disk, while its spoked rivals evolved into the tough, lightweight wheelsets of today. Some 30 years on, though, these wheels remain highly sought-after by retro collectors.

HITE RITE 'QUICK-ADJUST SEAT LOCATOR'

Saddle-height adjuster that had the drop on its rivals