The Birth of Dirt: Origins of Mountain Biking [Paperback]

Frank J. Berto (Author), Wende Cragg (Photographer), Erik Koski (Photographer)

Book Description

Publication Date: December 1, 1998

PLEASE NOTE: This was the first edition of the book. It has been replaced by an updated, expanded 2nd edition in full color. The reference number (ISBN) for the new edition is 9781892495617.

Editorial Reviews

From the Back Cover

Relive the birth of the sport and the invention of the machine. In this fascinating book, Frank Berto, former engineering editor of Bicycling magazine, leaves no stone unturned in his quest for the truth about the beginnings of mountain biking and the invention of the mountain bike.

Illustrated with numerous period documents and vivid photographs by two of the early pioneers themselves (Wende Cragg and Erik Koski), this book should put an end to the question of who invented the mountain bike. At the same time, it will let you experience the pioneering days of the sport for yourself.

About the Author

Frank Berto is the former Engineering Editor of Bicycling Magazine. He has been writing about the bicycle for the cycling press for 25 years and has written several books on the subject, including The Dancing Chain: History and Development of the Derailleur Bicycle, and Bicycling Magazine's Guide to Upgrading Your Bike.

Product Details

• Paperback: 128 pages
• Publisher: Cycle Publishing; 1 edition (December 1, 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1892495104
• ISBN-13: 978-1892495105
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.5 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7.7 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #651,879 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #46 in Books > Sports & Outdoors > Individual Sports > Cycling > Mountain Biking

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars The Birth of Dirt: Origins of Mountain Biking, September 12, 2010

By 

Flyin Scottsman - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The Birth of Dirt: Origins of Mountain Biking (Paperback)

As a keen mountain biker of old I thoroughly enjoyed this book.
I could not put it down.
I will pass this book to friends for them to learn the info.
Great book.

4.0 out of 5 stars When it's too rainy to ride, it's time to read, April 18, 2011

By 

Richard Hunt (Cincinnati OH) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Birth of Dirt: Origins of Mountain Biking (Paperback)

A wonderfully quixotic and quirky read. A ramshackle recollection that skews closer to oral history than an academic tome, which makes it perfect for the subject at hand.

In the pantheon of sport (which is an awful phrase to heap on any activity that's supposed to be fun, evoking dusty accounts of Marquess of Queensberry rules for boxing and textbook synopses of the first Olympiads held in Athens...although, for those matches where the victor got the laurel wreath and the losers got, umm, death, those certainly stirred the blood and raised the bar), mountain biking is still a newbie. Most of the MB founders are not only still alive...they're still bombing down the single-track trails and tweaking their rides. Although nowadays, there's a bike company attached to their name and when they tweak, a new product rolls off the line six months later.

The Birth of Dirt resembles a rock-n-roll history, although these characters are certainly healthier than the Stones, The Who and their peers. And when blood's involved, it's because of an unplanned skid, not some transfusion that's needed in order to go on stage. But like the music, it was created for the most part by the counter-culture, ok, let's call them hippies, who rode in skinny jeans and T-shirts. Helmets occasionally.

MTB essentially started by taking forgotten Schwinns out of the garage and seeing if they'd stay in one piece while trying to make it to the bottom of the hill. The sport grew as the equipment was improved by the racers. Like Yvon Chouinard at Patagonia, these soon-to-be manufacturing legends would ride and race all weekend, then hole up in their shop during the week, welding this, hammering that. They'd then try out their improvements the following weekend at the test lab better known as Mt. Tam.

A couple examples that handily reflect the humble origins of MTB: the first regular race was called the Repack, because if you were lucky enough to make it to the finish line, you'd probably have to disassemble your hub and re-grease the bearings that were smoked en route. Also, one of the main guys was named Joe Breeze, and his bikes were called Breezers - how cool is that?

It's a quick read, a light read (certainly lighter than those original clunkers), and reading it will point you to a hill when you're done, as it should be - the birth of dirt might be in the Bay Area, but now it lives on the thousands of trails around the country.

Perhaps my favorite quote sums it up best: "Nobody started out to change the bicycling world. It just worked out that way."

4.0 out of 5 stars Probing history; fun read; a few errors, September 14, 2009

By 

John S. Allen (Waltham, MA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Birth of Dirt: Origins of Mountain Biking (Paperback)

The Birth of Dirt is a quick, fun read, and offers a quite thorough review of origins of the mountain bike, with numerous contemporary photos and drawings. Berto, formerly the technical editor of Bicycling magazine, has a fine command of the technical issues of bicycle design. But the book holds its good share of entertaining stories as well. Berto has the advantage of living in Marin County, California, where the mountain bike originated, and of knowing and having interviewed most of the pioneers in its development. They are a lively cast of characters, and Berto is a personable and engaging writer.

Berto has gone to considerable lengths with his research, yet I found a few minor errors of fact: for example, what is described as an Atom drum brake on page 28 is a Maxicar brake; Berto also locates the home of the late John Finley Scott in Davis, California rather than in nearby Dixon. Though this book is nearly definitive, the last word in such histories always lurks somewhere in the future.