What does MTB actually mean when used in bicycling?
The acronym MTB stands for mountain bike and derives solely from mountain bike.
mtb = mountain bike
Somethings just seem so obvious that you just never ask or question them….like what does MTB actually mean? Most mountain bikers take it to mean ‘mountain bike’ but is that really correct?
I contacted the Marin Museum of Bicycling in Marin County, California to find out. Joe Breeze, who is the curator of the museum replied to my question, and yes, this is the same Joe Breeze who is credited with creating the first mountain bike back in 1977.
What does MTB stand for and does it mean mountain bike, or mountain terrain bicycle or something else??
The acronym MTB does in fact stand for mountain bike." MTB derives solely from “mountain bike," and is not from "mountain terrain bicycle" or the like.
- Joe Breeze
ATB = All terrain bicycle
Depending on your age you might remember when off-road bikes were called ATB’s:
In 1980, Bicycling magazine held a contest to give a generic name for the new off-road bikes. The winner was “ATB," which stood for “All Terrain Bicycle." From then until about 1986 that was the common name for the machine.
-Joe Breeze
ATB & VTT
In France mountain bikes are commonly referred to as VTT. This is what Joe had to say about Vélo Tout Terrain (VTT):
The JBX1 or Breezer #1 built in 1977 by Joe Breeze
In France “All Terrain Bicycle" translates to “Velo Tout Terrain," and I believe VTT (pronounced Vay Tay Tay) has been the common term for a fat-tire bike in France ever since. VTT magazine, founded in 1990 or so, is still published to this day, and surely helped serve to strengthen the generic term in their country. You will see the similarity here with “mountain terrain bicycle," but I don't believe there is any direct connection from VTT to MTB.
- Joe Brreze
MountainBikes & the fat-tire bicycle company
“By 1979 Gary Fisher and Charlie Kelly had formed their eponymous fat-tire bicycle company “MountainBikes" (note the inter-cap B). MountainBikes, the business was ultimately unsuccessful in trademarking the term, but for years they tried to protect the mark, with some initial success.”
- Mr. Joe Breeze
Mount Tamalpais in Marin County, California
klunker & mount tam
“In 1977, when the first modern off-road versions were built with alloyed steel tubing and better components, the term klunker no longer applied. ”
The base of Mount Tamalpais is located near Fairfax (Marin County), California, which is across the bay from San Francisco. During the 1970s in Marin County, off-road cycling emerged from modifying existing bicycles and riding them down the fire-roads of Mount Tam.
During this time single-speed klunkerz weighed 50 pounds or more, so most of the riders hitched-a-ride back to the top in a pick-up truck before descending the 2500-foot Tam. Growing tired of walking/hitching these bikes back up, Gary Fisher added a multi-speed gearing system so they could ride these bikes back up to the top of Mount Tamalpais.
This new form of off-road adventure bicycling was commonly called ‘klunking’, among other names:
In the formative years of mountain biking, before the term “mountain bike" existed, this off-road variety of bicycle was known under the following names (and more): ballooner, bomber, cruiser, beater. By 1976, especially in Fairfax (Marin County, north side of Mt. Tamalpais), the bikes were almost universally referred to as "klunkers." Klunker was a termed adapted from a "clunker" car (imagine the noise a loose exhaust pipe would make on a bumpy road). Klunkerz (and the like) were the old balloon-tire newsboy bikes from the 1930s, 40s and 50s repurposed in the 1970s for bombing down Tam etc.. They were the type of bike initially raced at the sport's first organized racing at the famed Repack downhill (two dozen races from 1976-1979), held on a two-mile downhill a couple miles west of Fairfax.
In 1977, when the first modern off-road versions were built with alloyed steel tubing and better components, the term klunker no longer applied.
- Joe
Joe Breeze in his machine shop back in 1984 (Image Source: Wikimedia Commons)
mount tam bicycling, Mountanbikes & mtb
In 1979, Gary Fisher and Charlie Kelly opened the bike shop called MountanBikes. Is it logical to think that racers cycling down Mount Tam were to eventually call this new form of bicycle a MounTamBike…..or MountainBikes???
Stumpjumper
The first production mountain bike was the StumpJumper, produced by Specialized in 1982. The StumpJumper was a fully rigid bike with the slogan “Stronger than dirt, the StumpJumper will take you anywhere you’ve got the nerve to go.”
Interesting Note: The StumpJumper is generally considered the first mass-produced MTB. How many of these were produced in 1981 for the 1982 roll out?? The first order was 750 bikes and sold for $750 each, or $395 USD for just the frame.
Fat Tire Flyer
The first mountain bike magazine was published in 1980 by Charles Kelly and was called Fat Tire Flyer. By 1980 the word klunker was no longer applicable, as the new bikes cost around $3000 in today’s money. These new off-road bikes had bigger and fatter tires, which is why some riders called them Fat Tire Bikes.
Mountain bike & dictionary
In 1995, mountain bike, as a noun was included in the Merriam-Webster Collegiate Dictionary:
“An all-terrain bicycle with wide knobby tires, straight handlebars, and typically 18 to 21 gears.”
Needless to say, much has changed since 1995.
OH REALLY!?…Tell me more!
IMBA
In 1988 the IMBA was founded, which is the largest MTB advocacy group in the United States with the purpose to “promote mountain bicycling that is environmentally sound and socially responsible.” The IMBA or the International Mountain Bicycling Association uses the word bicycling, as opposed to biking or bike.
MTB acronym & 1st usage
The first official usage of the acronym MTB I found to be in 1994, on a patent for a bicycle frame. Even in 1992 local mountain bike associations were using MB as the acronym for mountain bike.
final thought
Joe Breeze who built the first mountain bike says, “MTB derives solely from mountain bike.” Obviously, Mr. Breeze is an authority on this topic. However, I can’t help but wonder if MTB is really MounTamBike……a proper homage for the Klunkerz from Mount Tam.
“I would like to thank Joe Breeze and the Marin Museum of Bicycling ”
Jesse is Director of Pedal Chile - MTB Tour & gravel tour company located in the Chilean Patagonia. I’m an avid MTBer, and I enjoy researching and reading when I’m not riding or sliding down a hill.
References:
Merriam-webster.com. (2020). Definition of MOUNTAIN BIKE. [online] Available at: https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/mountain%20bike
mmbhof.org. (n.d.). Tim Neenan | Marin Museum of Bicycling and Mountain Bike Hall of Fame. [online]
Savre, F., Saint-Martin, J. and Terret, T. (2010). From Marin County’s Seventies Clunker to the Durango World Championship 1990: A History of Mountain Biking in the USA. The International Journal of the History of Sport, 27(11), pp.1942–1967.
Smithsonian Institution. (n.d.). Breezer 1 Mountain Bike.
Velhuis, R.J., Butts, N.K., Porcari, J.P., Floyd, W. and Mouser, N.J. (1993). 449 A FIVE-MILE MOUNTAIN BICYCLE TEST TO PREDICT VO2MAX. Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise, 25(Supplement), p.S80.