How mountain biking arrived in Britain

Mountain biking in Britain started with a handful of imported bikes and a few curious riders. Within about ten years it had its own magazines, races and clubs, and by the 1990s it had its own trail centres.

The first bikes

The sport began in California, and the first bikes to reach Britain came in small numbers. Journalist Richard Grant is often said to have brought back a Gary Fisher “clunker” in 1977. Ritchey bikes followed in 1983, when a few were sent to London for an expedition and others turned up in London bike shops.

The first mass market bike is usually given as the Ridgeback, which appeared in a mail order catalogue in 1983. Saracen is often credited with the first British made production mountain bike in 1984. Dawes had hoped to claim that title and had to drop the line from their brochures.

Magazines, races and a club

In the early 1980s there were no organised rides, races, books or magazines for the new sport. That changed quickly in 1984. Richard Grant and Nigel Thomas launched Bicycle Action magazine in June, and Grant and Richard Ballantine ran the Fat Tyre Five race series over five weekends. The Wendover Bash that year was another early event.

One of the riders at Wendover, Jeremy Torr, went on to help found the Mountain Bike Club. The sources we found do not give the year the club was formed.

Sales take off

Sales grew fast. One forum post puts the number of mountain bikes sold in Britain in 1988 at about 100,000, roughly half of all bikes sold that year. That figure comes from an enthusiast forum rather than official records, so treat it as a rough guide.

The first trail centres

Early riders used what they could find, such as deer tracks and gouges left by motorbikes. The next step was building trails on purpose.

At Coed y Brenin in Snowdonia, forest ranger Dafydd Davies saw the chance to build singletrack by hand as an alternative to riding along fire roads. He worked with volunteers to shape the first part of the Tarw Du trail. It is generally dated to 1996, and Natural Resources Wales describes the forest as home to Britain’s first purpose built mountain biking centre. Davies received an MBE in 2004 for services to forestry.

Dates differ a little between sources, because riding there started before the trails were officially opened. Some accounts put the opening in 1996 and others in 1997.

Scotland and the 7stanes

The idea spread. In south Scotland the Forestry Commission joined several centres together as the 7stanes project, with Glentress in the Scottish Borders the first to be built. It now sees over 200,000 visitors a year, and hosted the UCI Mountain Bike World Championships in 2023.

What this means for you

You can ride many of these places today, and several hire out bikes by the day. Our mountain biking page lists providers, including centres in Wales and Scotland.

Sources

Several early dates come from enthusiast forums and magazine features, not official records. This is a short overview, and the first bikes and the founding of the Mountain Bike Club would need further research.