Russ Mahon

{{short description|American cyclist and mountain bike innovator}} {{notability|bio|date=August 2024|reason=Article is primarily about The Morrow Dirt Club, not Mahon}} {{use mdy|date=August 2024}} {{Infobox cyclist | name = Russ Mahon | image = | alt = | caption = | birth_date = | birth_place = | death_date = | death_place = | discipline = Cyclo-cross | role = Rider }} '''Russ Mahon''' is an American cyclist and founder of a cycling group of about 10 riders known as The Morrow Dirt Club, named after a model of coaster brakes produced by Bendix Corporation.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Vendetti |first=Marc |date=2014-06-25 |title=The Search For The Cupertino Riders |url=https://mmbhof.org/mtn-bike-hall-of-fame/history/the-search-for-the-cupertino-riders/ |access-date=2022-05-12 |website=Marin Museum of Bicycling and Mountain Bike Hall of Fame |language=en-US}}</ref>

Originally based in Cupertino, California, The Morrow Dirt Club were, arguably, the first to put 10 speeds, drum brakes, and tall handlebars on pre-World War II balloon-tired bicycles for use off-road.<ref>{{Cite web |title=From the Mag: Roots - The Cupertino Riders |url=https://dirtmountainbike.com/news/mag-roots-cupertino-riders |access-date=2022-05-12 |website=Dirt |language=en-US}}</ref> These bicycles were the precursor to the modern mountain bike. Russ, along with Tom and Carter Cox, competed in a cyclo-cross race in Mill Valley, California in 1974 on these bikes.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Vendetti |first=Marc |date=2014-03-27 |title=The Cupertino Riders |url=https://mmbhof.org/the-cupertino-riders/ |access-date=2022-05-12 |website=Marin Museum of Bicycling and Mountain Bike Hall of Fame |language=en-US}}</ref> It was there that Gary Fisher, Charlie Kelly, and Joe Breeze, among others, were inspired by these bikes and developed them into the worldwide phenomenon known as mountain biking. Mahon's bike was considerably more advanced than the largely stock single-speed bikes used by the Larkspur riders. Shortly afterward, most of the Morrow Dirt Club Members moved away and Mahon left the nascent mountain biking scene, not getting reconnected with the other pioneers until a friend brought him into contact with Tom Ritchey in the 1990s. In 2007, Russ Mahon was profiled in the documentary film, ''Klunkerz: A Film About Mountain Bikes''.

==References== {{Reflist}}

==External links== * {{cite web |url=http://www.mtnbikehalloffame.com/history.cfm?page=1 |publisher=Mountain Bike Hall of Fame |title=The Search For The Cupertino Riders |date= |accessdate=14 September 2014 |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20050308092532/http://www.mtnbikehalloffame.com/history.cfm?page=1 |archivedate=2005-03-08 }}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mahon, Russ}} Category:American male cyclists Category:Year of birth missing (living people) Category:Living people Category:Mountain bike innovators