# Russ Mahon

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{{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
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| discipline  = [Cyclo-cross](/source/Cyclo-cross)
| role        = Rider
}}
'''Russ Mahon''' is an American [cyclist](/source/cyclist) and founder of a cycling group of about 10 riders known as [The Morrow Dirt Club](/source/The_Morrow_Dirt_Club), named after a model of [coaster brake](/source/coaster_brake)s produced by [Bendix Corporation](/source/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](/source/Cupertino%2C_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](/source/cyclo-cross) race in [Mill Valley, California](/source/Mill_Valley%2C_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](/source/Gary_Fisher), [Charlie Kelly](/source/Charlie_Kelly_(businessman)), and [Joe Breeze](/source/Joe_Breeze), among others, were inspired by these bikes and developed them into the worldwide phenomenon known as [mountain biking](/source/mountain_biking). Mahon's bike was considerably more advanced than the largely stock single-speed bikes used by the [Larkspur](/source/Larkspur%2C_California) 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](/source/Tom_Ritchey) in the 1990s. In 2007, Russ Mahon was profiled in the documentary film, ''[Klunkerz: A Film About Mountain Bikes](/source/Klunkerz%3A_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

{{US-cycling-bio-stub}}

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Russ Mahon](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Russ_Mahon) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Russ_Mahon?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.