Originally Posted by
alanbikehouston
Looking at UK publications, I get the impression that THEIR biggest bike boom was 1985 to 1995, with the advent of mountain bikes. The UK had LOTS of utility bikes and a good number of ten-speed road bikes, but the mountain bike reached millions of folks who might not want to ride in urban traffic, or who wanted a tougher sort of bike when they did ride in urban traffic.
Well, that was the case in North America also. And it was the same boomers who bought the MTBs because their guts were too big and necks were too stiff to ride their old 10-speeds. MTBs were considered "sensible" by the ageing boomers and "cool" by the kids and yuppies at the same time. Just like SUVs 10 years later.