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Kent
Erikson
Inducted
1996
Web
Site: www.kenteriksen.com
Kent is a native of West Bend, Wisconsin. In 1975,
he founded a bike shop in Steamboat Springs, Colorado. His specialty
was building touring bikes for trails and dirt roads. In 1978, Kent
began building his own custom frames for balloon tires with multiple
gears and cantilever brakes. Kent’s invention of the “Moot’s Mount”,
an adjustable cantilever brake stud patented in 1980 led to the
development of the Moot’s Mountaineer bicycle. This bike went on to
win the first NORBA Off-Road National Championships in Solvang,
Califonia. In 1984, Kent invented what we now call bar-ends; those
nifty, multi-position gadgets found on so many mountain biker’s
handlebars today.
In 1986, Kent’s futuristic thinking guided him to develop rear
suspension for his bikes called YBB (Why Be Beat). So simple in its
design and effective that in 1995 Hall of Famer, Tom Ritchey, started
incorporating Kent’s design and parts on his top-of-the-line XC bikes.
Kent’s source of inspiration for his innovations came from years of
mountain bike racing. In 1984, he finished 5th in the Nationals at
Boulder, Colorado. In the past ten years, Kent has been a top-ten
finisher in the Colorado Off-Road Point Series, finishing second in
1994.
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