Otis Guy started racing mountain bikes at Repack in the late 1970s and competed at the first mountain bike World Championships in 1990. He’s also been a frame builder since the 1980s and currently works as a youth cycling coach in Northern California.
In this interview we ask Otis:
- How did you get introduced to mountain bikes and mountain biking?
- What appealed to you about riding off road?
- How do the early trails on Mt. Tam compare to the purpose-built mountain bike trails being created today?
- Are you still building bike frames today? What do you think about the current trend toward slacker MTB head tube angles?
- What were the mountain bike race courses like in the 1990s? Did your pro team, racing full suspension bikes, have a big advantage over other teams at the time?
- Did you and Joe Breeze ever complete the tandem bike ride from San Francisco to New York?
- How did you learn mountain bike skills? Did you have a coach?What is the focus of your youth MTB camps? What do you hope kids will get out of mountain biking?
- What’s one thing you want today’s mountain bikers to know about the history of our sport?
To learn more about his frame building business and coaching visit otisguycycles.com.
✏️ A written transcript of this conversation is available to Singletracks Pro supporters: singletracks.com/support
--Keep up with the latest in mountain biking at Singletracks.com and on Instagram @singletracks
