dirty sundays

MTB Racing History Collection

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Therefore, I search for race bikes that have played an important role at the highest level of competition: the UCI Mountain Bike World Championships (since 1990), the UCI Mountain Bike World Cup (since 1991), and the Olympic Games (since 1996).

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Most bikes come in poor, incomplete, or non-original condition. I especially love the challenge of figuring out which event(s) a bike was used at and which parts it was built with. This can take hours, days, or even months of searching and comparing blurry photos, playing low-resolution videos back and forth, over and over again, just to get a glimpse of the detail I'm looking for.

It also means contacting riders, mechanics, photographers, and others from back then, and continuing to bother them in the hope of getting information, photos, or even parts.

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Speaking of race bikes and their parts, they often featured prototypes that were removed after a race and sent back to the company's lab for analysis. Parts were changed regularly, sometimes even during an event, between practice and the race. Some parts were labeled with false stickers to secure sponsorship deals. It's definitely detective work.

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A race bike will most likely never be 100% complete. There are always questionable details, and that's why I can keep looking at these bikes over and over again. I get bored with a standard bike build once it's completed and there's no longer a purpose for me to keep working on it.

I'd also like to thank everyone who's helped and supported me by finding or providing information, parts, bikes, jerseys, race numbers, and more, as well as everyone who's excited about and interested in the history and the bikes I restore.

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I'm excited to share the news that four bikes from my collection are on permanent display at the MTB Hall of Fame in Fairfax, CA, and another two are on display at the US Bicycling Hall of Fame in Davis, CA.

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Furthermore, another bike will be going to the Deutsches Museum in Munich, Germany, the largest science and technology museum in the world.

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With the help of some partners, I've also started organizing events such as Velo Cosmos, where we want to bring these bikes to the public, showcase them, and share their history.

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Cheers,

Laurent