Quote:
Originally Posted by Raellus
You got me there. 
Fair points all. I could see repurposed [for military use] mountain bikes featuring in a CONUS-based campaign, but would they have been widely available in Central Europe, pre-exchange? I don't imagine so.
A typical infantryman's battle gear and pack (w/ contents) weighs in at 50+ pounds. I would wager the average mountain biker doesn't carry nearly that much weight in clothing/equipment during a typical weekend afternoon trail ride. A decent quality mountain bike might be able to handle that much extra weight, but how well is the rider going to be able to control, maneuver, and/or propel said bike, especially cross-country?
- |
Yes, mountain bikes were widely available in Europe in the late 90s. Hans Rey (of Germany) was one of the pioneers of mountain biking and was riding PROFESSIONALLY for GT bikes in 1987. The MBT "world cups" were already being held in the 90s. You would also have CYCLOCROSS bikes (which were big in Europe) which are road bikes beefed up for offroad riding.
As for military operations on mountain bikes, you'd need to ask the Finns. as far as I know, Finland had her ski troops riding bikes in the summer since the 90s. They were a functional part of finland's TO&E.