Back in the day, when some of us started racing, everyone used the same bike for every discipline.

It didn’t matter if it was cross country, downhill, trials or even a hill climb; you had one bike and you used that. Racers didn’t specialise either, people would turn up for a weekend of racing and do just that. Then things began to change.

Today it is not so much a way of life as a weekend style statement…

The advent of suspension forks and then full suspension really drove downhill racing to the fore. The increased popularity not only drove innovation in bicycle technology but also riders.

But the DH scene soon became as much about the riders as it did the bikes and fashions. Sure the scene gave us baggy shorts and helmet peaks but it also popularised tattoos, goatee beards, dead fish worn as pendants and a wild attitude.

Like a shooting star, the wild downhill race crowd burned bright and faded fast. Sponsors soon tired of riders gaining a reputation based more on their antics after a race than on the race itself. Riders smartened up and began to toe the corporate line. However, you can still see the DH influence in baggy kit and tattoos, but today it is not so much a way of life as a weekend style statement.