By blackmountaincycles,
Filed under: People Places Things
I’m not 100% certain how it started, but I imagine it went a little something like this: so, do you think this mountain bike thing is going to really take off? Can we do something different that would be rad? Probably something like that.
Several years before that conversation took place, I remember meeting Russ Callahan and John Kemp on the starting line of the Tecate – Ensenada bike “race.” They were both riding steel mountain bike frames, shod with slicks, that Russ made and were painted red and white. Soon after that, Russ and John were regulars among a small group of mountain bikers seeking out adventures near and far. Russ was the designer/engineer of the Mammoth Mountain Bike and John was the early marketing guy. John would later go on to create the Devo junior development team. It’s highly likely that all the current junior development teams/high school mountain bike racing leagues can be traced to John and his Devo team.
Me, Russ Callahan, John Kemp, and Jeff Lind at the Grand Canyon after a Moab trip
Mammoth Mountain Bikes was created under the umbrella of the Transworld empire and Tracker Trucks, specifically. Larry Balma, owner of Transworld and Russ were long-time friends. A third friend, Frank Fahey owned a BMW performance motorsports shop and supplied the initial work space and the welder. Can’t remember the welder’s name, but he was supposed to be pretty much THE guy who could weld anything. And that was very important because the Mammoth Mountain Bike frames were created out of 2024 aluminum which is supposed to be unweldable. Seriously. Look it up – google “weldability of 2024 aluminum.” But it was weldable and that’s how the Mammoth Mountain Bikes were produced. “Can we do something different that would be rad?” Yes, yes we can. A few of the prototypes broke. I never broke one.
After maybe 2 years of protyping and testing, they went into production. The first 50 frames were made at Frank Fahey’s shop and signified with the serial number FF01 – FF50. The later frames were made at Matthews Welding in San Marcos, CA. San Marcos has a long history with bicycle frame production as it has been the home of Masi, Cyclart, CycleSmith, Dave Tesch, Dave Moulton, Leo Castellon. Some of the VooDoo frames came from San Marcos. Quintana Roo and later it’s owner, along with Litespeed and Merlin, had a shop in San Marcos.
During this early time at Mammoth, I had left Pacific Coast Cycles and joined Mammoth as … can’t recall a title, but I did several things including sales. Sales were tough and I suck at sales. A lot of money was thrown at Mammoth in those early days and the returns were just not there. After not much time, I left and went back to Pacific Coast Cycles. Mammoth eventually shuttered after struggling for a short time and was left to the dustbin of mountain bike history. Pretty much forgotten except by a few. Russ went on to do some engineering consultation and after I became Product Development Manager at Haro, I was fortunate to be able to contract Russ for his skills at AutoCAD where we developed some BMX and full-suspension frames. John continued the Devo team for a number of years and eventually ended up on the central coast of California.
And all that was about to slide into the dark reaches of my memory until a friend emailed me asking if I was watching the Mammoth on ebay. Nope. Don’t want to see it, don’t need another bike, don’t tempt me. Dammit! I saw it. And I wanted it. Bad. Everything about it said to me “you need me.” The size, XL, was my size. It was the traditional diamond frame (I never much liked the elevated stay model). It was chock-full of WTB parts – brakes, headset, seatpost. The fork. Oh, the fork. The fork is a custom fillet-brazed Koski fork made by Ross Shafer at Salsa Cycles and the paint is by a ceramic artist friend of mine from back then, Susie Ketchum. The bike was built and sold by Pacific Coast Cycles to the boyfriend of a woman who used to ride with a group of folks in Orange County, who were good customers of PCC. Yeah, I had to have it. And now I do. I rode it last weekend at a vintage mountain bike gathering at China Camp. It rides as well and is as much fun to ride as anything I have. Keeper. And it seems that Jon Bon Jovi had a hand it it’s purchase as it was a “thank you” gift for the original owner. But that fork!
Passion
23 responses to “Fast Forward Friday – Mammoth Mountain Bikes”
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I saw that on eBay too. I didn’t know anything of the history but could tell it was something special. Yowza. Thanks for the mtn bike history lesson!
What a great find. The seat post is puzzling to me, not sure what is going on there.
Seat post is a Cunningham design fixed angle. No micro-adjust, hence no slipping. The top of the post had to be angled according to seat angle, seat, and degree you liked the saddle angle.
Those were the days, Mikey. Have fun riding that bad boy.
Absolutely. Super fun, Jeff.
That fork is art… and the rest is pure bicycle bliss.
That is a fascinating history. You should publish more stories like that. My friends and I are perhaps a bit younger than you and back then we were on the east coast scheming ways to get out west and ride our Fishers and Bridgestones. Made the mecca to Moab and so on in the very early ’90’s and would devour copies of MBA while we drooled over bikes like this. Very cool Now I ride a BMC of course!.
Thanks, Andy! For reading and riding.
What did it go for?
It went for a ride. A couple of rides, actually!
Originally built for my late brother, Gary Denton. After he passed away in ’92, I kept it in my garage in Memphis until last year. Rode it a couple of times but was concerned about frame breakage rumors at 250lbs. Hated to part with it and didn’t know it was going to be resold or I would have kept it for my grandson. Hope you enjoy it – sounds like you’re putting it to good use. BTW – it was a gift from Richie Sambora for building his house in Laguna Beach.
Bruce, thank you for reaching out and adding that bit to the story of the bike. It’s still here in the shop as one of the center pieces and still gets ridden.
Cheers,
Mike
Mike – did you replace the original Cook Brothers cranks, or were they already gone?
Bruce, no Cook Bros cranks when I got it. The only thing I changed was the tires when I got it.
Regarding the Sept 2, 2016 article, the welder supplied by Frank Fahey was/is my husband, Bob Valin. He has always been “the guy” when it comes to welding. He’s alive and well, living in Oregon. He wants to know if you know how to get a hold of Russ Callahan.
Bob, yes! Glad to hear he’s alive and kicking. Unfortunately, I don’t have any contact info for Russ. I lost touch with him around 20 years ago. Best regards to you and Bob.
Russ is my father. He would love to hear from you! I think he might be pissed I put his number on the Internet, but oh well. What are daughters for? 760.845.3818
Sadly Russ passed last year.
Hi Amy. Thanks for posting your dad’s phone number. Bob is going to call your dad, Russ. We just saw your post.
[…] mountain bike tech in the nineties. I would ride with a local group that featured a lot of Yetis, Mammoths, Manitous, etc. A sweet red gold and green Rhygin. One of the plainest guys I remember rocked a […]
[…] slow old guys with too much disposable income. Some of the Wednesday night crowd had super light Mammoth bikes but they seemed to all develop cracks. My “steel is real” nerve had a little bit of tingle at […]
Just read about Russ. Sad news ! After getting phone number from Amy I called Russ. Hadn’t talked to him for 25 years since the old days of building the tracker mammoth mountain bikes at Frank’s bmw shop. We had a great chat. I guess I’m the only one left of the original crew. Bad Bob Valin “aka the welder”
Sorry to hear Russ passed away. I talked to him after Amy posted his phone number. It had been a good 25 years since talking the last time. We had a good chat. There was only 3 of us who built the first tracker mammoth bikes at Frank’s BMW shop back in the 80’s. Me, Steve and Russ whenever he wasn’t out riding his bike. I guess I’m the only one left. I’m the only one left who knows the real tracker mammoth story. Rest in peace Russ and thank Amy for letting me get your number. Bad Bob the “Welder”