20/08/2025
DID YOU KNOWπ§
Breezer 1,
The bike in the photo is the JBX1 "Breezer 1", hand-built by Joe Breeze in 1977 in Mill Valley, California. It is recognized as the first bicycle frame designed specifically for mountain bikingβcrafted from scratch rather than modified from older cruiser "clunkers"
Breeze equipped the Breezer 1 with rugged parts to handle the rigors of downhill riding: from Araya 26β³ steel rims, Phil Wood hubs, Sun Tour derailleurs, and Dia-Compe brakes, to riser handlebars and motorcycle Magura brake levers adapted for better wet-weather braking performance. Even the thumb shifter for the front derailleur was a clever adaptation of a right-hand model mounted backwards.
Prior to Breezeβs creation, riders modified old Schwinn cruisersβnicknamed "clunkers"βto navigate off-road terrain. These bikes would often overheat their brakes (βRepackβ races down Mount Tamalpais), leading to frame failures. The Breezer 1 changed that: it was engineered from the ground up to withstand such abuse. This groundbreaking model laid the foundation for modern mountain bike design.
Breezer 1 won the Repack downhill race on its very first ride, proving its functional design. Joe Breeze went on to build nine more of the βSeries I Breezersβ by early 1978
Breezer 1 resides in the Smithsonian National Museum of American
National Museum of American History
Breezer 2 is displayed at the Mountain Bike Hall of Fame within the Marin Museum of Bicycling in Fairfax, California