05/07/2026
Mert Lawwill was building and innovating mountain bikes before most of us knew what to call them. A 1969 AMA Grand National Champion, a Harley factory racer, and one of the faces of On Any Sunday — the film that turned a generation onto two wheels — Lawwill brought that same engineering brilliance to bicycles long before the sport found its name.
His PRO CRUISER rolled out in 1977. His patented four-bar suspension system shaped the bikes that Yeti and Schwinn would put under some of the fastest racers of the 1990s. And then there was “Mert’s Hands” — a prosthetic device he developed so that riders who had lost a hand or arm could get back on a motorcycle. That one, he said, meant the most.
Lawwill passed away May 6, 2026, at 85, in his home state of Idaho, surrounded by family and friends.
For those of you who discovered mountain biking in the early 1990s, the name needs no introduction. For the rest of you, please continue reading. You won’t regret it. Link in bio for the full press release.
📷 Archival photography courtesy of the Lawwill family, with thanks to photographers including Walt and Dan Mahony, whose work helped document Mert’s remarkable career.
