Giant Manufacturing Co. Ltd. is a Taiwanese bicycle manufacturer, recognized as the world's largest bicycle designer and manufacturer. Giant has manufacturing facilities in Taiwan, the Netherlands, China and Hungary. They have future plans for Vietnam to be the fifth location.
Downhill mountain biking (DH) is a style of mountain biking practiced on steep, rough terrain that often features jumps, drops, rock gardens and other obstacles. Jumps can be up to and including 12 meters, and drops can be greater than 3 meters.
John Tomac is an American former professional cyclist who competed from 1985 to 2005. He was a versatile rider who competed in multiple disciplines including; BMX racing, cross-country, road racing, trials riding and downhill racing. Tomac became a mountain bike racing icon in the late 1980s as the sport began to develop beyond its formative years. At the time of his retirement in 2005, he had won more mountain bike races than anyone in the sport. In 1991 he was inducted into the Mountain Bike Hall of Fame and, in 2004 he was inducted into the United States Bicycling Hall of Fame.
Mountain bike racing is the competitive cycle sport discipline of mountain biking held on off-road terrain. The Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI) recognised the discipline relatively late in 1990, when it sanctioned the world championships in Durango, Colorado. The first UCI Mountain Bike World Cup series took place in 1988. Its nine-race circuit covered two continents—Europe and North America—and was sponsored by Grundig. Cross-country racing was the only World Cup sport at this time. In 1993, a six-event downhill World Cup was introduced. In 1996, cross-country mountain biking events were added to the Olympic Games. In 2006, cross-country mountain biking events became part of the World Deaf Cycling Championships for the first time in San Francisco, USA.
Anne-Caroline Chausson is a French professional cyclist who competes in bicycle enduro, bicycle motocross (BMX), downhill time trial and cross-country mass start, dual, and four-cross mountain bicycle racing. She is best known for having won thirteen Union Cycliste Internationale senior mountain bike world championship rainbow jerseys, fourteen European mountain bike championships, and five consecutive Mountain Bike World Cup downhill series (1998–2002). She was nominated for the 2003 Laureus World Sports Awards Alternative Sportsperson of the Year. At the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, Chausson competed for France in the inaugural women's BMX event, winning the gold medal.
Cheri Elliott is an American former champion female bicycle motocross (BMX) racer in the 1980s, and a champion Downhill and Slalom mountain bike racer in the 1990s and early 2000s. During her BMX career, she spent most of her racing career on the national circuit with the Skyway Recreation factory team. She had a relatively short BMX career, but she is a four-time national champion and four-time world champion, including three consecutive National Number One girl-racer titles for the American Bicycle Association (ABA) from 1983 through 1985. She also held the regional UBR Number one girl racer title in 1982. She was the first female racer inducted into the ABA BMX Hall of Fame in 1989, and the first female BMX racer inducted into the United States Bicycling Hall of Fame in 2008.
GT Bicycles is an American company that designs and manufactures BMX, mountain, and road bicycles. GT is a division of the Dutch conglomerate Pon Holdings, which also markets Cannondale, Schwinn, Mongoose, IronHorse, DYNO, and RoadMaster bicycle brands; all manufactured in Asia.
Eric Robert Carter, is a former American professional "Old/Mid School" Bicycle Motocross (BMX) racer whose prime competitive years were from 1983 to 1998. He had the nickname "The Golden Child," and later in his BMX career, acquired the moniker "The Earthquake." More recently, he has been known simply as "EC." Beginning in 1996, he converted fully to mountain bike racing (MTB) and has become one of the most respected racers in that discipline of bicycle racing.
Michael Allen King is an "Old School/Mid School" former professional Bicycle Motocross (BMX) racer whose prime competitive years were from 1984 to 1998 and is also a former Mountain Bike (MTB) racer who prime competitive years in that discipline were 1993 to 2004.
Leigh Donovan is an American former professional downhill mountain bike and BMX racer and current cycling ambassador and mountain bike skills instructor and based out of Colorado Springs, Colo.
Melissa Buhl is an American former professional downhill and mountain-cross racer who has been racing as pro since 1998. She was the 2005 USAC National Pro Downhill Champion and 2002 USAC National Pro Mountain Cross Champion, and 2008 4-X World Champion, NMBS DH Champion, NMBS 4-X Champion. Buhl started racing for KHS Factory Racing in 2001 and retired in 2012.
Dale Holmes is a Retired British professional "Old/Mid School" Bicycle Motocross (BMX) racer whose prime competitive years were from 1983 to 2009. He now lives in San Diego, California.
Four-cross (4X), also called mountain-cross, not to be confused with fourcross, is a relatively new style of mountain bike racing where four bikers race downhill on a prepared, BMX-like track, simply trying to get down first. These bikes are generally either full suspension with 140mm to 160mm of travel, or hardtails, and typically have relatively strong frames. They run a chainguide on front and gears on the back. They have slack head angles, short chainstays and low bottom brackets for good cornering and acceleration. In recent years the tracks raced on have been rougher and less like those used in BMX.
Bryn Atkinson is an Australian professional mountain bike racing cyclist from Townsville, QLD. He started mountain biking in 1996 and became a professional in 2002. Bryn's first introduction to the sport was through his local mountain bike club in Townsville- The Townsville Rockwheelers. Competing in several cross country type events, Bryn evolved with the sport and later found downhill. As a teenager, he moved north to Cairns, a popular location for downhill mountain biking, and host of the UCI Mountain Bike World Championships in 1996. Glen Jacobs was the course builder for that event and several other events on the World Cup, and mentored Bryn and several other downhillers in the area.
Daniel Simon Atherton, known as Dan Atherton, is a professional racing cyclist specialising in downhill, four cross and enduro-downhill mountain bike racing, and is a former national champion of Great Britain. He began riding BMX at the age of 15 and mountain biking a year later.
Tara Janelle Llanes is a Bicycle Motocross (BMX) racer and a wheelchair basketball player whose prime competitive years were from 1990 to 1993. She became a champion Mountain Bike (MTB) racer. She later played wheelchair tennis and wheelchair basketball for Canada. Her surname is pronounced "Yaw-ness" but for obvious reasons it is often mispronounced "lanes" as in the type of division of a pathway.
Aaron Holmes Gwin is an American professional downhill mountain biker from Morongo Valley, California. He is a five-time World Cup overall champion.
Diamondback Bicycles is an American bicycle brand that is based in Kent, Washington. Diamondbacks are sold in many countries, including the United States, Australia, Canada, and the United Kingdom. Most Diamondbacks are considered to be mid-type bicycles, with a high-end prototype in development as of 2011. Diamondback is owned by global private equity firm Regent, L.P., which also owns Redline Bicycles.
Hugo Donais is a Canadian retired cyclist who specialized in downhill mountain biking, four-cross and BMX.
Myles Rockwell is an American former professional downhill mountain biker and winner of the 2000 UCI Downhill World Championships. He was inducted into the Mountain Bike Hall of Fame in 2019 and into the U.S. Bicycling Hall of Fame in 2021. In 2004 Rockwell was arrested for growing Marijuana, he was released on $10,000 bail.
