Otis Guy started racing mountain bikes at Repack in the late 1970s and competed at the first mountain bike World Championships in 1990. He’s also been a frame builder since the 1980s and currently works as a youth cycling coach in Northern California.

In this interview we ask Otis:

• How did you get introduced to mountain bikes and mountain biking?
• What appealed to you about riding off road?
• How do the early trails on Mt. Tam compare to the purpose-built mountain bike trails being created today?
• Are you still building bike frames today? What do you think about the current trend toward slacker MTB head tube angles?
• What were the mountain bike race courses like in the 1990s? Did your pro team, racing full suspension bikes, have a big advantage over other teams at the time?
• Did you and Joe Breeze ever complete the tandem bike ride from San Francisco to New York?
• How did you learn mountain bike skills? Did you have a coach?What is the focus of your youth MTB camps? What do you hope kids will get out of mountain biking?
• What’s one thing you want today’s mountain bikers to know about the history of our sport?

To learn more about his frame building business and coaching visit otisguycycles.com.

✏️ A written transcript of this conversation is available to Singletracks Pro supporters: singletracks.com/support

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