A posthumous tribute to John Finley Scott

John Finley Scott, original mountain bike innovator. (Klunkerz)

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John Finley Scott is a name most cyclists have never heard of, but his influence on the development of the early mountain bike is colossal. His mad scientist experiments in 1953 led to the first commercial mountain bikes of the late 1970s, once he invested in the fledgling Mountainbikes company of Gary Fisher and Charlie Kelly.

In late 2006, film maker Billy Savage debuted his mountain bike documentary Klunkerz in Marin County, California, home of the mountain bike. All the dignitaries of the knobby movement were in attendance: Fisher, Kelly, Joe Breeze, Russ Mahon, Otis Guy, Tom Ritchey, Steve Potts, Mike Sinyard, Charlie Cunningham, Alan Bonds, with several others. Only Finley Scott was missing, quite literally, and as it turned out later, was murdered. 

Finley Scott was inducted posthumously into the Mountain Bike Hall of Fame September 24, alongside Oakley's Steve Blick, mountain bike racers Brian Lopes and Nat Ross, innovator Bob Girvin, and advocate Philip Keyes.

Savage dropped by the BikeRadar booth at Interbike, and presented us with the latest copy of Klunkerz. Here are two tributes to Finley Scott that were shown during his induction ceremony:

Klunkerz John Finley Scott interview - Part 1

Klunkerz John Finley Scott interview - Part 2

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