Last of the Bridgestones

In 1994 Bridgestone USA stopped importing bicycles into the US and quietly closed their doors. Grant Peterson, the de facto leader of Bridgestone USA, had struggled to bring bikes to the market that were not "ordinary." While often an industry leader, Grant became known as a "retro grouch" due his dislike of change for change's sake.

Although the '87 Bridgestone MB-1 is often considered the first "modern" mountain bike, by 1993 Bridgestone was the last mass producer of lugged mountain bike frames, and one of the few companies

A pair of Bridgestones: '94 MB-1 and '93 XO-1.

still using thumb-shifters and not using suspension forks. With declining sales and increasing costs in Japan (where Bridgestone USA's parent company was based) 1994 was the final year of production.

The entire '94 model line was a bit of a compromise of Grant's vision. Many models were offered with suspension forks; the MB-1 had a suspension stem (my bike was switched to a traditional stem). Thumb-shifters were replaced by Shimano's ubiquitous Rapid Fire Plus shifters. A bit of the fire and uniqueness was gone from the Bridgestone lineup. Whereas 1993 had probably been Bridgestone USA's zenith, the following year was a major step backward.

Although the '94 MB-1 is probably a little less "Grant" than the '93, I still prefer it. It shares the unique Ritchey designed fork that was introduced on the '93 MB-1 and MB-2 bicycles. The tubeset switched from Ritchey Logic to Tange Prestige - not a huge change, but a little less unique. And the 7-speed thumbies of 1993 were replaced with 8-speed Rapid Fire (although probably less in line with what Grant would have wanted, I do like these shifters). But what separates the two years most to me is the color of the bikes - the '93 MB-1 had a white frame, and '94 had gray. I much prefer the gray frame with the large white seat tube panel. I think it was the best looking MB-1 made.

In my opinion (and many would agree), the MB-1 is one of the best riding production frames made during late 80's and early 90's. It handles fairly quick, and the rigid fork delivers a very smooth ride. This bike rides great, and represents the last of it's breed. Bridgestone USA was a company that did not bend to market pressures, they produced bikes that rode well, and were designed intelligently. They're no longer with us.

-el