The Vintage MTB Festival kicks off with an impressive programme:
- Downhill and cross-country races.
- Party, parts exchange and tours.
- Hardcore ride on the 120-kilometre-long original route of the once mythical Swiss Bike Masters.
- Open to all bikes built before 1999
The organiser of the Vintage Bike Masters, Alex Beeler, explains in an interviewwhat the event is all about.
BIKE: What fascinates mountain bikers about the nineties?
Alex Beeler: Back then, the bicycle was reinvented. And the MTB touched people who previously had nothing to do with bikes. It stood for freedom, for creativity. From a technical point of view, the decade from 1989 to 1999 was certainly the most exciting in bicycle development. Not only for MTB. In 1989, the world elite often competed in the Grundig World Cup with one and the same bike in downhill and cross country, completely unsprung. A year later, almost everyone had a suspension fork. At the 1993 European Championships in Klosters, just three years later, Jürgen Sprich won downhill gold with a Scott DHR fully prototype made of carbon, which no longer had anything to do with mountain bikes as we knew them. The bike cost an incredible DM 15,000 at the time.
Just two years later, this cutting-edge technology was already standard on the top models of most manufacturers. In 1999, the first 29er bikes could be bought in shops, with a completely different frame geometry. 10 years for the leap into a completely new world! For fans, the countless wrong turns that have been taken in this express development are of course particularly exciting. Great ideas from small manufacturers that flopped commercially but now offer great storytelling potential.
How did you come up with the idea of the Vintage Bike Masters?
I have been involved in the classic car scene for a very long time, including as a racing driver and organiser of classic car motorsport events. A good 10 years ago, I decided to take a much shorter career break and at the same time I lost interest in cars for various reasons. That's when I got into bikes and actually got into vintage bikes right from the start. It really grabbed me and I immediately became a collector, initially of classic racing bikes. In Swiss collector circles, there had long been a need for a vintage event modelled on L'Eorica. With my background as an event organiser and my new love of vintage bikes, I set up the BERGKÖNIG vintage meeting in 2017, which I have held every year since then and which always attracts several hundred participants.
The question soon arose as to whether we could also integrate vintage mountain bikes into the BERGKÖNIG. However, I quickly realised that the worlds were too different and that the "wild ones" deserved their own event. I put out feelers for a suitable destination back in 2018. It took a while before we found the ideal playground with the right historical background and a very strong partner in Klosters.
Who is the target group and what is the focus of the event?
The focus is clearly on fun and enjoyment. A festival is a place of enjoyment, enjoyment of the bikes from back then, of good conversations with cool like-minded people, of good food and good drinks, of bargains at the parts market, of rides on routes like back then. The target group is certainly primarily people who actively experienced and helped to shape the pioneering years and are still travelling by bike, with a focus on enjoyment. The Vintage Bike Masters certainly also appeal to collectors, but from my BERGKÖNIG experience, they tend to be the smaller part. You need a certain level of fitness to take part in the Vintage Bike Masters, and many collectors are not particularly fit.
How big will the event be?
This is very difficult to say, as the event is completely new and we therefore have no comparative values. It is the participants who decide the size. As a rough estimate, we expect around 300 participants over the three days of the event when it is first organised. Perhaps double that in the medium term. But it could also be significantly more. The Swiss Bike Masters had over 2500 participants when it was first held in 1994 and very quickly increased to 4000. That is a huge number, many of those who took part back then are still active on their bikes and miss this unique event, which was cancelled 10 years ago.
One highlight is the marathon on parts of the historic Swiss Bike Masters route. How can you imagine that?
The route will be as original as possible, in all three variants from 30 kilometres with 1500 metres of elevation gain to the long distance with 120 kilometres and 5000 metres of elevation gain. But we're not doing a real race, we're talking about joy rides. We pepper the route with lots of cool refreshment stops that serve local specialities, offer great views and provide a wonderful setting for lots of bike chat among like-minded people. Of course, anyone who dares to tackle the 120-kilometre distance has a tough day ahead of them, despite the leisurely refreshment stops.
How strictly is the originality of the bikes checked?
From experience at Bergkönig, the originality of bikes and outfits very quickly regulates itself. We don't want to send anyone home. Participants who don't fit in automatically feel out of place. For the two races, the downhill on Friday and the cross country on Sunday, we naturally take a closer look. Eligible bikes must comply with the technical specifications of the pre-1999 era. In the races with classification, we divide the bikes into three categories: pre-1990, 1990 to 1995 and 1996 to 1998, precisely because of the leaps in technical development in the pioneering era described above.
Are there sponsors for the event?
That's a very difficult topic. We don't fit into any mould with our event. We are not sport, not culture. And from a marketing perspective, the bicycle industry is unfortunately still in the Stone Age. A look at the automotive world illustrates how important it is for a strong brand to cultivate tradition. Not only Mercedes or Porsche invest millions in classic car events, museums, brand clubs and much more, but also mass brands such as Toyota. By way of comparison, Scott's headquarters has just three or four bikes from the early years. And that's a lot compared to other bike manufacturers. At the same time, we are not aiming for a super-commercial event. That wouldn't suit the target group and would spoil the authenticity.
Are celebrities from back then also expected?
We haven't made many contacts yet, but the response has been overwhelming. Once again, you can see that no sport treats its former top athletes as ungraciously as cycling. And yet they are incredibly happy to meet up with their old colleagues again and to be celebrated a little. So far, three women from the former world elite, Chantal Daucourt, Silvia Fürst and Giovanna Bonazzi, have confirmed their attendance. We also have several informal confirmations from men of the world's elite at the time, but these are still dependent on possible date clashes. Former overall World Cup winner Christoph Sauser, who raced his first international championship in Klosters in 1993, is a firm favourite. Unfortunately, we already have one major cancellation: Thomas Frischknecht has praised our event, but is already in the USA with his team for World Cup race preparations on the date in question.
Editor's note: German former World Cup rider Laura Burckhardt, who celebrated international success in both cross country and downhill in the nineties, also wants to come to the Vintage Bikes Masters.
Statement by Laura Burckhardt, former World Cup rider:
What a great event! I'm already pretty excited at the thought of riding the European Championship course from back then on a bike from 1993. As a member of the German national team, I had top equipment back then and I even competed in both disciplines, downhill and cross country. Yes, that was possible back then! The big improvement in 1993 was that we had two different bikes for downhill and cross country. The year before, it was still one and the same bike for both disciplines, with a delicate suspension fork and basket pedals.
Info about the Vintage Bike Masters
Date: 22 to 24 September 2023
Location: Klosters / Switzerland
Programme: Downhill and cross-country races, joy ride on the original route of the former Swiss Bike Masters (30 km, 70 km, 120 km), party, parts exchange
Authorised bikes: Year of construction before 1999
All information: vintagebikemasters.com
