Keizo Shimano: Every shift, each pedal stroke, every dusty smiling face at the run out of a descent on a mountain bike is a tribute to Keizo Shimano. A man whose brilliance questioned the status quo at every step. He studied ceaselessly, motivated his colleagues, and listened to the world’s greatest riders, all the while pioneering the development of the bicycle component technology so widely used today. Sadly, his induction is offered posthumously for the Mountain Bike Hall of Fame.

Growing up in Japan as the middle child of a large family, it is easy to see where Keizo derived such a strong competitive desire, always challenging what others said could not be achieved. He was talented athletically as well. Just one step away from a professional baseball career before his father convinced him to go to school and then work in the family business. With a degree in mechanical engineering — earned in 1955 — he set out to develop the world’s finest bicycle components for Shimano Industrial Company, his father’s legacy.

Keizo worked diligently and was named Executive Vice President in 1970. Through the following decade he oversaw the development of new road components eventually leading to the creation of Dura-Ace. In order to test these new components, Keizo formed the Shimano Cycle Racing team as his very own "Skunk Development Team." Keizo believed in the input of racers, not because of their star status, but because of their athletic abilities, personal determination and frank input. His years as a high level athlete himself served him well here.

As the 1980's dawned, Keizo received word from the United States office, headed by his younger brother Yoshizo, that a new trend called mountain biking was going to require a different direction in component design. Many traditionalists scoffed at the notion of this new category but Keizo’s vision told otherwise. The creation of the Deore series began a period of unparalleled development for mountain bike components.

He worked closely with engineers and great riders like Tom Ritchey and Gary Fisher. He led them into the great unknown, always at the front, always confident. He roamed the building asking questions rather than reading reports, motivating in a way so few leaders can. He would not accept "no" as an answer; he couldn’t. He had placed the future of Shimano in the hands of mountain bikers. He knew his people and his company had a "yes" in them. His drive was to help them prove what they had set out to do.

From this period came the first full-system mountain bike component group, Shimano Deore XT, in 1982. In rapid succession came developments like Shimano Index System (SIS), Hyperglide, Shimano Total Integration shifters (STI), andShimano Pedaling Dynamics (SPD), all under his direction and guidance.

Racers like Joe Murray helped refine systems even further. Keizo and Joe helped Shimano bring index shifting to the off road cycling world with Deore XT in 1986.

His commitment to his craft is best expressed through his SPD efforts. From the onset of SPD development, Keizo’s goal was to make cycling shoes that you could truly walk in. He wore the prototypes everywhere to study them and improve them. When the SH-M100 shoe was released in 1990, he wore them to prove their walk-ability. He even wore them to important meetings with his suit and tie!

Shifting gears and playing golf never seemed to have a connection until Keizo put the two together. Golfers always had a certain club for a particular shot or situation. Why then, shouldn’t bicycle racers have the same options? By adding more gears to a drivetrain, Shimano could offer riders the ability to specify the proper gear needed at the time. Mountain bikers had the ability to climb the big climbs, hammer the descents, and motor through the flats thanks to the added "clubs" Keizo had placed in their bag. Athletic performance, personal triumph, and spirited determination should never be limited by the mechanics of the machine.

Keizo believed in his work. He rode a bike to and from work every day. His desk was home to every type of bike imaginable. When he chose to test a certain component, he was ready in a flash. Coworkers remember riding alongside him during the commuter hours never knowing what would appear under him next. If it was happening on a bike, he knew about it firsthand.

Certainly no one will be inducted into the Mountain Bike Hall of Fame from this day forward who has not had an experience with Keizo’s work. An industry, a machine and an experience have all benefited from his genius. He is a genius so well suited to a mountain biking and the Hall of Fame: gregarious, competitive and adventuresome, driven with a lance tilted at the limits of the establishment. One can only imagine his pride for mountain bike racers victorious on today’s global stage.

Linda DuPriest began her involvement with mountain biking as a rider, racer and bike-store wrench in the mid-1980s. In 1989, working for Specialized, she came to the second International Mountain Biking Association (IMBA) summer conference and told the ragtag group of dirt-bag volunteers that we'd better get professional if we really wanted industry support. She explained the concept and value of a business plan and told us that if we wrote it, she'd help deliver it to the industry. She sure came through.

True to her word, she helped us pitch Specialized and that led to their hosting the breakthrough Land Access Breakfast at Interbike in 1989. Later that fall, she joined the IMBA Board of Directors where she has served until resigning early this year to become the City of Austin's Bicycle Coordinator.

As the industry's first, and until last year only paid industry advocate, Linda has been tireless in fostering corporate responsibility, professionalism in bike advocacy, and political organization and savvy in the bike community.

Mountain bike clubs around the country relied on Linda's swag to enhance their raffles and fundraising. Linda made sure that professional racers knew and supported land access. She was creative and entrepreneurial and brought the first Rules of the Trail water bottle and IMBA's first magazine ad to fruition. When IMBA made its Great Leap Forward in 1993 by professionalizing and hiring its first Executive Director, a great deal of the industry's fundraising was done by Linda and Ashley Korenblat, then president of Merlin. The sight of these industry visionaries coming down the halls of Interbike had some execs reaching for their checkbooks and others looking for the door.

In 1996, Linda became a key leader in the Bikes Belong Coalition to make sure that there would be both dirt and street bicycle facilities in the reauthorization of ISTEA. She also served on the Board of the League of American Bicyclists. IMBA's land access advocacy and Bikes Belong advocacy are the two shining examples of a cooperative bike industry joining grass roots riders to deliver a unified political voice in Washington. Linda has been and continues to be a leader in both efforts. She brings us together — industry and rider, mountain biker and roadie, biker and politician.

Steve Tilford was the first NORBA National Champion, back in 1983. At that time the U.S. Cycling Federation — then unconnected to NORBA — threatened to suspend road racers like Tilford who dared enter non-USCF sanctioned events. On only his second day on a mountain bike, Steve captured the first ever NORBA National Title!

After saving up for his first Schwinn at age 14, Steve began racing road bikes in the 9th grade and became an accomplished road racer. Steve was a member of the U.S. National Amateur Road Team from 1980-1986, and was a member of the U.S. Pro World Championship Team in 1986 and 1988. As a Pro Roadie, he rode for the Levi's/Raleigh Team and the Wheaties/Schwinn teams until 1989. Today he is one of the most experienced racers on the mountain bike circuit. A native of Topeka, Kansas, 37-year-old Tilford is also a four-time National Cyclocross Champion. Since 1990, Steve has consistently finished in the top 15 overall in NORBA points and from 8th to 19th places in five of the last seven Mountain Bike World Championships.

Tilly’s still racing — and winning — and can recount some of the most entertaining race yarns you’ll ever hear.

John Stamstad lives in Seattle, Washington, and competes in some of the world’s most difficult Ultra-Marathon MTB races. Stamstad has dedicated himself to seeking those events which claim to be the "most challenging" or the "most difficult." Stamstad first entered Ultra-marathon cycling by competing in the 1985 race across Missouri — 547 miles nonstop from St. Louis to Kansas City and back. Thirty-six hours later Stamstad was hooked. In 1991, Stamstad switched to mountain biking when he entered Montezuma’s Revenge, a 24-hour wilderness race in Colorado in which competitors are required to climb a 14,272-foot Gray’s Peak. In 1992, he traveled to Australia for the first off-road crossing of that continent by bicycle — The Australian Bicycle Challenge, a 3500-mile off-road race through the remote Outback. Also that year, he entered his first Iditasport, a race in Alaska, along the famous Iditarod Trail. Stamstad won that race in 1993, ’94, ’95, and ’96. In ’97 the race was changed to the Iditasport Extreme and distance of the race was increased from 170 miles to an arduous 350 and went across the Alaska Range. Stamstad was the winner again with a time of five days, and five hours. Stamstad followed that with victories in 1998, '99, and '00.

Stamstad also holds the Ultra-Marathon Cycling Association 24 Hour Off-Road World Record of 352 miles, and in 1996 Stamstad was the first person to ride the 24 Hours of Canaan solo when he entered the relay as four different variations of his name. The next year an Official Solo category was created, and 24-Hour Solo racing has grown in popularity every year.

In 1999, Stamstad conquered the Great Divide Mountain Bike Route, the longest off-road trail in the world. He completed the 2500 miles and 200,000 vertical feet of climbing in 18 days and five hours.

John’s Racing Accomplishments:

• 1st Iditasport 1993 (course record), ‘94, ‘95, ‘96
• 1st Iditasport Extreme 1997, ‘98(course record), ’99, ‘00
• 1st Leadville Trail 100 1994
• 1st 24 Hour Off-Road World Record 352 miles 1995
• 1st Wilderness 101 1993
• 1st Montezuma’s Revenge 1991 (course record), ‘96(record)
• 1st 24 Hours of Canaan 1996, ’97, ’98
• 1st 24 Hours of Adrenaline-Toronto 1996(course record), ’97, ’98
• 1st 24 hours of Adrenaline-Laguna Seca 1999
• 1st 24 hours of Adrenaline—Canmore 1998
• 1st 24 hours of Adrenaline—Silver Star 1998
• 1st 24 Hours of Adrenaline—Calgary 1998

Dave Wiens grew up in suburban Denver, and enjoyed skiing, fishing and camping with his family. He rode stingrays made into BMX bikes on the local trails (in vacant lots) and later rode a sweet candy apple red Schwinn Varsity on the trails as well as all over Denver for personal transportation.

Wien’s actual mountain biking involvement started in the summer of '82 when he ordered a beach cruiser and tried to make it into a MTB. He didn't have the technology, but it worked OK on the Cherry Creek State Park nature trails (now closed to bikes). That summer his first real mountain bike experience was a solo camping trip up the Fish Creek trail from Steamboat Springs, which ended in a fiasco because his modified cruiser wasn’t able to handle the terrain.

Dave’s first real MTB was a '85 Stumpjumper. It was a 22" frame and way too big for him. He rode this bike in the Denali National Park in Alaska. There were a bunch of trails around McKinley village (now all closed to bikes) and Dave sported jeans and had a copper bell on the bike which rang incessantly so as to ward off the grizzly bears.

Mountain biking has been the primary guiding compass for Dave’s life since 1987. Since that time, it has been his passion, main activity and livelihood. Most of his friends are in the mountain biking community and of course, he met Susan, his lovely wife through mountain biking. Dave’s favorite area to ride is in the Gunnison Country.

Wien’s contributions to the sport include: taking an active role in trail maintenance and enhancement of the Hartman’s Rocks trail system, the closest riding to Gunnison, Colorado, where Dave and his wife, Susan, live. He is a positive role model for young racers and an inspiration to riders who, like him, are bigger and heavier than your average cyclist (it wouldn't take much and Dave could race in the Clydesdale class). He is involved in the political processes of USA Cycling and NORBA, and has served on both of these boards since 1995. Dave co-designed the Olympic Mountain bike course in Atlanta.

Dave is still actively racing and rides for the Polo Sport/RLX Team.

Dave’s Racing Highlights:

• Winner of the 1998 Richard Long Sportsmanship Award
• 1993 US National Cross-country Champion
• Two World Cup race wins
• Six NORBA race wins
• Other "classic" race wins include:
• Crested Butte Stage Race
• Rage in the Sage
• Chihuahuan Desert Classic
• Winter Park King of the Rockies
• Steamboat Stage Race
• Boulder Ride the Rocks
• Tour of Canyonlands (Moab)