The movie Klunkerz is free on Amazon Prime right now and has a lot of interviews with the people who were there back then. It's worth a watch if you like bikes.

The movie Klunkerz is free on Amazon Prime right now and has a lot of interviews with the people who were there back then. It's worth a watch if you like bikes. I think it's a bit more complicated too: they liked to go downhill, but they needed to get back up, and wanted to not have to maintain the bike after one trip down (repack), so bikes that could climb were desirable.