Specialized celebrates 25 years of mountain biking

To celebrate the silver anniversary of the Stumpjumper, the first mountain bike available from a local bike shop, Specialized Bicycles has commissioned the publication of a 128-page, full colour, hardcover book entitled Stumpjumper: 25 Years Of Mountain Biking. Specialized has also announced that they will donate all of the profits from Stumpjumper: 25 Years Of Mountain Biking to IMBA and the Mountain Bike Hall of Fame.

Written by Mark Riedy, formerly an editor at Bicycling Magazine, the book will be available through Specialized dealers and the Specialized web site in mid-January. Stumpjumper: 25 Years Of Mountain Biking will be translated in to six different languages (including German, French, Spanish, Italian, Chinese and Japanese), and will be sold through traditional booksellers. Retail price is expected to be $29.99.

"This book is a celebration of the 25th anniversary of the Stumpjumper," says Specialized founder and President Mike Sinyard. "But it's more than that. We wanted to honour the passionate people, important places and unique culture that make our sport so amazing."

"This project is a dream," says Riedy, who left Bicycling in June to start his own company, True Communications. "Specialized has invested much more time, money and resources in this book than any publisher ever could. The result is the most colourful and vibrant mountain bike book ever. The stories we've dug up and the photos we've found are just astounding."

Design duties for the volume have been handled by San Francisco, California-based VehicleSF, who have worked with sports and lifestyle clients such as Nike, Reebok, Phat Farm and EA Sports.

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