The Topanga! Bike represents a key specimen in the taxonomy of the mountain bike. Mini velos are having their moment in the modern cycling zeitgeist with brands like Kyoot, Crust, Stridsland, Bike Friday, Velo Orange, and Brompton offering up playful 20″ wheeled mountain bikes. Yet in the late 1970s, Victor Vincente of America, a moniker that translates to “winner winner”, was perhaps one of the original “alt cyclists”.
VVA was making mini velos under the banner of Topanga! These 20″ wheeled bikes were ridden all over the Southern California hills and mountains. A few years ago, John documented a Topanga! Bike in all its original patinaed glory, and just found his photos.
Read on for a brief introduction to VVA and the Topanga! model…
Victor Vicente of America, photo Wende Cragg
Victor Vincente was born Michael Hiltner in 1941. His journey in cycling began with road racing; he was on both the 1959 and 1963 PanAm teams, competed on both the 1960 and 1964 Olympic teams, and the next year, took home the 1965 US National Road Championship title.
A decade later, Hiltner set the double transcontinental record from Santa Monica to Atlantic City and back in 1975. He completed this great feat in 36 days, 8 hours. It wasn’t until much later, after stepping away from competitive cycling, that he took on the VVA name in 1978.
In the spring of 1979, VVA began assembling Topanga! mountain bikes, building around 26 total. Victor approached designing mountain bikes as an evolution of BMX racing bikes.
BMX Plus! August 1980 Issue, credit: Mountain Bike Action
26″ rims were still steel at the time, but BMX racing was popular, and lightweight 20″ rims and high-performance, lightweight, off-road tires were plentiful. If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it, ya know? To make these bikes more comfortable for long climbs and fast descents, VVA lengthened the chainstays for better stability and drastically increased the frame size, allowing for a proper saddle height, while raising the bottom bracket to avoid pedal strikes.
Reseda to the Sea, 1980 and 2012 fliers
In the Santa Monica Mountains, VVA threw a number of races, which he called “challenges,” with his first and most popular being Reseda to the Sea, one of the longest-running mountain bike events. VVA also promoted Puerco!, Mt. Wilson hillclimb/downhill, Sespe Hot Springs Two-Stage, and two supported tours: Pirú-Cuyamá Overland and Haute Route.
Winners of Reseda to the Sea often walked away with Topanga! complete bikes and frames as prizes.
Once aluminum rims came out for 26″ wheeled bikes, the Topanga! popularity waned, yet at the 1981 trade show where NorCal pioneers displayed their new “mountain bikes,” the Topanga! was one of three models on display. Other off-road bicycles being shown were Jeff Lindsay’s Mountain Goat and the Charlie Kelly and Gary Fisher-owned company MountainBike (built by Tom Ritchey).
For being a pioneer in the sport of dirt road cycling, VVA was inducted into the Mountain Bike Hall of Fame in 1989 and the U.S. Bicycling Hall of Fame in 2001.
To help market the Topanga!, VVA offered up six “demonstrator” bikes to various bike shops for potential customers to test ride. The 20″ wheel craze never died out, particularly in urban areas, and bikes like the Topanga! helped showcase their capabilities both on and off-road.
We’re lucky to have people like VVA contribute to the rich history of the mountain bike in America.
What about you? Would you want to ride one of these?
Check out more of VVA’s work at his website.