1992:
Brent Foes, former designer and builder of off-road trucks for the likes of Ford and Nissan and drivers like Roger and Rick Mears, takes a look at current mountain bike designs. Realizing he could do much better, the bicycle division of Foes Fabrications is founded. The first Long Travel System (LTS) prototypes are built; their radical construction turns heads and sparks interest. Certain that the rest of the industry would soon catch up, the bike is designed with 6 inches of travel and has three chainring compatibility.
Most mountain bike frames have 2.5 inches or less of travel. Many designs border on terrible, some pedal poorly, and others have horrible leverage ratios and awkward shock activating mechanisms. Some suspension fork designs appear with features like disc brakes and inverted legs, but have low performance quality. The use of aluminum and monocoque construction, much less having three inches of travel, is still a point of argument among magazine editors.
