Klunkers—What’s in a Name?

OK. I’m not an expert. But I have a crazy theory.

It’s pretty easy to research the history of the Klunker. Marin Country, California, innovators like Gary Fisher, Charlie Kelly, Joe Breeze and Tom Ritchie modified old, heavy beach cruisers with knobby tires, motorcycle brakes, triple chain-rings to turn these junkers into Klunkers—the first mountain bikes.

The raced down slopes that had never before seen a bike—burning out their hubs, smoking their inadequate rim-brakes and sometimes even relying on coaster brakes to stop from careening into the redwoods.

A sport, an industry and a culture was born.

Klunkers evolved into today’s mountain bikes, but a few weirdos like me (and you) still gravitate towards these old-school rides, noted for steel frames, wide handlebars, BMX influences and hooliganism. Some people—the fringe of the fringe—use them for bike polo.

(I’m not quite there yet.)

But what’s in a name?

It’s all too easy to think that Klunkers is a mixup of “clunkers”—taken from car-builders who cobbled together parts to make rat-rods and bastardmobiles. The first of these bikes could certainly be called “clunkers,” due to their heavy frames and mismatched parts.

Or was it merely the sound of the heavy steel frames bouncing over the dirt jumps and ruts? Maybe. But does that really make a “clunk?” I guess it kinda does. But why the “k?”

Some have also speculated that the name came from the sound of the coaster brakes “clunking” as Fisher and friends raced downhill. But this one doesn’t totally track for me, as a few of this crew’s noted innovations include bicycle drum brakes and the use of rim-brakes too.

These are all OK theories, and probably correct in their own ways. But you’ll have to agree that none explain the “K,” korrect?

So here is my dumb theory.

In the decade or so preceding Fisher and his pals making their Marin County bike races popular, immigration from Europe to the USA was at a high point for the century. This was, of course, due to the fallout from the Second World War. In fact, by 1960, Europeans comprised 75% of all immigrants to the USA.

Of of these Europeans, Germans continued to comprise the largest demographic—as they had since there 19th century.

Truly, tens of thousands of German were arriving in America, and California was a major end-point…

…To maybe, start families… and take in some local culture?

And why am I talking immigration?

Well, I recently learned that “klunker” colloquially means “very big jewel” or “chunky jewelry” in German.

But sometimes, in some instances, I’ve come to learn this can be used in a derogatory sense. To mock someone’s “bling” … or even to refer to the “family jewels.”

So…

There’s little doubt when the boys of Marin County started modifying their cruisers into downhill beasts, they started with the name “clunker.” We can see that in one of Charlie Kelly’s race event posters.

But when Fisher and his pals set about building their “clunker” bikes—is it possible that some local families, maybe the German immigrant parent of another racer, laughed at the name… perhaps asking, “Why klunker? Do they have ‘big jewels?'”

And this teenage crew LOVED it?

After all, what do you need more than anything to race a klunker—helmetless, in blue jeans and a t-shirt—down steep, gnarly NorCal terrain like Mount Tam?

You need balls, baby.

That’s my story and I’m sticking to it.