Back in the day, it was all so simple. To unobservant eyes, mountain bikes all looked the same. Two wheels, rigid frame. To modern eyes, sure they had amusingly croth endangering top tubes, way-too-narrow bars, tiller-like stems. But essentially there was one design, and it was used for everything.
Everything? Well, if you rode and raced in the 80s and early 90s, it would have to be. The same bike you’d ride trails on every day (if you were lucky) would be same bike you’d race at the weekend. And the race might include a cross-country component, a downhill component and a trials component. And maybe in the summer you’d take the same bike over to the continent, or Wales, or Scotland, to ride up and down some real mountains (chairlifts? Pah!). One bike. And it would do everything. A bike to conquer mountains. A Real Mountain mountain bike.