AMP

AMP was started by Horst Leitner - a name virtually every full suspension bike rider should know. Leitner's patented rear suspension - the Horst Link - was purchased by Specialized, and is now featured on Specialized and others like Norco and Intense.

AMP's were originally praised for their light weight and smooth, active suspension. Now, Mountain Bike magazine would have us believe they were one of the worst bikes ever.

How did that happen?

[edit] AMP Research now makes truck accessories like power running boards and bed extenders.


B2 - This one is all old-skool. Except for the brakes. And those were my favorite barends, but why do they look weird on this bike?



B5 - The B5 was the pinnacle of AMP's frame evolution. It was the first AMP to break from their strut-type tradition, and feature a four-bar setup. AMP made one of the earliest disc brakes too, a design bought by Rock Shox and promptly dumped after everybody realized how much better hydraulic Hayes, Hopes, Maguras, etc, were.

What I think is funny is that while magazines moaned about the overly heavy freeride trend of 1998, AMP bikes were right there, with more or less the same travel, but light weight, and nobody talked about them.