Joe Breeze (born 1953) is a bicycle designer and bicycling advocate. He was an early pioneer in the development of modern mountain bicycles, and is widely considered to be one of its inventors, along with other pioneers, including Tom Ritchey, Charlie Kelly, Charlie Cunningham, and Gary Fisher. Breeze is credited as having built the first special purpose mountain bike frames - the Breezer Series I. Nine of these original, purpose-built bicycles were made. Between 1980 and 1981, Breeze built 25 Series II frames, which had a more familiar diamond frame. Around 1983, Breeze built 60 Series III frames.
He attended Tamalpais High School in Mill Valley, California, at the foot of Mount Tamalpais.
He was inducted into the Mountain Bike Hall of Fame in 1988. While he continued to develop and refine the mountain bike into the latter 1990s, his passion was to see more everyday people on bicycles, not just the athletic and outdoor enthusiasts.
Today he continues to be a vocal advocate of cycling working with government agencies to make streets more bicycle-friendly as well as with grass-roots organizations to promote the bicycle as a practical mode of transportation. His current line of bicycles encourages bicycle commuting, integrating modern and efficient bicycle technology (including folding bicycles) with fenders, racks, and lights found on traditional European town bikes. He was profiled in the 2007 documentary film Klunkerz: A Film About Mountain Bikes.
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