BTW, lots of suspension components existed for bicycles prior to the mountain bike. When the safety bicycle was first introduced, it was ridden for transportation on bumpy, rocky, dirt roads. To make them more comfortable, suspension components like forks, seat posts, stems, and saddles were invented. With the introduction of the pneumatic tire, most of these suspension components disappeared, only to be re-invented for the modern mountain bikes. Cool, huh? I learned that at UBI.