Hans ‘No Way’ Rey has been on the mountain bike scene from the beginning, and has one of the coolest garages full of kit we’ve ever seen
After some very successful years competing – most notably in trials –
Hans Rey truly made his mark by taking his skills to places that had never seen
mountain biking before. His unique approach appealed to a mainstream audience
and helped him pull in some amazing sponsorship deals. As a result, Hans has had
one of the most exciting careers out there, and has collected some great gear
along the way. We called by to have a rummage in his mountain bike man-rooms.
Here’s a selection of the coolest and most random things we found…
1 Now that’s a
mullet!
Vintage poster, 1987
“Back in 1987, shortly after I first came to America,
Kevin Norton and I received a phone call from Swatch saying they needed two
trials riders for a photoshoot in NYC that very day. Airline tickets from LA to
New York would be ready for us at the airport and we had 30 minutes to pack our
bags.
“This was an iconic Swatch advertisement shoot – I
wore more than 30 Pop Swatches in that photo, clipped to my shirt, socks and
even hair. This was the beginning of a 19-year Swatch sponsorship. Shortly after
this shoot, I started touring America’s shopping malls with skateboard legend
Rodney Mullen to do shows, like the one advertised on this in-store display
poster.”
2 Extreme sports
hero
X Games silver medal, 1995
“The very first X Games was in 1995, and was actually
called the ESPN Extreme Games. It featured three mountain bike events – trials,
slalom and giant slalom. I won a silver medal in the trials and also
participated in the slalom. Every athlete had to wear one of these bibs to
cover up their own sponsors and promote ESPN’s. I was lucky to be one of the
featured athletes and I received a lot of TV time. The mountain bike events were
held at Mount Snow, Vermont, with the rest of the Games in Newport, Rhode
Island.”
3 Scary in side
winds
Tioga Disc Drive, circa 1990
“Tioga disc wheels used to be very special – and
expensive. They were popular with downhillers thanks to John Tomac and Greg Herbold
using them to win races. Back in the days when downhill bikes were still
hardtails these wheels would really soften the ride. I personally liked them,
but I’m still puzzled about how these Kevlar-string laced disc wheels held up
without real spokes. This is a special souvenir from the early days, especially
with the white Porcupine tyre by Onza – a classic in itself!”
4 Getting the
boot
Gold Adidas shoe, 2013
”Last year marked my 20th anniversary with
Adidas as a sponsor. When I arrived at the headquarters in Germany for a visit
I didn’t expect anything, but they made it very special for me. I had an
audience with the top boss, Herbert Hainer, and received a symbolic
gold-painted adventure shoe mounted on a display.”
5 Still famous,
15 years on
Mountain Bike Hall of Fame inductee,
1999
“In 1999 I was inducted into the Mountain Bike Hall of
Fame. It’s just moved to Fairfax, California, where they’ll open a cool museum
this year. If you look closely you can see a few of the rocks, books and weird
masks in the background that I’ve collected from all over the world and are
scattered throughout my house and garden.”
6 Born to hop
Hans’s trials landscape
garden
“Trials is in my blood, I have to admit – it doesn’t
go away with age. Discovering trials riding was an incredible gift for me. Not
only did it lead to an amazing career but it’s given me so much more and taught
me about my limits, self-discipline, focus, concentration, travel and adventure,
and has led to the forging of firm friendships with people all over the world.
This is my private trials course in my front garden in Laguna Beach,
California.”
7 Saved from the
sea!
The Red GT Zaskar, 1996
“The GT Zaskar was kind of synonymous with my first 15
years at GT and my early mountain biking and trials videos. Here’s one of the classic
colour combos from around 1996, with the Spin wheels. I used this very bike on
one of my first real mountain bike adventure trips to Machu Picchu in Peru – as
well as in the Hollywood TV series Pacific Blue, where I played myself and
jumped it into the sea!”
