I pedaled after him down a potholed street, trying to adapt my street-riding skills to the mountain bike he had lent me. My purple bike was a prototype, while his red bike was an ordinary production model. But he was a far better rider, so he was able to jump up onto a rutted sidewalk while I found a smoother path to the top.

Fisher's latest, the $3,600 RS-1, features perhaps the most complex dual-suspension system available. Designed by motorcycle racing legend Mert Lawwill, the aluminum-frame bike has an articulated-arm rear suspension inspired by race-car technology. Though the 750 bikes that Fisher will build in 1992 use a motorcycle-style Rock Shox Mag 20 telescopic fork, the prototype also features Lawwill's multilink front suspension, which gives four inches of wheel travel and resists diving when the front brakes are applied.

Chicago-based Schwinn has entered the suspension-bike market in a small way, hiring motorcycle designer Erik Buell to help develop Schwinn Active Suspension System, or SASS, bicycles. The company is making just 200 of these chrome-moly frames this year in its Paramount custom bike shop in Waterford, Wis. The two-toned frame, equipped with Rock Shox Mag 20 forks and a Magura hydraulic rear brake, retails for $1,795; a complete bike outfitted with appropriate wheels, sprockets, pedals, shifters and other components will cost about $2,500.