After some angry emails concerning my feelings on Low Rider Bikes, I have to respond. But first, click on the above video and enjoy. In my post I did recognize that Low Rider Bikes was a niche market and some readers to objection to my opinions on these bikes. To them I say "Hey...get mad if you want to but I still think they are OVERDONE!" That is my opinion and I am sticking to it! I love elegance mixed with simplicity in bicycle design.
Another reader thinks I have a problem with Mexicans. NO I DON'T! I am a black man, born and raised in the cornfields of Iowa, stopped by police because of that, etc. I just don't like Low Rider Bikes, I just think, as I have said in many posts, they are like a steak that stays on the grill too long, OVERDONE.
You guys and gals can keep giving angry responses by I would encourage you to go to the bottom of this blog and sift through pasts posts. I have said the same things about 'Futuristic' designs, I have said the same things abut expensive performance bikes with too many gadgets on them, and a few more. That is the beauty of a blog folks, one thing they are for is posting your opinion, I gave mine....AND THAT IS THAT!
Oh yeh...that sound system thing...I put one (powered by a motorcycle battery) with a tape deck on my design back in 1985!
WOW! I ran across these bicycles in my search for great bicycle design. The company is called The Little Bike Company and they are based in the U.K. I must say that these bikes for small kids are HOOOTTTTT! 
I like these designs for a number of reasons, but the main reason is their SIMPLICITY! I have been telling yall since the beginning that simplicity is where it is at. Gadgets and all that other stuff really takes away from the greatness of the base design.
There is an emerging market that I spoke about some time back in 'Track Bicycles'. These things hearken back to the days of old when the Safety Bicycle was a new thing and the biggest sports stars, like Major Taylor, were men on bicycles! Track Bicycles are some of the most elegant machinery you will ever see folks.
More about that in another post! In other Marshall Taylor News, I am almost done with the design of my new website which will be found, when launched, at www.lemajor.com. Le Major, is French for The Major! This website will be a monster yall! Talk at ya soon.
Things that make you go HMMMM? Check the video out and then the bike designs!
Hubless what?
People, IF you are SO IN LOVE with cycling that you buy Bicycle Furniture..2 words "GET SOME HELP!"
WOW!(And I don't say that in a complimentary way!)
And you thought the Old High Wheels from the late 1800s were DANGEROUS!
As has become my custom here on this bike blog, I will answers some questions that my readers have posed to me. Please understand that I am not trying to be rude or arrogant, but why ask me a question if you do not want the answers people? HERE WE GO;
Questions
"If you want your blog to be successful, why aren't you posting everyday?"
Answer
What is your definition of success and are you comparing this to other blogs? Listen Matt, my definition of success is doing what I want to do on my blog the way I want to do it. If you even do a light search across the 3 big search engines, you will find that all of those other bloggers are posting the same stuff and their is VERY LITTLE originality! Outside of Urban Velo and Bicycle Design Blogspot, everyone else is, well, the same! I am not trying to be different for the sake of being different, but because I am myself, an original in my own right, my blog has to reflect who I am.
Question:
"You seem to be all over the place with your posts, I thought this was a bike design blog?"
Answer:
I have alot of differing interests! But I encourage you to at least go to the bottom of my blog, read past title posts and I know you will find a consistent theme.
Question:
"Why don't you have a widget for readers to subscribe?"
Answer:
I want people to come back to my blog because they want to! I am not going to send someone my posts if they aren't in the mood to read them. Don't you get enough junk in your inbox? Besides, the truth is people put this widget on their sites to show off how many subscribers they have and it has no practical purpose other than that! Yes you could argue it is important for traffic, yes you can argue it shows you have a following...but I am only interested in people who have the love and conviction to visit my site because they like what I do, not because they came across it, subscribed and have to be reminded to read!
Question:
"What do you have against products that are already on the market?"
Answer:
NOTHING! As a recreational bicycle designer myself, I am just sad that the folks who ride these bikes are settling for what is there instead of demanding something better. If folks didn't demand WHAT THEY BELIEVE to be better during this last Presidentional Election, would Obama have won the presidency?
Question:
"I like the bikes I saw at Target and think they are nice!"
Answer:
Joel my friend, you do because you just don't know any better! Poor guy.
Question:
"You suck!"
Answer:
Indeed I may, indeed I may! But I am going to suck SOOO BAADDD that you are going to run out to the store in the future, see my FUNK and give me your $$$- Count on it!
Monkey Lectric www.monkeylectric.com is doing big things for bikes people. I posted a few times about a company called Scaper bikes www.scraperbikes.net a few times and if you go 2 posts down from this one you can view a youtube video that was a HUGE viral marketing success from Scraper. Scraper Bikes and Monkey Lectric are 2 opposite ends of the creative spectrum. Why do I say that? Scraper Bikes is:
- Very low tech yet SUPER CREATIVE! An example of what ANYONE can do if they just FREE THEIR MINDS and use what is available to them instead of believing they have to have alot of money to launch something big.
- Monkey Lectric id VERY HIGH TECH and also SUPER CREATIVE. By the technology they are demonstrating, it had to cost A MINT to develop this concept and I am sure they are wise enough to apply for at least a Design Patent. Bicycle lights aren't a new concept by any stretch of the imagination but what they are doing is FREAKISH and original.
- Scraper is something for the average person who wants to personalize their rims while Monkey is something you got to spend some CREAM on.
- 'Scraper Bikes by Day' 'Monkey Lectric by night'.
All in all, their are huge opportunities for bike companies who are original and have a love for what they are doing. Major Taylor was a bicycle racer and VERY ORIGINAL in his day! Enjoy!
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