Team Major Taylor competes every year in what is known as the Men's Little 500. This team is not only made up of Blacks, but people of all races. The Little 500 happens every year in Indianapolis where Major Taylor is a native son.

Courtney Bishop, who is interviewed in the above video raced for Team Major Taylor in 1992. I just want to get a shout out to all of the riders who have ridden in races and competition all over the country to keep Marshall Major Taylor's legacy alive. Keep on keeping on folks and with much prayer, every one of you who ride in the name of America's greatest forgotten sports hero, will sit in the saddle of a Track and Road Bike bearing his name!

 Edit Post

I came across this video that was being promoted on a popular video upload site the other day. I am IN LOVE with this guys style of bicycle design and his creations! I have told you all in the past that I am not a fan of Chopper Style Bicycles as they all pretty much look alike to me...You know, the small tire in front ape hanger handle bars etc.

This company, Rocket Boom uses those components, but this fabricator has a style all his own. What is beautiful about this style of design is he uses all available things in New York City to assist with his design process. Subway bars are an aide for him on bending tubing and he pretty much does whatever he has to do to realize his vision for each design. He says in the video that he keeps hurting his back and has to take shots, which is a little extreme in my opinion but even in this he does what he has to so that he can live his dream!

I still do not like Chopper Style Bicycles, but I LOVE this guys creation and the icing on the cake was he referred to his designs as art even making reference that the only limitation someone who paints has is the size of the canvas they are using. Rocket Boom is on some 'Other Level' stuff and as I close this post, I will also point out that his greatest strength in design is what I told you all over a year ago, he is not an industry insider and thus has a mind that is free to do what HE WANTS TO DO! Folks, go back through all of my posts and you will not hear me make this statement about any designer I have come across except this guy..."He gets it!" Keep on keeping on Rocket Boom as it concerns putting down the funk...

 Edit Post

With the next few posts, I am going to wax philosophical on the very real issue of Americans losing jobs to foreign countries and make a case for the fact that when we lose jobs, we also lose our edge on bicycle innovation. To clarify, many of you may believe that when I say the word innovation, I mean something mechanically different than what came before. That is a valid argument. However, innovation, to me, can mean a different type of paint job, structural configuration, new rim styles, or just something that produces an emotional response that wasn't present before. I have commented on several occasions about my belief that the brand 'Next', produced by Pacific Cycles and sold at Wal-Mart are uninspiring, cheap and basically a piece of junk. I still hold that opinion. Even those bicycles can be reworked to a point that they do produce an emotional response and a need to own by the buying public.

Before I go any further note: I AM NOT SAYING THESE BIKES ARE THE FUNK!

I have posted several pictures that I came across during the research phase of my project for your review. I can't honestly say that they made me 'Freak Out' but they are very nice and different type of designs. The mountain bike in the top right hand corner has a very eye catching paint job, loud attention getting tires and the seat ties in nicely with the over all color scheme. The Design directly below this paragraph is sure to get the attention of any browser looking for something that is different and eye catching. The description says it is a Mountain Bike and my initial thought was "This doesn't look like a Mountain Bike". After further consideration I recanted my statement and thought "Who am I to say what a Mountain Bike should look like." Yes, me! Now if I am on the search for funk and innovation and I thought like that, what are people who design bikes and are in the business thinking?


Anyone can tell a company's overall thought process by the products they produce. A company's culture is determined by those in charge. 4 of the last 5 designs I have seen that emotionally move me have been produced by foreign companies. More about this in my next posting. Back to the title of this post. With the loss of jobs, comes the loss of inspiring thought to produce innovative products in any particular field. The bicycle industry was HUGE in this country during the hey-day of American Cycle Racing in the late 19th century. Bicycle factories where popping up all over the East Coast and HOOOTTT products soon followed. Innovations such as the 'Chain less Bicycle' which was developed specifically for Marshall 'Major' Taylor to smash all velodrome speed records came along.

We went from the old school 'High Wheel' Bicycles to what came to be known as 'Safety Bicycles' which survive even to this day. The auto industry came along a few years later and the hey-day of American Bicycle Racing had passed. Racing was still popular in Europe and Australia during these years but the damage was done to the American Bicycle scene. I do not know if we can get back there and take over the bicycle innovation business, but what I do know is that the American bicycle design crowd (myself included) should really take a hard look at what we are doing and how we are doing it.




Whoever you are, email me and let's get a dialogue going on what we can do to bring the funk back into the marketplace. Sit back and enjoy these CHINESE designs for now. I will post again soon and continue this dialogue. My next post will be a stunner to most of you. It deals with the obesity in this country and unfortunately with the fact that we have become and indoor culture and how this has affected our ability to innovate with bicycles.

 Edit Post