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Yall know I love me some Scraper Bikes! I just checked their site and it seems they had...A CONVENTION OF SORTS! I tell you what, these cats, the Trunk BOIZ love what they re doing and they found a way, despite their circumstances to do something BIG! I admire their grit and their hustle. What is more I am hoping the CEO Da Champ is entering into some big time promotion relationships with other companies! Champ, you and your team GET IT! Their are companies out their spending MILLIONS per year advertising and can't (although they desire to)reach that niche you have in your back pocket MAN!
To my readers, I am going to share something with you that that Da Champ, Trunk BOIZ, and I understand that you may not;
1) Pushing your product in Urban Areas requires you to SPEND LESS big time advertising dollars and 'Get Hood' with it like Scraper does it! Aka- a more 'Viral' approach!
2) To my readers in the industry, IF you really wanna penetrate the Urban Bicycle Market, STOP BUILDING BIKES THAT ARE UGLY! Why do you think Scraper is such a popular movement? It is because they took THE JUNK you built, and turned it in to something kids all over the country are doing. They are in Cali and I am in Denver and their is a youngster up the street 'Cruisin on his Scraper Bike!'
3) Partner with Street Promoters, like Da Champ, Trunk Boiz, and Scraper for your 'Viral Marketing'. Not just to go promote, but to consult on your designs. They know what Urban Youth will like and what they won't.
4) This will sound contrary to everything you think you know, however, celebrities aren't the most effective way to promote your products. The most effective way is to design hot products, consistently, that will sell regardless of endorsements. Take some of that endorsement $$$ and stick it into infastructure.
These are just a few ideas, but ideas are the things that GREAT COMPANIES nd GREAT PRODUCTS are made of, no?
The word Provolution is a word that was sometimes used in black churches. It simply means 'Taking the best of the past and bringing it forward into the present and carrying that ideal into the future.' Many other industries do this when designing product. Yet, the bicycle industry seems not to be in step with this. The are many challenges when designing bicyles, but going forward into the future, they are going to have to step up to the plate. There are bicycle design competitions all over the world. I recently saw the 2nd place winner in the Tiawanese design competition held every year. The bike was called 'Wild Buffalo'. This design was HOOTTT! That being said, in the market right now, it was totally impractical for mass production.
If you are wondering where I am going with this, the term Provolution applies. Bringing the best of the past forward into the present requires not that some designer comes up with a new hand brake system, or for design, those things are basic and there are only so many variations of them you can use. The good news is that when one focuses on the young adult, kid and junior bicycle market, kids don't care about innovative design, they care about whether they like their bikes and can they have fun on them! I challenge any of you with children to relay a story to me when you took your child to get a bike and they said "Well mom and\or dad, I really don't like the braking system on this bike and the rear wheel base is 2 inches to short for my taste." I raised two kids and I never heard any of that from them. It is about asthetics to them!
When they look at the bike, will they get excited, or will they say "I wish you would have bought me a video game instead." My next post will deal with the biggest enemy of the bicycle industry today (Video Games and gaming systems). Let those of us who love bicycles and like to design them keep the thought of 'Provolution' on our minds and I promise, the industry will sit up and take notice!
You have got to be kidding me! Check out this trick rider named Aaron Frost. His name is Aaron Frost and he and the man you only know as 'The Fabricator of Funk' used to ride together back in the day. I posted about the 3 trick practices so far;
1) Ghostin- Gained popularity in the Bay Area and basically consists of a person running along side their Adult Trike while it peddles itself...BORING!
2) Drifting- This practice is hot and consists of a number of tricks like prolonged skidding when coming down a hill, and peddling faster than the tire can get it's grip which produces a cool looking-controlled skid! HOOOOTTTTT!
3) Aaron Frost- I don't know what he is doing but for the first time in a LOONNNGGG time people I will give Aaron my "I saw the FUNK, and it was good" Award which is the top honor given to anyone on this site.
These are the types of niche and bicycle sub-cultures which we at Major Taylor will latch onto and bring into the main stream. To all of you bicycle tricj riders and enthusiasts, keep on doin your thang, I am coming to get ya and make you STARS!
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!
Arab Bicycle Drift
WOW! I haven't seen anything this cool done on a bicycle since my cousin road a willy on his bike for 4 blocks! And to you bay area "Ghosters", this takes much more effort and imagination that running along side your adult tricycles while they pedal with no one on them!
Japanese Bicycle Drift
This video doesn't really say where this practice originated, but check out the INTERNATIONAL NATURE of this thing! Anyhow, as I go forward with the Marshall Taylor Project, these kinds of Urban Bike culture phenoms, wherever they originate, that will be included within the vision.
Latavian Bicycle Drift
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.
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