I recently was meditating on on strategy to push my bicycle designs to the next level, which is producing digital renderings. I remembered an email exchange I had with Richard Schwinn some months back. Richard Schwinn is the great-grandson of Ignaz Schwinn (Founder of the Schwinn Bicycle Brand), with business partner Marc Muller, purchased the Schwinn Paramount plant in Waterford, Wisconsin, where since 1980 the exclusive Paramounts were hand built. They founded Waterford Precision Cycles, which is still in operation today. As of 2003 they employed 18 workers building custom, ultra-lightweight bicycles.

I emailed him to see if he was at all interested in building my top ten design proto types. He wrote back and asked me such questions as "What is my background in the industry", you know, almost job interview questions that one expects. Anyway, I pitched my concept to him in such a way that at the end of our emailing back and forth he said "Brian, I love your imagery." He also said "I agree that the minority consumer has been disrespected with bicycle design." In an earlier post I presented my case to you all using the fashion industry as an example. There has been a huge exodus of the minority consumer from the entrenched fashion brands in the last 20 years (Levis, Jordache, DKNY, Eddie Bauer and others) to more urban lines of clothing such as PHAT FARM, Roc-A-Wear, Sean John and other clothing brands founded my minority entrepreneurs. Why? Because the entrenched brands do not produce, and can't design (or are unwilling to) clothing lines that appeal to the minority consumer!

What I told Mr. Schwinn he agreed, with "The time is coming when someone is going to be able to market an Urban Bicycle Line, incorporate that into our lifestyle, produce funked out designs (not low-riders, etc) that will freak out the 100.2 million people of color in this country. This will cause them to open up their purses and wallets and a cultural phenomenon will be born. I will hearken back to the title of this post "Am I blind to the facts, ABSOLUTELY!" The junior and youth bicycle market is vicious (Mr. Schwinn shared that with me), the odds are stacked against this becoming a reality, but hey, when are the odds not stacked against people with vision?

 Edit Post