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WOW! I had an interesting comment from a reader concerning my Gary-Fisher-Trek post... which I feel compelled to respond to... A reader seemed...well..Upset and basically said I post UNEDUCATED comments...The comment was (and the reader didn't post their web address or email)...The comment was;

"If you knew anything about the bicycle industry, you would know by now, that Trek and Gary Fisher are the same company. So many of your posts are nothing more than uneducated opinions. What does any of these uneducated opinions have to do with Marshall Taylor?

What would Marshall Taylor think about you trying to represent him?"

The reader obviously didn't read the post in total because I DID SAY these are the same companies. Trek acquired Gary Fisher! The point of THAT POST was to pose the question, WHY would a company who owns both brands, make competing products that look almost the same and one (Gary Fisher), obviously superior to the other (Trek).

I have read too many other blogs and blog comments over the years to count and the one thing I noticed is that there are some folks (like me) who have some very strong opinions. The strange thing is (while reading comments), I only remember reading a few blogs containing comments of disagreement. This means either the Blog Owner shares the opinions (without any variations within those opinions) with all of their readers, OR the blog owners don't approve those comments for posting or delete the comments that don't agree with the opinion of the Blog Owner.

I, your fearless blogger will do no such thing (not approve or delete dissenting opinions)because what makes MY COUNTRY and the country we live in so great is we are free to express our opinions without fear of syndication or arrest.

Also...the commenter said "If you knew anything about the bicycle industry", Well, this is true, I don't know JACK about the industry! Why should I know anything about the industry? My friend, that is THE WHOLE POINT OF THIS BLOG! To give an IGNORANT OUTSIDERS view of an industry that has so thoroughly uninspired the Urban Areas in this country, that bicycle industry products mean NOTHING to youth anymore.

What would Marshall Taylor think of how I am representing him? From being one of the foremost expert in the world on Marshall Major Taylor, My company is set to REPRESENT HIM in a way that no one in the 133 years since his birth has. How will we do that? Just stay tuned!

Anonymous Commenter, I will go even further than your comments concerning my opinions being 'Uneducated'. As the bicycle industry is concerned, I am "Unlearned AND Ignorant" and if being uneducated, unlearned and ignorant means my mind is free too, very shortly, bring the world the HOOTTTESST Rec Bikes on the planet, I accept your judgment and statement that I am uneducated.

It is my hope that you return to read this blog because soon, my company will roll out something that I guarantee you will love. Until that time though Anonymous, I will continue to post MY OPINIONS. Men of vision, like myself, are often ridiculed by those who have accepted the OPINIONS of others as EDUCATION that somehow (they believe) give them an edge over others. It is ALWAYS such people who end up drawing their paychecks from the very people whom they are more educated than :)

As I have in the past told others, I now tell you...Listen to the video and please accept "It's my party (blog) and I will cry if I want to."

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Marshall Major Taylor has begun to creep into the public eye with the unveiling of a Statue made in his likeness that now stands outside of the Worcester, MA. library. Nicknamed the Worcester Whirlwind, Taylor was much loved by his adopted hometown where he moved to with Louis 'Birdie' Munger, his mentor, in the late 1800s. To think that he did this in the late 1800s when African-Americans couldn't even drink out of the same fountain as whites makes this athlete's story even more incredible!

On another video interview, his Great-Great grand-daughter and Grandson said something that was almost Prophetic; "No one really knows him now but I hope Major Taylor is a household name in my life-time!" Fear not young ones, soon, your relative will get HIS DUE and in a way that every household in this country will scream the name "Major Taylor!"

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I came across this bicycle while conducting some VERY LIGHT bicycle viewing. I am posting this not because I like the design or dislike the design, but to tell yall that this bike retails for...umm...$4,000! Oh my, Oh my...Hermes Bicycles were introduced into the market place in the 1980s and is a Dutch Bicycle Company that SAYS they like to push the envelope of stylish bicycle design.

WOW! I am getting a little wound up because if the pictured design is PUSHING the envelope, my brand soon to launch, Iron RIDERZ is going to Rip, chew, burn, smash and OBLITERATE that same envelope. Happy days are here again folks.

Below Article courteyt of www.tuvie.com

Hermes bicycle, with its stylish shape and features, will allow the users to show off their flair and elegance even during the early morning stroll. Hermes bicycles were introduced in the market during 1980s and recently boomed the market with their new idea of wrapping a stainless steel bicycle developed by the Dutch brand Batavus with leather. Hermes decorated the frame, seats and handles of this bicycle by enfolding with Taurillon Clémence, which is an extremely supple grained leather in a pumpkin and zesty Havana shade while keeping its original black finish intact. Spare accessories are not available of this bicycle yet, but can be developed by special workshop upon request. The Hermes bicycle retails at $4,000.

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My, oh my... I recently received some comments about a few posts that I wrote over a year ago. The title of the post is ‘Slammin Cadillac Doors’. The comment said that they didn’t understand why I was so outraged by the way the manufacturer of the Cadillac Brand of bicycles was disrespecting the Cadillac brand. This particular manufacturer owns the license to produce these bicycles and if I remember right, this manufacturer’s core discipline isn’t even bicycles, BUT TOYS! Now, I am not saying that a toy manufacturer shouldn’t produce bicycles because truth be told, the Cadillac Bicycles aren’t any better or worse than the rest of the Cruisers I have seen out there. I will not rehash that post because I said what I said and I do believe when anyone repeats themselves for the sake of proving their argument. What they are really saying is they do not respect other’s right to disagree with them. Whether you repeat something 2 times or 10 times, a person has the right to disagree with your point of view. You can’t force anyone to accept your point of view, just press your case and leave it alone!

The title of this post, “I feel really bad for you… I really do” specifically addresses one of my readers who wrote me and said “I don’t see what the issue is, it is just a bike!” Writer, I do respect your right to believe that I bicycle is just a bicycle. But one thing I know about you is that you have definitely forgotten what a bicycle meant to you as a child. Bicycles are something deeply personal to children who enjoy riding them and many adults who have never lost their love for bicycling! Close your eyes and remember the days you spent with your friends from the old neighborhood or school riding around, racing, getting into trouble, polishing your bicycle, getting mad when someone knocked it over, or the devastation you felt IF your bicycle was stolen. This may not be as true today because I do believe bicycles aren’t as important to youngsters today as they seem to have become more of an indoor crowd. This is a direct result of the advent and popularity of Home Video Gaming Systems, Home Computers, Cell Phones (texting), etc. While bicycle riding isn’t near as important to me as it once was, what is important to me is that those who still enjoy riding are provided with the choice between what is out there now, or something their speaks more to their lifestyles.My particular consumer happens to be from the inner-city. But there are other crowds like the Fixed Gear crowd, beach cruiser crowd, Road Bike crowd, BMX-Dirt Bike-Skater crowd and many others. I will not ask you to retract or take back your statement, but I will ask you to just take a few minutes, get somewhere where you are able to be alone, close your eyes and remember the old days in the place where you were a child-teen. You must have had friends, no? IF any of that time was spent riding bicycles together, laughing and clowning, understand that to many of us although no longer children, hold onto those memories and thereby (unlike you) have never forgotten what it was once like to be free, without a care in the world, and guess what? Our bicycles had a lot to do with that…Remember….just try and remember.

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Whenever you think of the word NUVINCI (name of the design posted), the only thing that should come to mind is the title of this post.............MVP! MVP! MVP!This is a design by Ellsworth...I am sorry if I seem to be stuttering, but DAAAAANNNGGGG! Mr. S.... (You know who you are..a brotha like me ain't gonna put you out there on Front Street)who emailed me and said nobody would buy this because it was an Ellsworth....Stop Hatin' the player and hate the game man! I want to challenge you to send me any of your designs from the last 20 years that are HOOOTTTTEEEER than this. OK, that's not fair to Mr S because there are very few people on the planet who can get to this level. Mr S... It doesn't have to be exactly your design, even if you collaborated on one hotter than this..... I will post them, apologize to you on my blog, take THIS FUNK BALL DOWN, and shout out the same thing about your design.............. MVP! MVP! MVP!

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Sorry I have been away for a minute but I have spent my spare time over the last month re sketching some of my designs and I can tell you all that my latest 4 creations: 'Smoove', 'Air Force 1', 'Funk Ball', and 'Mannish' are...well... in all modesty FREAK SHOWS! I am up to 102 designs and it seems every time I try and relax my mind for a minute, something off of 'Planet Funk' pops into my head and I have to preserve the concept by sketching it- yall know how I do it. Here is a free concept for you designers that read my blog. What would a girl's or ladies bicycle look like that is a hybrid chopper-cruiser style design that features a 'Louis Vouitton' paint job, goldish brown slick fur style seat, jewel encrusted rims (imitation of course) stripped gold and brown tires, with hoop earring L.V. logo on the top tubing (centered)? Take it a little further and put a gold chain guard with Louis Vouitton written on it with small diamonds (imitation of course). Push the envelope a little further and.....I will leave yall alone for now on that.


I'll bet yall don't know what I am talking about do you? Nor can you even comprehend the Million $$$ idea I just gave you. As I have always said "There isn't room for everybody to live on planet FUNK." Anyhow, I ran across the above design by a company called 'Mirachi'. After, again, looking at more cruisers than I can count, this one jumped out at me as having potential. The title of this post 'Bike UP! Handle Bars down' encapsulates my feelings about this design. I must say that I love the frame and the rims (although I think 1\3 more spokes would really POP), I am of the opinion that the designers lost the funk when it came down to the Handle bars. This style handle of handle bars have been repeated by 100's of other bicycle companies over the last 40 years. I really like the different sizes front and reaer tire also but I would've made the rear tire bigger and adjusted the size of the front tires a bit larger also.

The color on this frame POPS also and would make anyone notice it, however, tons more thought should have went in to the handle bar design. Many of you might not realize this but it the very small things (not that handles bars are a small thing) that can get a consumer excited or turn them off and make them say 'I really don't need that'. What would've been hot on this is handle bars that only went up 3 inches above the neck and sloped down, back and up towards the rider. Kind of hard to visualize what I am saying, but I just hate to see such a hot frame go to waste due to lack of creative follow through throughout the whole design. Above is another picture of a Bicycle offered by 3G Bikes and my friend Gary Silva. The design is hot, all the way down to the rims, but again, those straight up style-chopper handle bars just don't look good with the design as a whole.

I can tell you all without hesitation that had it not been for the handle bars on this 3G creation, this definitely would have made my Top 5 Designs of all-time! The design is perfect in almost every other way- and I LOVE THOSE BLADES! I have developed a style of handle bars for these types of bikes called 'Doggy Ears' (Puppy Ears for the ladies) that I know will change the whole look of such designs and ad that urban flair I have so often spoke about. I actually set them down on my design called Mannish and they really POP!

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As I continue my Global Search for ‘Pure Funk’ in bicycle design. I again marvel at how 4 of the hottest 5 designs I have seen lately are from foreign bicycle manufacturers. I am sure there is some simple, yet technical reason why European countries seem to be leading the way in innovative and funked out design. My opinion on this issue is simple, after researching American bicycle companies versus their European counter parts; I am of the opinion that bicycles are simply more important to their way of life than it is to ours. I read a statistic the other day that said the European bicycle market is growing more rapidly than any other in the world! NBC
Nightly News reported several months back that 1 out of 3 Americans are considered obese while 1 out of 4 of every child in this country is considered overweight. It isn’t hard to guess at the reason for this, ‘Lack of Exercise and healthy diets!’

It is a rare sight in my neighborhood to look out of the window and see a child or youth riding a bicycle or to see anyone (including me) running or walking to get exercise. Innovation tends to rapidly slow down or even halt as something, such as bicycle riding becomes less important to our society as a whole. When something is very important and economically lucrative, the opposite effect happens. To prove this point, there is no end to technological advancement in computer software, online start up companies, video games and systems and even automobile technology. These are all areas where American Business is strong worldwide. The flip side of that is all of these things take very little physical activity.

You can pretty much sit on your butt and do all of these things and you would have a very difficult time burning any calories doing any of them! And you wonder why we are a nation of fat bodies. I said all of that to say this, we are losing ground as a nation within bicycle industry innovation and funk because we are lazy. The companies who do have the lock on distribution to the stores which 73% of people in this nation buy bicycles, at Big Box Retailers are producing uninspiring designs which produce no emotional response other than “Oh, that is nice, I GUESS I can buy that.”

The companies that do have a little funk can’t possibly hope to get their designs in these retailers because they don’t have the purchasing power that the big companies do so they exist on the fringe. Each of them are so busy fighting for the scraps left by the likes of Huffy and Pacific Cycles that they never think about merging their companies to obtain the purchasing power needed to compete with the big boys! Unfortunately, the biggest losers in this drama are you and I, the bicycle buying public, and worst of all, the spirit in the marketplace that made this country great. We as a country can grab the innovation and funk back from Europe, but not until the emotion is put back into bicycle design.

Above Photo: Courtesy of Mzarek

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The answer is yes. This question was asked of me by someone but I will also 'Hurry to add' that I am very careful about what I look at and how long I look at them. The reason is simply. Often times when we look at something to long or with too much interest, those images, words, etc are imprinted on what some people call our subconscious mind. These images (bikes) or words will creep out in ways we may not recognize. In our speech, writings, design, etc. Before you know it, you think you did something that was your own and creative when the truth is that because you viewed images, words, etc for too long, you are actually plagiarizing somebody else's work. This may or may not be done on purpose, but the result will be the same!

My inspiration for design never comes from other designers, but my inspiration comes form such places as the fashion industry, car care accessories, etc. Strangely enough, sometimes it comes from seeing the simplest things. For instance, I saw someone wearing one of those huge shiny, silver Rodeo belt buckles one time. You know the ones cowboys wear around and some of them seem as large a a saucer? I saw how one looked and I thought to myself "That would make a hot bicycle design!" A few days later, a design of mine I call 'Beasty' was born. Granted, those things are steel and unrealistic for what I am doing, but the inspiration was there. Another time I heard some one's name that I really liked, 'Emraphael', a few days later, a design baring the same name was born. My point is that design is all around, slow down and notice.

I read once that there was some design copying going on with a few of the major bicycle manufacturers. The way they go about it is they all pretty much get their bicycles manufactured in some of the same factories in China. If you don't know, China is the hugest copyright offender in the world. Bootlegging products is a way of life in China. Everything from music to fashion to movies, etc. I struggled to understand why anyone would really care about what the competition is doing, but what I remembered is that the reason they are concerned is because 'It is the competition!' What an epiphany right? Nevertheless, sure I am a nobody as design goes right now, sure the odds are stacked against my designs ever making it to market, but where most would see that as a position of weakness, it is actually a position of strength!

When this thing does go down, no one will ever see it coming. To wrap this all up, I do not spend much time looking at other designs because the truth is that I do not care what they are doing! What they are doing is irrelevant to me and small designers all over the world. Please do not think I am arrogant, because that isn't who I am (anymore anyway). I just realize that there is a higher plain of bicycle design that can be achieved. Not these futuristic bicycle concepts that win awards at the Taiwanese design competition every year but aren't relevant or practical for mass production (Although there was a design called Wild Buffalo that is HOOOTTTT!) A higher plain doesn't always mean more sophisticated, or more gadgets on the bike, etc. A higher plain in my mind simply means 'More relevant to the culture to which it is targeted'.

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