The celerifere - one of the earliest bike prototypes - had no pedals or steering.
The first contraption that can realistically be said resembles a bicycle was constructed around 1790 by Comte Mede de Sivrac of France. Called a celerifere, it was a wooden scooter-like device with no pedals or steering. A similar model, improved with a steering mechanism attached to the front wheel, was created in 1816 by German Baron Karl von Drais de Sauerbrun. He called it a Draisienne, after himself, though popular parlance also dubbed it the hobby horse.
When using either of these devices, the rider perched on a seat between two wheels similarly sized wheels, and using the feet, propelled the bicycle a bit like a scooter. Drais exhibited his bicycle in Paris in 1818, and while popularly received, its design limited its use to really just flat, well-groomed paths through gardens and parks, which were off-limits to a good portion of the population in those days.
When Pedals Were Added - A Big Improvement
A FEW historians credit the invention of the pedal bicycle to Kirkpatrick MacMillan, a Scottish blacksmith who lived from 1812-1878. One day back in 1839, MacMillan was out watching people riding bikes, which at that time were driven by kicking the ground with your feet. Thrilling, eh? Seemed to him that there must be a better way.
According to later research done by family members, after musing on the matter a bit MacMillan came up with an idea for the first pedal set-up that could more effectively drive the bike. Using his blacksmith tools, he put his idea into place, and voila! bicycling suddenly took a giant leap forward.
Macmillan's contraption had a wood frame and iron-rimmed wooden wheels. The front wheel, which provided limited steering measured 30 inches (760 mm) in diameter, while the back had a 40 inch (1016 mm) wheel and was attached to pedals via connecting rods. In total, Macmillan's bike weighed 57 lb (26 kg). His creation gathered a lot of attention, and Macmillan helped generate additional publicity when he rode the bike 68 miles to visit his brothers in Glasgow. Copies of his invention produced by other firms soon appeared on the market, and Macmillan saw little profit from his innovation.
"SQUADRA is built to exceed the expectations and demands of our customers. Simply put, our mission is to make the best gear and offer the best service. It is time to further our company's personal growth and nurture the development of our own brand," quotes Dan Weatherford, Founder and President.
This company was licensing someone else's brand. Short tutorial on licensing. One company, the licensee, (usually a manufacturer) pays a royalty of say, between 4%-6% to what is called a licensor for the priviledge of selling that particular brandname. For instance, TREK is licensing the name Greg Lemond.(although Lemond can't keep his mouth shut) TREK uses the cycling greats name to sell bikes, Lemond gets a fat check. I tell you what, I saw the deal and alot of it is based on actual bike sales, but Lemond set it up with what is called a 'Minimum Royalty' which says "Even if yu don't sell one bike, you need to give me $180,000 for 10 years!"
Anyway, this company SQUADRA, doesn't want to sell someone else's products anymore, so they threw the lincensor off the boat and decided to go it alone. My only issue is this; why doesn't SQUADRA cut the BS and say what they are really thinking instead of putting out the above quote?! Dan, Mr. President of SQUADRA, your products and customer service aren't gonna be any better than anyone of your competitors and if you think it is, you are only going to frustrate yourself! I am a partner in a company and I know for a fact that it is a good thing to push for great customer service with your employees, but don't think you are fooling the Public with that WEAK press release statement! You could've come up with something a little more original, don't you think?
Let me tell you something else I KNOW you haven't thought of. In the very near future, customer service is going to shift from the 'Front Desk' to the 'Back Office'. All I am encouraging you and your team at Squadra to do is BE YOURSELVES! Take this opportunity as you roll out your own brand, to 'Rollout your own company culture.' There is NOTHING WORSE than something as unoriginal as your press release, I mean, it is right down pathetic. As crazy as this may sound, instead of of saying all of that...well..nothingness...you should have just said "SQUADRA...COMING SOON!" At least this little bit of information as compared to your press release sounds a bit less regurgetated! Or tell the truth;
"SQUADRA has decided that we can not only make better products than Castelli, who was our licensor, but we have taken the last several years, really not given 100% to our Licensor because we have been developing our own brand, picked up and improved on their practices, and will now do what is best for our own company! Why should we keep giving them 4-6% when we can keep it for ourselves and not drag our feet, and give you, OUR FUTURE CUSTOMERS, BETTER PRODUCT."
Hell, at least be real with it. You tell the public what they can expect from you AND you let Castelli know out front "We are going to CRUSH YOU!" You think Castelli doesn't know? Also, how are you going to make 'The Best Gear.' What does that mean? I hope it is manufactured somewhere here in the U.S. baby boy! I have this little old blog, many,many,many readers, no college education to speak of, but one thing I will not be is unoriginal...SQUADRA...these people read my blog, not because it's is a GREAT OR NICE LOOKING website, not because I gave them some 'Line' like you did in your press release, but because I am real! Read some of my posts, check out my language and my flow...All I am asking is, "Now that you are dumping Castelli, who IS SQUADRA?" Communicate this to us, we, your customer want to know.
I also want to save you the effort of saying "Well, you don't know what it is like to launch a company or brand." Sure I do! It is because I do know that I can sit here and write these things. It is because I know the importance of seperating yourself from the pack that I can say these things. It is because I know when you are launching, every word that comes from your mouth Dan can make or break your profitability that I can exhort you to stop the BS!
Mr. President, I understand, even better than your Executive Team,why this time between the break from Castelli and yur launch is SO CRITICAL..You are stepping away from a known quantity and gambling on an unknown brand name, even if it is your own. This isn't merely the next 'Step' for SQUADRA, but it is a 'LEAP' into uncharted territory. A message has to be genuine, not that crap you released to the press. Take a breather and figure out what GENUINE looks like to SQUADRA! Good Luck!
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
Companies such as Chrysler and Pacific Cycles are now openly holding so called 'Spin it your way' and 'What kind of bike would you like to see' suggestions. They want you to email in design suggestions,send them a sketch or even send in a 3-D Model of your hot idea! Now readers correct me if I am wrong, don't those companies and many like them PAY PEOPLE to come up with hot designs?
I guess that is beside the point. I understand the need for these kinds of contests but the point of a contest is that there they are supposed to be for a limited time, they should have a close date, and there should be two winners, the company gets free publicity and the contestant usually gets a valuable prize. The way these two particular contests are set up is they don’t have a close date, I can’t find what the prize is that either company is offering and IF anyone submits a hot design or suggestions for improvement, the only clear winner is Pacific Cycles and Chrysler!
Readers, I speak from experience when I tell you that any designer has to be careful putting their ideas, sketches, etc out there for a company or general public consumption. On this very blog that you are reading, I had a guy who owns a Bicycle Company come across my blog and ‘Steal’ one of the sketches I posted. Not only that he emailed me back the design when it was finished and asked me “What do you think of my design?” Now that was bold!
I said all of that to say this, a designer has to understand the value of their ideas and designs. Instead of just giving your ideas to someone who undoubtedly will make MILLIONS off your ideas if they are hot enough, package and sell them yourself!
Even if you don’t package them and sell them because you don’t have the financial wherewithal to do so, your expertise and experience makes you a consultant. Why should you help companies like these improve their products for free when all they will do is turn around and charge you to buy a product that you designed? Remember this, if they haven’t thought of it and you have, IT HAS VALUE! An example of this is the mail service that most of you use called ‘Hotmail’. This service started off as a guy wanting an easy way to electronically communicate with his colleagues. It grew a little and at that time in the 1990’s, the software giant Microsoft didn’t have such a service. The entrepreneur sold Hotmail to Microsoft for a reported amount of $400 Million dollars! That guy didn’t give his idea away for free or submit it as part of a contest. His idea had value and so does yours!
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