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!

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I have been away and not blogging for a few months and since there seems to be some concern about that, I will answer some questions;

Question "Are you still going to blog?"

Answer: I will always blog, but my project is at a place where over the last 6 months or so, I have been busy putting my business models, plans, designs, website, strategic plan, etc together. My new blog will be hosted on the new website...it will be BIGGER AND BADDER!

Question: "Do you still make bikes I want to see one."

Answer: I have been building momentum for the brand over the last 2.5 years +. This has taken place by groundswell. Groundswell is GREAT, but the time comes when the project has to be funded! That time has been in the last few months. While launching another company www.bannekerwathes.com and www.bannekerjewelry.com, I had the chance to deal with MANY INVESTORS. That is one thing (at this stage anyway) that I REFUSE TO DO! Not because I don't like asking for $$$, it is actually quiet pleasurable and fun. However, I will not (as with Banneker) have investors controlling the direction of my company.

To wrap this up...I have had my first design, which is a modification which is called 'Illuminati'. The plan is to build one bike at a time HANDMADE!

Question: "What is the name of your company?"

Answer: Ummm...Hmmm...You will have to wait on that one and NO it isn't called Major Taylor!!!!! Not that Major Taylor wouldn't be HOT, but it would be a HOT POTATO to deal with!

Question: (More of a statement) "You are all talk!"

Answer: Hey, I will accept that....for now....I promise you when my designs drop, YOU WILL EAT THOSE WORDS! I am literally, the hottest 'Recreational Bicycle Designer' on the planet...This is not me BRAGGING...It is just fact.

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Views: 2,483,069

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?

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As a politician who once got busted doing dirt said, I now say "NO COMMENT."

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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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Felt Racing is obviously doing some BIG things! I tell yall what, I ran across some of there products in the way of beach cruisers and all I can say is the title of this post: Nice...Just flat out NICE! As someone who doesn't give a 'Hoot' about all the little gadgets and accessories on a bicycle and with a focus more on aesthetics, these are some of the cleanest designs that I have ever seen!
As I was viewing these designs, I said to myself "It is a shame designs like these can't or aren't sold in the 'Big Box Retail Stores' where 82% of the inner-city demographic purchase their bicycles." And looking at the MSRP of these bicycles, I do believe if Felt Racing partnered with a company like Pacific Cycles and all the distribution and purchasing power they have (if they haven't already) the prices could be forced down with bulk and these bicycles could be sold for between $150 and $250 in these stores.
I know that I am over simplifying the process but it just nags in my craw that the HOT bikes are in these independent dealer locations (no offense) and the hottest designs, like these never make it to the streets in big numbers because the large manufacturers settle for selling good designs instead of GREAT ONES!

Man yall, Felt Racing I know these designs have been out for a minute, but these designs are partly what I am talking about when I introduced you all to the new term of T.R.U. Bicycle Design! This ain't it, but I sure love the vision here.

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Sorry I have been away for a little wide my dear readers but I have been feverishly trying to finish the edit process of by auto-biographical book called ‘Another Kind of Normal’. I have been working on it for the last 8 years and I have learned so much in the process. Writing a book isn’t like doing a homework assignment where you go home, sit down and bang it out until its’ done. Writing on this level it is a process of reflection, inspiration, and research! Anyway, I came across this chopper styles design for sale in Europe. The company is called Nirve’ and they have some OK designs I must admit. When I 1st saw this design, I thought to myself ‘Ugly Paint-Great Frame!” However, I was intrigued by the shape of the Seat Tube and the way it is bent to coincide with the rear fender. Although it seems harsh, the paint is ugly and it shows what I have believed for a long time, the focus must turn from just putting the ‘Same Old Same Old’ out and get imaginative about this process.

In one of my earlier posts I featured the new generation of Chrysler 300’s and the switch in thought process at Chrysler in this particular instance away from trying to create more gadgets to go in this widely popular design to focus more on aesthetics. I often look to the fashion industry for design inspiration and what I noticed is that fashion is rarely about ‘Function’ but about looks! In understanding the urban mind set a bicycle designer also has to come to the reality that there are many bicycle owners who do care about the gadgets such as shocks and suspensions, off-road mountain biking, road racing, etc. But the average bicycle consumer in urban areas wants “THE LOOK!” Black bicycle designers need to be reminded of this simple fact, your urban riders are seeking, attention! Why do young adults and teenagers with cars ride around with there music so loud?

Since I used to do this I can tell you it sure ain’t so they can better hear their music, it is so they can be noticed! ‘Spinner’ rims on cars are for one thing, to be noticed! You get my point. Bicycle design has to go from focusing so much on functionality and more on getting the rider noticed. What would I do to supe this particular design up?

• 
  This particular color of green is really obnoxious to look at. A pearl color would look great here!
  Let’s loose the doo-doo brown colored seat and hook this sucker up with a suede colored fabric. Cover the saddle (seat) springs with a solid chrome color that features the company’s logo facing outwards!
• 
  Suede colored fenders on the back and front trimmed in pearl to match the frame.
  ‘Nirve’ spelled out in Suede colored (This is a good font) costume jewelry on top tubing.
  Hand grips are suede with pearl colored tips. ‘Nirve’ written in the same font and same style jewelry (But larger) on the chain guard and shifted from the back of the chain guard to the middle and centered. Chrome sprocket trimmed in pearl! Spokes and tires look good.
  
  I can only imagine yall!

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Greetings readers. I haven't posted in awhile but the reason is simple. I have been having one of my 'Design Funk Phases' and have spent many hours over the last several weeks re sketching as many designs as possible from my 'Rough Sketch' book onto my large pad. I had an awesome vision just a few days ago while struggling with what form I wanted my 'Buffalo Soldier' design to take. The vision was for a series of bicycles to be known as 'I' Bike'. Oh my!!!!! 'I'Bike is a process that incorporates the latest shock spring systems on mountain bikes and combines funk, simplicity, and 'Bling' decor into 'I' which stands for 'Intelligent'.

I am not talking about designing an actual mountain bike because the truth is that I really only focus on junior, youth and adult cruisers, Mountain bikes simply do not 'Float my Boat.' Large nubby tires, all the gadgets such as gear shifts, brake lines, unemotional themes and crappy bike names go against the principle reason why I design. That principle is simplicity * urban lifestyle + natural design ability = 'FUNK!' The 'I' Series has the thought process of the original Star Trek Series which is "To go, where no other bike Designer has gone before." As I said earlier in this article, I have been busy also re sketching most of my original designs. They say that Mozart never had to erase any of his sheet music while writing it because it was perfect and not in need of revising. Well folks, I can't claim that kind of genius with what I do!

One thing I am very conscious of is trying to make any of my designs 'Too Perfect' by re sketching them over and over and over again. What I have found out during this process is that if I find myself doing this, it is only because of 2 reasons. #1- There was no inspiration for the design to begin with. When I am truly inspired and not just doing 'Busy Work', the whole thing comes together in an 1 hour to 1 1\2 hours max. That includes everything from the rear wheel to the head badge, there is no 2nd guessing. #2- It is just a crappy design. Not because their was not any inspiration, but because my concept, at its' root was wrong.

A counter argument to what I just said could go like this "If something is going to be great, alot of work HAS to go into it." I agree with that mostly, but remember this one thing, "Inspiration never has to be worked on, it just comes when it will and stays as long as it chooses." (That quote came from me!)

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Sister Dale recently went to a festival in Boulder, Colorado. There were many vendors out there but she happened to see a few Bicycle Companies, small, but big enough to catch her eye. She brought me back their business card and I was REALLY IMPRESSED with a few of their designs. The company is called http://www.luxurylowrider.com/. They have found a very niche design style that hearkens from the Hispanic American Culture of Low Rider Bicycle Design. There are numerous low rider style bicycle companies out there, but what set this company apart and what caught my eye was that their designs were very elegant. This is the 1st time I have ever seen such elegance in design with its' roots stemming from a culture originating from people of color.

What I am about to say, it not meant to offend anyone. That being said, every other low rider bicycle company I have seen really over do their designs. Sometimes in bicycle design, more is just that, MORE. 99.9% of the designs in this niche market I have seen are WAAAAYYY over designed. The designers have reached a point where the things they ad to the build don't offer anything more in the way of aesthetics, functionality, and certainly not the most essential element (I believe) in design and that is simplicity. Luxury Low riders don't seem to have done this (Save one design that I think is overkill). Now, these bicycles are VERY expensive and will probably never reach a mass market, but KUDOS to this company!

When Sister Dale saw these designs, a light went off in her head and she thought "Maybe my husband's designs aren't that crazy after all." I designed a 'New Age' chopper style bicycle that I call 'Hannibal' (One design in my 'Warrior Series' of bicycles) and the 1st time she saw it, she literally laughed at me! I did not take offense because sometimes when people do that, one must always remember that anytime someone sees something they can't comprehend or hasn't been done yet, people will laugh. All that being said, I continue to believe that my Urban Style designs can and will fill a vacuum in the market place. They are designed from an African-American perspective and will be priced for affordability to the masses. I just finished a sketch called 'Blingin' that I showed people. I didn't tell them I designed it as to not shade their real feelings. I just put it down in front of them and said "Tell me what you think of this". The verdict was unanimous, THEY FREAKED OUT AND WANTED ONE! To be truthful, all of my designs do not cause this type of reaction, which is understandable, I can't make a hit record every time out can I?

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Great question! There is little doubt that most of the major cities in this country such as Detroit, Chicago, L.A., New York City, Atlanta and others are more than 90% minority. Within the confines of these cities, there is a whole culture that some of you have lived while still others have only read about, heard about, or seen on TV or at the movies. When I say Urban, I am talking about a lifestyle that includes, but isn't limited to: Fashion, Music, Hairstyles, families, schools and a host of other things that are largely minority driven. When I say minority, I am not talking about African-Americans only, but Latinos (who recently became the largest minority population in this country topping 40 million), Asians, African, and others. Before I tell you what it is, I am going to tell you what Urban Bicycle Design is not.

It is not kids and youth riding around in city parks on bicycle trails. It is not bicycle parks set up in the suburbs with suburban kids and youth 'Jumping ramps', riding down stairs, doing tricks and all of that! When I say Urban Bicycle Design, the definition is "Bicycles that will appeal to an inner city market by representing its' culture, lifestyles, fashions and FUNK!" The key word in that definition is "Inner City". When some think of inner city life, they get an image of "The Ghetto" if you will. All inner city neighborhoods are not ghettos. That thought process may spawn into images of bicycles rolling around with "Spinners" (rims) or loud music. Again, that isn't URBAN! I think to put spinners and rims like that on bicycles would be tacky and totally miss the essence of Urban Funk. I keep using that word Funk don't I? If you do not know what funk is, I can't explain it to you but I can try and paint you a picture.

Chrysler has designed a really nice car called the Lincoln Town Car. The 2006 models are beautiful. However, Chrysler also designed a car in 2003 called the 'Chrysler 300' which was the Motor Trend Car of the Year in 2003 and 2004. (Incidentally, the lead designer on that car was an African-American.) The Town Car is a nice vehicle wouldn't you say? But the 300 is FUNKY! It's kind of like Soul, can't properly explain it, but one knows it when they hear it. Whitney Houston is one of the best selling female music artists of all time. She has a great voice but no soul. Aretha Franklin has Soul! Designing 'Funk' demands that one stay true to what is uniquely urban. Let me paint you a small picture of what I am talking about.

What if instead of just a regular, black covered leather (or pleather) seat on a bicycle, that same seat is not covered with leather, but denim? Not just a plain blue denim, but for the girls, a soft pink denim and for the boys a dark maroon denim covered seat. Let's take it a step further, what if instead of the status quo bicycle reflectors that are all shaped the same, those very same reflectors are made 1\3 larger and cut in the shape of diamonds? Put two on each rim and not just one. How would that look yall? Imagine with me if you will that instead of 32-45 spokes on a rim, that number was tripled to 120 spokes. The naysayers will say "Well that would make the rims heavy!" Well, what if the spokes are 1\3 as thin as normal! This would create an incredible "Bling-Bling" affect when the sun hits them.

Take a walk with me for just a few more moments and picture this: What if instead of a normal set of handle bars, someone designed handle bars in the shape of 'Raptor Ears'! What if instead of the run of the mill chrome mags, a little girls bike has chrome mags that are in the shape of daisies? These daisies could be outlined with a soft pink accent to match the color of the bicycle. What about a name for these bicycles? The junior girls soft pink, daisy styled bike could be called 'Baby's Beach' or 'Queen'. Many of you will not be able to picture what I am saying, but again, it's all about the 'Funk'. I can picture a bike theme of 'El Tigre' dedicated to our Latino brothers and sisters! How hot would a bicycle be that was painted like a Tiger? With a black imitation fur seat with dark orange tiger stripes on it!!!! Watch this yall- What would be really urban is thick black nasty tires, dark orange rims, with black 8 point, diamond shaped mags! The frame would have to stay light, but thicker than normal because those tiger stripes have to be an eyecatcher. WOW.

That is some Parliament P-Funk stuff. More later.

Inspired by:

Marshall 'Major' Taylor

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