2008-10-29
2008: The Year of The Xtracycle
It could be called "The year of the longtail," but I prefer to give credit where credit is due. The Xtracycle Free Radical brought a cargo bike revolution to the bicycle industry, and 2008 was a tipping point.
It was apparent even by Interbike 2007: three full-frame longtail cargo-bikes were scheduled for production/availability in 2008: Surly's Big Dummy, Kona's Ute, and YubaRide's Mundo. While only the BD used the Free Radical "platform," before the end of the year, Xtracycle had "open-sourced" its design specs, brought out its own complete longtail (the Radish), and host of practical new accessories. In addition, as far back as NAHBS 2007, custom longtails were not uncommon, and at Interbike 2008 RANS had production recumbent longtail.
It was apparent even by Interbike 2007: three full-frame longtail cargo-bikes were scheduled for production/availability in 2008: Surly's Big Dummy, Kona's Ute, and YubaRide's Mundo. While only the BD used the Free Radical "platform," before the end of the year, Xtracycle had "open-sourced" its design specs, brought out its own complete longtail (the Radish), and host of practical new accessories. In addition, as far back as NAHBS 2007, custom longtails were not uncommon, and at Interbike 2008 RANS had production recumbent longtail.
2007: The Year of ...?
2007 was tough, there was a lot going on.
Here are some candidates:
The Year of the LED?
LED technology has taken over bicycle lighting. There are a few holdouts, but their days are clearly numbered and the pace of LED innovation continues to accelerate.
NAHBS?
This year saw the third, not the first, North American Handbuilt Bicycle Show. However, between 2006 and 2008, NAHBS grew by two full orders of magnitude, based on totally unscientific research (the number of pictures returned by searching flickr). Also, in response to the trend, a Best City Bike category was added to the awards.
Flat-Foot or Crank-Forward Technology?
Electra had it long ago, Cannondale went there in 2006, and Specialized went there in 2007. Lets examine this in more detail...
Here are some candidates:
The Year of the LED?
LED technology has taken over bicycle lighting. There are a few holdouts, but their days are clearly numbered and the pace of LED innovation continues to accelerate.
NAHBS?
This year saw the third, not the first, North American Handbuilt Bicycle Show. However, between 2006 and 2008, NAHBS grew by two full orders of magnitude, based on totally unscientific research (the number of pictures returned by searching flickr). Also, in response to the trend, a Best City Bike category was added to the awards.
Flat-Foot or Crank-Forward Technology?
Electra had it long ago, Cannondale went there in 2006, and Specialized went there in 2007. Lets examine this in more detail...
2006: The Year of The Porteur
Kogswell, et al.
Despite the introduction of the first production 650b frames perhaps ever available in the US (Rivendell/QBP's Bleriot), the 650b trend falls somewhere between the constructeurs and the porteurs. While a wheel size is important, it's not revolutionary in a cultural sense.
Despite the introduction of the first production 650b frames perhaps ever available in the US (Rivendell/QBP's Bleriot), the 650b trend falls somewhere between the constructeurs and the porteurs. While a wheel size is important, it's not revolutionary in a cultural sense.
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