In 1994 a Stanford engineering student named Ross Evans experimented with new designs for load-carrying bicycles. The existing designs either had three wheels, put the weight up front, or towed it behind in trailers. In short, they carried weight but no longer rode like bikes. Through a grant from the Stanford Center for Latin American Studies, and the H. Michael Stevens Public Service Fellowship from Stanford's Haas Center for Public Service, Evans traveled to Nicaragua and started a bike fabrication shop teaching Nicaraguan war veterans to repair and build cargo bikes. While working at the shop in Nicaragua Evans invented a two-wheeled bicycle conversion that could carry hundreds of pounds in its rear racks and still ride like a bike. Better yet, this invention could be produced at low cost and attach to any existing mountain bike, extending its wheelbase and turning it into a load-carrying bicycle.
In 1998, a Stanford friend named Kipchoge Spencer convinced Evans that in order to fund world-class research and development for his invention, he needed to start a company. Together, Evans and Spencer founded Xtracycle LLC. Since then the invention has shed pounds and taken on a sleek curvy look, while its strength and utility have increased.Nearly a thousand people from around the world have purchased Xtracycles, and reviews are positive! (For more information about Xtracycle LLC, visit www.xtracycle.com .)
One early Xtracycle 'product tester' was Adam French, a close friend of the founders and a fellow outdoors expert with experience starting a non-profit in Africa. He helped realize the dream of bringing freight cycling technology to those who could least afford it by starting a new nonprofit while Evans and Spencer continue to lead Xtracycle LLC. The Foundation allows Xtracycle's superb technology and design innovations to achieve their potential in places American bicycle companies typically ignore.
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1 comment:
My Boda is bigger than yours.
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