DUARTE, California — May 2005 — Recently
highlighted on CNN and chosen by Fortune Magazine as Product of
the Year in their Design 2004 competition, the Dahon Flo portable
mountain bike is winning rave reviews from the mainstream news media.
The Dahon Flo is a race-grade mountain bike designed with mountain
bike pioneers Joe Murray and Tom Ritchey, that can be disassembled
in only ten minutes to fit into an airline suitcase. Cyclists who
want to take their bike along on their travels can say goodbye to
airline surcharges. In the Fortune Magazine article, World Cup Champion
Ned Overend remarks, “From a guy who repeatedly hassles with
a full-sized bike in a big plastic box on the plane, this is a great
concept.”
Other award-winning products in the Fortune Design 2004 competition include the Oakley Thump MP3 sunglass, the Apple iMac, the Suunto X-9 GPS watch, the Bose SoundDock speaker system for iPod, and the Nokia 7280 cell phone. “What we see with all of these products,” observed Joshua Hon, Dahon Vice President, “is a clear trend toward portability and multi-functionality. It used to be that your music collection might be boxes of record albums or a wall of CD’s – now it’s an iPod or even a set of Oakley sunglasses. Today’s lifestyle is mobile and fast-paced and consumers want products that fit their lifestyle. A portable bicycle does just that.”
Quinton Pullinger, Dahon Product Manager stated, “Traditional bikes are a pain to travel with and airline surcharges on bikes can be ridiculous. But nobody wants to head out on an epic cycling vacation riding a rental bike – people want to be on their own bike.”
Mountain bike Hall of Fame member, Joe Murray added, “Coming as I do from the world of traditional mountain bikes, it’s a little hard to believe that we’ve created a bike that rides as well as the Flo, but which packs into a suitcase. In fact, there’s no way a rider could distinguish the ride of the Flo from the best hardtails that I’ve designed. Geometry, tubing, and components are all spot on for an ultra light XC hardtail with that sweet steel feel.”
The Flo features a frame precision hand-welded from the finest Reynold’s 853 tubing. The frame makes use of patented Ritchey BreakAway™ technology that adds only 98 grams but which allows the frame to separate into two parts for easy packing. A careful selection of rugged yet light-weight components results in a total weight of only 10.3 kg or 22.6 lbs. The Flo carries a retail price of US $1999.
The Fortune Design 2004 competition was judged by a panel of distinguished judges that included Paola Antonella, architecture and design curator at New York's Museum of Modern Art, Marco Iansiti, professor of strategy and technology innovation at Harvard Business School, Richard Koshalek, president of the Art Center College of Design in Pasadena, and Patricia Roller, co-CEO of strategic design firm Frog Design. Twenty five products in different categories were chosen as the Best Products of the Year.
The Fortune article and a review in Bike Magazine can be found here:
Fortune
Magazine article
Bike Magazine
article
Joe Murray is one of the original members of the Mountain Bike Hall of Fame and is one of the bicycle industry’s most well respected designers. Joe’s racing career includes National Championships in 1984 and 1985 and 12 straight Norba victories (unmatched since). In addition to work with Dahon, Joe is engaged in design and research for Shimano and Voodoo.