Bicycles without pedals? Baseline Bicycles brings back the velocipede.

PRESS RELEASE

April 1, 2014

Baseline Bicycles, a relatively new manufacturer/retailer of fixed gear bicycles has taken the back to the basics styling trend further than any bicycle company to date.  Several companies market “balance bikes”, bikes without pedals that help small children transition to riding bicycles. Baseline bicycles is taking the opposite approach and marketing their bikes to adults seeking to simplify their bike riding experience.

Velocipedes launched the personal mechanized transport era in the early 1800s, predating bicycles with pedals by some 40 years. Why bring them back?  Ray Banks, the founder of the company, explains what prompted him to do away with pedals. “I originally set out to design and market fixed-gear bicycles (fixies); simple, beautiful, single-speed bicycles. I have long held the philosophy that simpler is better and that a back to the basics approach is a healthier, more beautiful, more enjoyable way to live.”  When visiting the factory to check on the progress of his first order, Banks found that although the bikes were almost complete, they were waiting on the pedals. Nevertheless, having made the journey to the factory, he decided to take a sample out to gauge how the bikes would be received. 

He was very pleased by the attention the bike garnered; especially on college campuses. Of course lacking pedals, observers would laughingly ask how one rides a bike without pedals. Intending to be funny, Banks jokingly got on the bike and used his feet to propel himself around. This drew even more attention and Banks soon realized that he had stumbled onto an untapped market.

The company is now selling their bicycles from their website Baselinebicycles.com. Banks considers his bikes to be works of art based on the minimalism school where design is pared down to only the most essential elements. Other fixed-gear bicycle manufacturers have gone so far as to remove the brakes from their bicycles. Banks believes safety to be paramount and therefore considers brakes to be essential and so they are included. Pedals on the other hand he considers to be non-essential and thinks having them results in a “cluttered” look.

To see what a bike without pedals looks like and how it is ridden check out the video:

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