
If youโve ever had to haul a 45-pound steel bike up and down the subway stairs, banged your knee on the handlebars because of a slipping chain, or smeared chain grease all over your slacks, you know (as I do) that bike commuting, as great as it is, can sometimes be a real pain. A reborn bike mechanic wants to fix those hasslesย with hisย unique two-wheeler that bringsย cutting-edge low-maintenance bike technology at an accessible-to-everyone price.
The project, called Priority Bikes, belongs to Dave Weiner, a New York-based software exec who realized he could no longer ignore hisย yearning for the satisfaction of his younger days building and fixing bicycles. Trading spreadsheets for a shop apron, he hatched a plan to create a bike that would utilize the latest components โ belt drive, hub-mounted gears and brakes, and an aluminum frame โ in order to minimize upkeep needs. And he realized he couldย cut the price way down by selling them directly to customers.
After a lengthy period of development and testing, Daveย launched a Kickstarter for the $350โ$400, 25-pound commuter-focused bike this week, quickly surpassing hisย $30,000 targetย and continuing to overย $250,000 in just two days.
โThe biggest uniqueness to the bike is the belt drive,โ heย explains. โThere are bikes in the $850+ range that come with a belt drive, however bringing this technology down market was not easy.โ The belt replaces the common oily, rust-prone chain found on almost all current bikes, offering quiet operation and a greatly extended life span. The challenge he had to design around, though, is that belts canโt be pulled apart for installation, so he worked to design a frame with a dropout that opens to allow the belt to slot through.
Again with the maintenance-free angle in mind, the frame itself is made of aluminum, which generally comes at a high cost. โMost bikes in this category/price range are steel,โ Dave says. โWe knew we had to use aluminum as steel will rust, aluminum wonโt. This also makes the bike significantly lighter weight.โ
And instead of using a derailleur mounted to the frame to change gears, Daveโs bike changes speed through a modern 3-speed hub-mounted gear. โDerailleur style gears go out of tune, so we went with an internally geared hub, which while being much more expensive, is maintenance free, they can go thousands of miles without being serviced,โ Dave says. โWe also had to do this to use the belt drive which doesnโt work with a derailleur.โ
The hub gear also provides an upgraded version of a retro pedal brake, promised to be more effective than anything we rode as kids while continuing the overall simplicity of the concept. (โNot sure if youโve ridden a modern foot brake but they are really nice,โ Dave assures.) Heโs also including a tool kit and bike pump for initial assembly, a comfy seat, and pop-resistant tires.
Itโs clear that Dave has made something heโs wanted for a long time. With relaxed upright geometry it wonโt win any races, but instead will get himย around town reliably and with minimal fuss. From the launch success, it looks like this is something many others have been waiting for too.
Find Priority Bikes on Kickstarter.
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