Urban utility bicycles

Katja Miller: Madsen Bucket Bike Devotee

"For me, biking is an important metaphor for life. With effort, and under one’s own direction, the path lies straight ahead. I want my boys to know that the car is not the only way to travel,"

"My path to Madsen ownership wasn’t a short one. But when ours finally arrived a few weeks ago, it was beyond love at first sight. The bike is amazing. It’s everything I hoped it would be and more."

"I was enchanted by the idea of hauling up to four kids...."

See the rest of Katja Millers storie here. 

 

 

IN THE NEWS

Navy Family comits to park the cars and go by bike for two months.  Check out their choice of a bike. 

To see how the chalange is going you can read more on their blog. 

 

Last call for the best price of the year!

 

We love getting pictures like this from our customers... thanks to Autumn for sharing this picture with her quadruplets making the most of their yellow MADSEN!  If you’re one of the lucky few who got in on our pre-order sale, your very own MADSEN is on its way (or will be shortly – watch your email for details). 

 

If you didn’t get in on this screaming deal, here's your last chance.  Between now and next Saturday, January 20^th (which is when we expect to ship the last pre-order bike), you can still order a black, yellow or pink MADSEN for the same black Friday price.  Want another MADSEN to match the one you’ve already got?  Have a friend or family member who you know won’t be able to live without a MADSEN once they see yours?  What to suprise someone with the new PINK MADSEN in time for Valentines day?

 

Click here to order your MADSEN

(sale ends Saturday, January 20, 2012)  

 

p.s. why no blue bikes at this special price you ask?  We’ve seen a huge demand for this color and we’re running low on inventory.  If you still want a blue bike, let us know and we'll build one just for you, however, it will be at the regular price (which we still think is a small price to pay for happiness on wheels!)

Merry Christmas, and...shipping delays?

Lets start with some thing fun! I got the best Christmas card from a MADSEN riding family. I asked Ernie if I could share his Christmas photo, thanks Ernie for the great Christmas card!

Now something not so fun, we received shipping confirmation for the new 2012 MADSEN. The best possible landing date at our warehouse will not be sooner than 12/29/11. With possible custom inspection delays and other unseen delays most likely it will be after 12/29/11. We are so sorry no new 2012 under your Christmas tree this year. Thanks for your understanding and patience. We will get all the pre-orders shipped as quickly as we can.

The silver lining; the pre-order discount will stay live until we receive our shipment. If you haven't already placed a pre-order you still have time and can take advantage of this huge savings.

What's new for 2012

The big news for 2012.... PINK! Last year we made some big changes to the MADSEN. Those changes were in the works for over 2 years. The fact that the biggest announcement for 2012 is PINK goes to show we nailed it last year, why mess with perfection? Well we did make some small changes (more like close to and always striving for perfection). 

You keep asking what is new for 2012 even the small things?  The hand grips changed, we dropped the retro style for more comfortable simplistic looking grips. New upgraded pedals same style, better looking and build quality. The wheel lock was changed to match the overall look and feel of the new 2012 MADSEN. The SRAM 8 speed was up graded to 9 speed along with a 9 speed cassette. Small modifications were made to the frame including kick stand and rear fender mounts. Adjustment of the kickstand can now be made with out having to remove the bucket. And even more small details we won't bore you with. 

Yesterday was the first day we opened pre-orders for the new 2012. Thanks to everyone that PRE-ORDERED a new 2012 MADSEN guaranteeing them a bike and taking advantage of a $550 discount. PRE-ORDERING is still open and all colors are available, Like we thought PINK is hot and won't last on this first shipment! To pre-order, please visit us online or call us directly at 800.206.0941. 

What About BLACK FRIDAY?

New 2012 MADSEN bikes are on their way -- just in time for Christmas!!  (We hope...*).  In case you were wondering, we didn't drop off the face of the planet. Our efforts have been spent working on the next order of bikes and to be honest, its taken longer than we had hoped. But everything is now dialed in, they are on their way* and you are going to love them.

So here is how we are making the wait up to you. We decided to scrap BLACK FRIDAY and give you something even better. A 2012 MADSEN for $1100 (MSRP $1650) to anyone that pre-orders a new 2012 MADSEN plus shipping $189.  Pre-ordering will guarantee a bike on this initial shipment. This KILLER deal ends as soon as we get bikes in our warehouse or as soon as this shipment is all presold!  This deal is for pre-orders only! This is by far the best deal MADSEN Cycles has ever or may ever offer again.

New for 2012 -- PINK!  This color is HOT!  We think pink will go fast and we didn't order a lot of them, so act fast!  Blue, Black and Yellow are all back.  Also, the ever-so-popular front racks, in all four colors, to be mixed or matched as you wish are on their way as well. To pre-order, please visit us online or call us directly at 800.206.0941. 

*2012 MADSEN bicycles are in transit now 11/21/11. Shipping / customs delays may arise. We can not guarentey a delivery date (one more reason we are offering this KILLER deal). Once we receive our shipment we will do all we can to fill your order. Thanks for your understanding.

MADSEN/Nie Nie 2nd Annual Bike Rally

Calling all MADSEN/NIE NIE lovers! It's that time of year again to get outside and enjoy the fresh, crisp fall air. What better way to do that than on a MADSEN! We are excited for our 2nd Annual MADSEN Bike Rally on Saturday, November 5th. Please meet at Paul Ream Park at 2 pm to join the fun. We are happy to spend time with Stephanie and her friends and family once again, and would love anyone to join us!

(Get this button on Nie Nie's website)

No Time to Drive

I hope you like my attempt at a recreation of what my morning is like since my family and I went car-light.  Hopefully, one day, you can do the same. 

 

The new 2011 MADSEN has a soft saddle stock on the bike, on which you are sitting as you pedal past a construction zone.  The bike feels very light when you’re riding it, and you are doing an easy 11 to 13 mph.  The same three men you always pass stop their cutting into the road to install pipes for the county; they wave at your three-year-old daughter behind you in the back bucket, which is very easy to clean, so it’s all blue and shiny even though she had strawberries in it yesterday.  It is good that it can be cleaned.  Construction on the road is awful.  You are happy to be on a bike and not part of all that mess.

Yet a bike that you are reviewing is already getting dust on it.  Tiny sugar crystals sticking in the grease on the teeth of the shiny new chain ring.  Adrenaline surges:  essays to grade, baby shower to plan, dance class, two play dates, first-grade homework, dinner, dishes, bath time.  You are riding faster now.  Then something strange happens.  You burn off that adrenaline.  

Last year, you’d be sitting there, your blood literally stewing in adrenaline.  And then later, in conversations about driving, you would talk about road rage and other people would laugh when you said that, as if it was acceptable to act a different way on the road than you would at the grocery store; as if it would be totally cool to act like you were going to try and hit another person with your grocery cart.  But you don’t have road rage.  You wave politely at the construction workers who are going back to work.  Dust is such a funny thing to be stressed out about.

Today you have been riding the new 2011 MADSEN for one week.  This is a bike that was actually designed to carry children and groceries, fitted with four seat-belts, all bolted in the back into a gigantic shell that is made out of the same materials they use to make white-water kayaks.  Also, today you have a realization:  You do not have enough time to drive a car anymore.

You used to drive a car everywhere, the Excursion, the PT Cruiser, the Volvo (the Monte Carlo, the Escort, the Sentra, the Corolla, the Lynx, the Ranger, the Astro Van).  A morning commute was just part of life.  You’d wake up, tie your tie, and drink your coffee in your car while you tried to beat the clock.  Because you made it one time in fifteen minutes, you should be able to make it in fifteen minutes every time.  So you leave fifteen minutes to get there.  But it never takes that.  It’s always more like eighteen, and you always leave a few minutes late, so you’re always late.  

But you have taken this part of your life and removed it.  Now, it is morning.  It is quiet in the house, and in the background, and out on the road in front of your house.  Morning is slow like this:  You get out of bed and go wake up your three-year old.  She cries for a minute because she is awful.  But finally, she agrees to brush her teeth and get dressed and it takes about fifteen minutes for the whole thing.  Your work clothes and your lunch were packed the night before.  They’re in your bike.  You’re ready to go.  

You buckle your daughter into the seat--it’s just right there, no trailer, no straps to deal with.  Just a seat belt.  You put her helmet on.  You wheel out the 2011 MADSEN, being very careful not to wake the rest of the family.  Even walking with it you can tell it wants to go fast.  It is so easy to maneuver, despite its size and capacity.  You sit on the saddle and push forward gently, letting the kickstand retract.  You point to a star that your daughter has identified as her star.  She says good morning to it.  And you go on a bike ride instead of driving to work.

You see bats.  You recognize their angled and jerky movements are different from the smooth yet exhaustive thrusts of a bird’s wings.  It’s just you’ve seen them so often.  Sometimes you see rabbits.  Each morning, you give your little girl these rabbits, and the bats, and enough sunrises for her to measure a lifetime of her own mornings.

You stop at a light where the slow and house-dotted roads you have been riding over intersect a large, arterial state road.  A white Nissan speeds past in front of you, zipping through lanes, running a red light and then halting a quarter mile to your right, where traffic is already backed up at another stoplight .  The sea parts.  To your left and to your right the cars all wait in line as you pedal through the intersection.  They are stopped tentatively, their drivers eager to get where they are going, but you are happy where you are. 

 

Now, check out the video!

 

MADSEN 2010 Link Contest Winner Announcement

You're going to like this story. You're going to be sad that you didn't win, but you're going to like this story.

First - let me tell you that when we do these drawings, they are 100% random. We take every site who links to us during the period of the contest, we put them all on equal footing (each link is one entry into the drawing), and we randomly select one winner. And whomever it is - is the winner, period. We don't sift through and find the one who likes us the most, or whom we like the most - only the random number generator determines the winner. 

Which makes the story of today's winner a little extra special.

Today's winner is Leah Stone. When we drew her name, I pulled up her blog and was immediately struck her blog header talking about "a Bicycle Made for Two." I thought - oh cool, a bike lover won the bike. 

But the story gets better. You see - Leah wants a bicycle made for two, but not just any bicycle, and not just any two. She has a very special friend. 

I'll let her tell the story:

I have never won a contest before so I feel like all the stars have aligned, the heavens have opened, and today is my day. I have been dreaming of owning a cargo bike since I went to Berlin, Germany this past summer.  I saw cargo bikes everywhere and would make my group stop every time I saw one so I could take a photo of it.  I have wanted a cargo bike so badly and was so determined that I was going to rig a wheelbarrow to the front of my bike if necessary.  

Then I saw the Link-Back Madsen Bike contest and my heart fluttered a bit when I saw the picture of the girl with the basket and the lab in the cargo bucket because I thought "Hey that could totally be me." The reason is that I have seizures.  Luckily, I have a service dog for my seizures and he goes with me everywhere.  His name is Charlie.  He is a slightly pudgy min-pin who can give me a 5 min warming before I have a seizure. Anyways, I have wanted to take him on my bike with me when I go to the store or on a ride,  but he is too big for a basket on the front. I even bought one of those kid bike trailers to stick Charlie in, but it totally didn't work as he felt trapped and was tossed around a bit.  This bike is going to rock mine and Charlie's world.  I can now be oh so green.  I can finally take Charlie and my bike to the grocery store.  I can even put my other dog in the back too. 

Thank you Madsen Bikes for making my whole year.  Having seizures is a bit of a bum deal, but the fact that I get to ride my awesome bike with my service dog really helps to make it better. 

I can not wait for the package to arrive. Merry Christmas to me and to Charlie!

Merry Christmas indeed, Leah. We're really excited for you and Charlie. 

For those interested, Leah tells the story of when she started having seizures here.

Here's some more information on the amazing Charlie.

And to end, we share a photo of Leah trying to find a way to combine a bike and Charlie.

It didn't work.

But that's about to change.

Big time.

----------------------------------------------------

p.s. for those of you who didn't win - stay tuned, we're working on something special for Black Friday.

Splendid Cycles: Our New Portland Dealer

    Splendid Cycles in Portland OR is the newest member of the Madsen Cycles team. Joel Grover, who managed the Bike Gallery for years and is a passionate cargo bike/bicycle-commuting enthusiast. After finding out Joel had opened his own shop dedicated to cargo bikes and practical cycling, it was a no-brainer we would folow him! His cargo bike boutique is dedicated solely to personal, community, and planetary health. Splendid Cycles believes every urban household and most businesses could benefit from using a cargo bike for short trips, and tasks that would be impossible for a regular bike to perform. Portland is one of the biggest cycling communities in the U.S., and we appreciate and share their drive to go green!  Check out Splendid Cycles for yourself online or in person at 1407 SE Belmont Street.  Or give Joel a call at 503-954-2620.