Montague is a privately held company that designs, manufactures, and sells full-size folding bicycles for recreation, everyday use, and potential military customers.
The company is based in Cambridge, Massachusetts with distribution in over 25 countries worldwide.
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History
Launch
Montague Corporation was formed in 1987 by David Montague, while in graduate school at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, along with his father Harry Montague. Harry, a Washington, D.C. architect and inventor, developed the original design for the Montague full-size folding bike as a result of his need for a portable bike that would fit his 6'2" frame. That first bicycle designed by Montague was dubbed the "Montague BiFrame" for its patented Concentrus system, which unites the two parts of the frame with concentric seat tubes, one nested inside the other. This system allows a bike with a full-size wheel and frame to fold in half without cutting any structural tubes, maintaining the structural integrity of the bike. Montague bikes were designed using industry standard parts, including full-size wheels, a departure from other folding bike makers use of more proprietary parts and small wheels in order to make the frames more compact.
BiFrame Era
While producing the BiFrame design, Montague worked closely with Schwinn Bicycle Company and in 1991 the Schwinn Montague M100 was first marketed and sold through Schwinn dealers. In a partnership with car manufacturer BMW, the Montague BMW BiFrame was chosen as the official mountain bike of the 1996 Olympic Games in Atlanta Georgia and featured in the opening ceremonies.
Paratrooper and X-Series
In 1997, Montague received a grant from DARPA, the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency to work with the United States Marine Corps in developing the Tactical Electric No Signature (TENS) Mountain bike. The project led to the development of a new folding bike design that allowed faster folding for Paratrooper exit from military aircraft with the bike. This gave rise to the Paratrooper, Montague's non-electric Military Mountain Bike. The design was later dubbed the X-Frame. In 1999, folding bikes using the X-Frame design were first made available to the civilian population under the Montague name. In 2002, development and marketing of an upscale X-Frame folding mountain bike began in conjunction with General Motors' Hummer product line. Promotional distribution of Montague designed Hummer bicycles took place through GM dealerships.
Pavement Bikes and Modern Updates
In 2010, Montague premiered a completely new product line and added a series of Pavement folding bikes. Designed specifically for urban and road riding, they were the first folding bikes with standard size 700c road wheels. The pavement models featured a new double top tube design with more elegant lines and lighter weight than the X-Series. All models were equipped with a redesigned folding mechanism for a faster, easier fold. In 2011, Montague added to its Pavement bike line with the Boston 8, the first folding bike to incorporate the Shimano Nexus 8 speed internal gear hub. 2012 saw the introduction of the Montague Paratrooper PRO, a version of the original Paratrooper with an upgraded drivetrain and suspension.
In 2013, Montague began marketing frame sets as standalone products, allowing other manufacturers and custom bike builders to use Montague folding frames for their own models.
Inventor Harry Montague died February 2, 2011.
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Products
Bikes
All Montague bicycles feature their patented folding design and are equipped with full-size 26" or 700c wheels. The 26" mountain models include the Swissbike X50, Paratrooper, Paratrooper Pro, Swissbike X70, and Swissbike X90. The 700c pavement models include the Crosstown, Boston, Boston 8, Navigator, and FIT. The bikes range in price from $629.95 for the Swissbike X50 to $1995.00 for the top of the line Swissbike X90.
Components
In addition to complete bicycles, Montague also designs and produces components to make cycling more comfortable and enjoyable for riders. Their patented Octagon Steering System allows for the adjustment of handlebar height by up to 4 inches without the use of tools. It is compatible with any bicycle with a 1 and 1/8" steel steerer tube. The Octagon first appeared on Montague bikes in 2008 and was released as an aftermarket component in 2011. The Octagon is being distributed by Quality Bicycle Products and is available from bike shops throughout the US.
Source of the article : Wikipedia
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