Monday, April 1, 2013

Huffy's Foray into high end BMX

   This is not even an April Fools Joke! Huffy really made a kick ass BMX bike a while back. As many of you know, I used to be pretty heavy into BMX when I was younger. I still love keeping  up with BMX racing and the trends of the sport.

*bike shown actual size

   I stumbled across a bike the other day that was both surprising and nostalgia inducing. This is the Huffy Primus:

   Before you mock, let me paint you a story with words. First the specs: This bicycle was ahead of it's time a bit in terms of technology:
  • 7075 aluminum frame with headset gussets
  • european threaded bottom bracket 
  • long 21.75" top tube
  • square stays for impressive stiffness
  • came stock with Profile cranks and hubs
  • 1-1/8" internal headset.
  In a nutshell, the bike was built to be raced, and no corners were cut. Next, the history! In the late 90's, economy bikes were starting to really be seen in large stores like Wal-Mart and Target. Huffy was associated with these stores, but also attempted to sell this BMX bike in bike shops only. This turned out to not be fantastic, for a number of reasons... People were not quick to embrace a brand that was so closely tied with the economy market, Shops were not thrilled to apparently compete with large stores, and there was a wider profit margin in economy bikes. Deterred, Huffy stopped making these bikes in the mid 2000's.
 
   Now, check out some pics:



   No arguing that this bike was a purpose built race bike. It's a bit of a shame it never took off, with the history of Huffy race bikes as we saw at the NAHBS:

1988 Giro de; Italia winning Huffy

   Long live the Primus!

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