Bicycle Built for Two
A Hugo bicycle maker is targeting untapped niches in the recumbent bike market.
Jim Dugelman doesn’t flinch when the latest new fast and lightweight bikes hit the market. That happens all the time. It’s comfort and utility that are most important, he says. When Dugelman and business partner Dale Hedstrand purchased Hugo-based Just Two Bikes (JTB) in March 2005 from founder Jim Muellner, they knew Muellner’s recumbent bikes were more than just highly comfortable and practical. The two saw JTB as an opportunity to tap into new markets: people with physical challenges and/or different abilities who wanted to ride together. Recumbent bikes, known as “bents,” are two- and three-wheeled bikes on which riders recline in a chair-like seat while pedaling with their feet in front. Although the number of specialty bike stores that sell bents has declined in recent years because of industry consolidation, it’s the only area in the industry that has maintained or increased average retail bicycle selling prices, according to the National Bicycle Dealers Association’s (NBDA) 2005 industry report. The report also gave JTB other reasons for hope. While bike ridership hit its peak in the 1970s, NBDA also points out that nearly 41.4 million Americans ages seven and older have ridden a bicycle six times or more each year. The bike industry also got a shot in the arm last year when the U.S. government passed a $286 billion transportation bill that included a provision for millions of dollars in bike trail renovations across the country.
All of this is good news for JTB. Dugelman, the company’s general manager who also handles marketing and sales, says there’s huge potential opportunities in the aging baby boomer population and among people with physical disabilities. The company’s products can be ideal for those markets. One of its bikes, the Sociable, features side-by-side seating and independent gearing, which allows riders with different abilities to ride together. Another, the Tricumbent, is a low-riding trike that has its seat positioned near the rear wheels, its pedals placed out in front, and steering handles at waist level.
Muellner, who started JTB in 1993, still designs bents for JTB. The creator of the ubiquitous Smarte Cart brand of airport baggage carts, he came up with the basic idea for JTB when he designed and built a prototype side-by-side model. In the years since, he’s added new products and refined the designs.
All JTB bikes, which the company makes in its Hugo facility, now feature high-quality steel and aluminum construction and first-rate components. The cost certainly isn’t cheap—prices range from $3,000 to $5,000 for a new model. JTB sells bents through dealers in Minnesota, Wisconsin, Florida, and Illinois, and, according to Dugelman, markets itself primarily through word of mouth, although the company has begun increasing its presence at bike conferences. “People of all ages and abilities should be able to ride a bike,” says Dugelman, who has more than 15 years of experience in the cycling industry.
“Bents make it possible for everyone.”