1. PRE-ORDER a 2013 MADSEN & receive a free front rack ($85 f-rack) AND a $550 discount on your new bike. You are saving $635!! (MSPR 2013 MADSEN: $1850-$2050). You will be riding a 2013 MADSEN for only $1300 (any color). We expect 2013 bikes to arrive the end of January.*
2. Order a new 2012 MADSEN and save $550!! (MSRP 2012 MADSEN: $1750). BLACK FRIDAY discount gets you a 2012 MADSEN bucket bike for only $1200. We only have a small inventory of 2012 bikes. Color for 2012 bikes are Black or Yellow. Your 2012 bike will ship out our door within 7 days of your order, in time for Christmas!!
Black Friday starts at 6:00 am MST. To order, please visit us online.
* 2013 PRE-ORDERS will most likely ship out the beginning of February. This delivery date is an estimate. If all goes to plan, you will get your new bike at the end of January or beginning of February. (The delivery date could possibly be later -- we cannot foresee customs delays or shipping problems.)
What’s on your front rack? Mine has got a "custom carved" milk crate and a spiderweb bungee to hold everything in place while keeping it all completely accessible during a ride in case I need to grab a treat for the kids or take a quick swig of water. It's really like an open drawer on my bike where I can toss all kinds of useful things like on the spot air conditioning (spray bottle), my bike stereo (mp3 player plus a small portable speaker), and of course a diaper bag full of emergency items like candy and binkies.
Ann Weaver
Thanks again Ann for sharing! PLEAS keep these posts coming. If you ride a MADSEN we all want to know about it. Whare do you ride? what is your cargo? What dont you like about your MADSEN? Send your story and photos to blog@madsencycles.com
Do you ride a MADSEN? have a photo or two? we would love to hear from you!!
Thank you so much Ann for giving me this post to share. Ann rides a 2012 MADSEN is a super Mom of 3 a suppper active girl and a great wrighter living in Arizona. check out the rest of her story below.
I'm a pretty active person with hiking and biking near the top of my list. That didn't change once I had kids, but unfortunately since my husband travels so much for work I just had to be more creative and figure out how to bring all my little people along.
At first it was easy: with one baby I could still hike and ride quite easily as long as I always remembered to bring diapers. With two babies I could still hike with one on the back and one on the front for the first six months, and I could ride on quiet roads pulling a double trailer. With three it got trickier- I could still stroller hike on a small handful of paved trails and old service roads through the forest. I could still ride a bike too with the addition of a kid bike seat, but I knew it would only buy me a few months. From day one of the new bike seat my toddlers knees were already pressing into my back, but besides that at this point my four year old could barely squeeze into the trailer next to his baby sister.
November in Zion National park was our last ride of the season. I was pretty bummed because I figured it was also probably my last ride on something other than a spin bike for a couple of years. Even worse we'd recently moved to a new community full of lovely bike paths that I'd pass all the time in my car during my errands around town. It was like rubbing salt in the wound. Fortunately by the time Christmas came so did a Madsen Bike- I didn't even wait for the weather to warm back up before I started using it to take the kids to church on Sundays.
The first thing I noticed was the extreme convenience of getting the kids in an out. Setting up the trailer and buckling everyone in always took so much time, but now we can all jump in and out so easily that we started stopping along our rides anytime we felt like it, to feed horses, to examine beetles, to scan the pond for that one giant crawdad... We also started riding a lot more and a lot longer than we ever had before- a dream come true for me. Since the kids could now see so much more of the scenery (compared to a trailer view) and we could converse easily we started riding for more than an hour or pretty regularly. Sure by the end I often had to pass out the refined sugar, turn on an audio book, or pretend to be hitting my head on all the overhanging tree branches, but hey, I was back in the saddle again and logging some serious time. The center of gravity of the Madsen is different, but I got over that pretty quickly and can actually stand up on hills for extra power if needed, and on a certain ditch on one of our regular routes, I've actually gotten air. So what started as potentially a commuter bike for me has really turned into one of my favorite forms of kid-included outdoor recreation.
People on the trails often comment on how strong I must be when they see me dragging along all my kids in the bucket, but really riding my Madsen is just about still being able to do some of the things I love the most with the people I love the most.
"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...."
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 20th (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?
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!)
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!
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.
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.
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.
