BikeBiz Bicycle and cycling retail news
“Utopia is a bicycle that lasts for ever," says Isla Rowntree at the end of a video for the Imagine Project, an attempt to create a rental model for a range of UK-built sustainable utility bikes for kids.
Rowntree founded childrens’ bike brand Islabikes in 2006 which, she says, "challenged the concept of a children’s bike." With the Imagine Project, "it’s time to do it again."
Islabikes is to develop a small range of sustainably-produced bikes which will be manufactured in the UK. These will be utility ‘riding to school’ bikes that will sit alongside the current Islabikes models and will be available to customers to use on a rental-only basis.
Islabikes is looking for a small number of early adopters to trial the service. A statement said the firm is "committed to transitioning to a circular supply chain and hope that by leading the way others will follow."
The Imagine Project to be open-source, and Islabikes will be inviting contributions and sharing their discoveries as the project grows and develops.
