Kronan (bicycle)

Kronan Cykel log
A black Kronan cycle

Kronan (Swedish: The Crown ) bicycles are marketed by Kronan Trademark AB, also known as Kronan AB. Kronan AB was established in June 1997 by three former-students, John Wahlbäck and the Avander brothers, Henry and Martin. In autumn 2003 the company was bought by the Brunstedt family with Mary Brunstedt is the company's current CEO.

History

Kronan began when John Wahlbäck sold surplus Swedish military m/42 bikes, to supplement his income as a student. They decided to manufacture a copy of this after selling all their original stock. Kronan bought the original drawings from the Swedish Ministry of Defense and commissioned a Taiwanese manufacturer to build bicycles to these specifications.

The current Kronan Bicycle has been modernized slightly, but has the same basic design as the original. It is assembled in Poland using parts from Asia. The original Kronan factory was in Malmö.

Until about 2000 Kronan bikes were only available in a limited number of colors, with a single gear and coaster brakes. New models have been added with 3-speed SRAM hub gears and drum brakes.

Other variants include a child's bike (Kiddo), a traditionally-styled bike (Kranny) and a tricycle (Kargo). All these bikes have a bottle dynamo front light (the rear is operated by a battery) and panniers as standard.

Models

Details of a Kronan in Ámsterdam.
Kronan woman's in red
Kronan men's in orange

Specs

Kronan bike in Amsterdam

All Kronan bicycles have following basic equipment: large tires for more comfort in the city, a rear license plate, extra large saddle, coaster brake and front hub brake (As of March 2007, all Kronan models are equipped with a hand brake[2]), dynamo powered front and automatic rear light, rear rack (7 inches (18 cm) wide and 18 inches (46 cm) front to back),[3] stainless steel chain and spokes, steel frame with extra coating for protection, and rims and fenders/mudguards in steel in same color as frame, internal gear hubs, kick stand, bell, and air pump.[4]

Accessories

Corporate advertising

Several companies have incorporated Kronan bicycles into their employees and customer reward programs, or purchased a fleet of Kronan bikes for use by employees and customers.[5] These bicycles usually have a signboard underneath their crosstube advertising the company.

See also

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Kronan bicycles.

References

  1. ↑ "Herrcykel" (in Swedish). Kronan. Retrieved 22 August 2014.
  2. ↑ Archived May 28, 2010 at the Wayback Machine
  3. 1 2 3 "Bicycle Fixation: Review: Kronan City Bike". bicyclefixation.com. 2014. Retrieved 22 August 2014.
  4. ↑ Archived September 3, 2007 at the Wayback Machine
  5. ↑ Archived April 19, 2011 at the Wayback Machine

External links

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the Friday, January 15, 2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.