Are you sick of society trying to pigeonhole you by insisting that you’re either a scooter or a mountain bike kind of person? If so, why not blow some minds and stick it to The Man by riding a two-wheeler that kind of looks like a mashup of both!
That’s what the rebellious folks at Florida-based startup Monkey Faction have created with their new vehicle, the Capuchin, which is currently raising money on Kickstarter.
“We use the comfortable geometry of a scooter and combine it with the ruggedness and responsiveness of a mountain bike,” Dave Goeppner, one of the brains behind the creation, told Digital Trends. “There is no other bike like it.”
Aside from its pleasingly retro appearance, the Capuchin also promises to be a more comfortable riding experience than you might be used to. For instance, its scooter-style saddle is much longer than a traditional bicycle seat, thereby allowing the rider to choose the riding position that’s best for them. “[There’s] no more knee pain or raising the seat so high that you feel like a circus clown,” Goeppner said.
The vehicle also boasts some impressively large wheels, which at 4-inches wide and 20-inches high, look more like motorcycle wheels. This offers more riding functionality on a range of surfaces, including pavement, dirt, sand, and snow.
“My two partners and I have been in the bicycle industry for a long time,” Goeppner said. “ We have created and managed numerous brands, most of which are racing oriented. In racing, it is all about weight and aerodynamics. This can be interesting, but what really captured our imagination was creating a bike that got non-cyclists excited. We asked ourselves what kind of bike would they like to ride? We played with various ideas and over time, they coalesced into the Capuchin. Our objective was to design a bike that is unique, fun and affordable — and by the reaction of people, we nailed it.”
If you’d like to confirm your status as a unique, one-of-a-kind nonconformist, you can join the rest of the growing group of future Capuchin owners by placing a pre-order on Kickstarter. Prices for the vehicle start at $349, with orders set to ship in July.
