by Larry Lagarde

Last month, I was asked to help obtain Paratrooper full-size folding mountain bikes for US service personnel stationed in Japan. Out of curiosity, I looked into the history of bike use in the military and here's a brief overview.
(Photo: Paratrooper all terrain folding bike.)

Bicycles have played a military role for over a century.
In the USA, the Buffalo Soldiers bicycled on journeys of hundreds of miles. British use of bicycles in the Second Boer War led to later bike use by Belgium, China, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Russia and Switzerland.

In WWII, the Japanese captured Singapore because of their bicycle infantry and British airborne commandos secured a German radar station by sneaking up on folding bikes.
(Photo: WWII airborne folding bicycle.)

The Viet Cong were famous for there use of bicycles along the Ho Chi Minh Trail. Even when the trail was carpet bombed, cyclists could ride between the bome craters. Until 2003, the Swiss had a folding bike parachute brigade that could be on the move within 60 seconds of making an air drop.
(Photo: Montague folding bike attached to US Army Airborne soldier preparing for air drop.)

The Montague Paratrooper was developed at DARPA's request to bridge an important gap between walking infantry and heavy military vehicles. It is manufactured by a company in the USA (Montague Corporation) and has been used internationally as an all terrain military bicycle as well as by the US Special Forces in Afghanistan.

Today, the high-performance, rust resistant (aluminum), suspended fork, 24 speed Paratrooper folding bike is available to soldiers and civilians alike, typically selling in the USA for @ $695. I sell Paratroopers within the continental US for $649.95 including shipping and I DO ship to APO/FPO's.
(Photo: Paratrooper folding bicycle being loaded folded into Humvee.)


Reference Links About Folding Bikes:
- Full details & specs on the Paratooper folding bike.
http://ridethisbike.com/products/Montague_Paratrooper-folding_bike.htm

- Video showing how the Paratrooper folds/unfolds (bike in video is the MX, a flashier version of the Paratrooper).
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0yteDW5MwkA

- A description of the Paratrooper project from Montague (circa 2001).
http://www.militarybikes.com/militaryhome.html

- 1st Tactical Studies Group (Airborne)'s Light Bicycle Infantry Page (w/pics of Paratrooper folding bikes dropped via a C-212).
http://www.combatreform2.com/atb.htm

Labels: army recon folding bike, full size folding mountain bike, Montague, Paratrooper