Military bike gets rear disc brakes

by Larry Lagarde

A subtle change is coming next year to the rugged Montague Paratrooper military folding bike. For the first time, this practical, full size, folding mountain bike will come standard with disc brakes on both wheels.

Designed to fill a variety of roles for the US armed forces, the Paratrooper folding bicycle is built to withstand the demands of battlefield use (such as carrying 300 lbs of soldier and battle gear or the stress of being dropped behind enemy lines from a C130 Hercules or UH-60 Blackhawk helicopter). Several years ago, the Pentagon released Montague from selling these only to the military so any Joe can ride one now.

Whether you're a soldier hunting down the Taliban in the Hindu-Kush along the Afghanistan/Pakistan border or a civilian pedaling the singletrack of the awesome Colorado Trail, having disc brakes front and rear means more braking power under all weather conditions.

As someone that has toured long distances and sped down many steep mountain grades with a heavily laden bike, I welcome and appreciate Montague's adoption of all wheel disc brakes on the Paratrooper. Since discs do not heat up your wheel rims, you're not likely to overheat and blow a tire like I did trying to keep my speed below 30 mph down the 9 miles, 10 switchbacks and 8% grade between Flaming Gorge and Vernal, Utah.

Get A 2009 Paratrooper Now For Just $634.99!
Although rear disc brakes will not appear on the Paratrooper until next year, my goal is to be the first to have them. To clear out my existing inventory of Paratrooper folding bikes, effective immediately, I'm cutting the cost for a 2009 Montague Paratrooper to $634.99 - shipping included (within the USA lower 48 states). For another $20, I'll throw in a new RideTHISbike.com slip cover (masks your bike when riding transit & keeps it clean/dust free while in storage and). Quantities of 18" and 20" Paratroopers in stock are limited so place your order today.

By the way, retrofitting the rear linear pull brakes to discs on your current Paratrooper folding bike is a fairly simple procedure that can be done quickly by most local bike shops.

Labels: Paratrooper-folding-bike