Montague Corporation, headquartered in Cambridge, Massachusetts, is a company devoted to the design and production of bicycles that incorporates Folding Integrated Technology (F.I.T.), a revolutionary system deemed to be one of the next-generation trends in the bicycle industry.
In 1987 David Montague, while in graduate school at the Massachusetts
Institute of Technology, formed the Montague Corporation - a company
focused on designing and producing full-size, high-performance bicycles
that fold -- bicycles that sacrifice nothing in performance and still
provide the folding benefit for space saving convenience. The first
bicycle designed by Montague was dubbed the "Montague BiFrame" for its
patented Concentrus system, which unites the two parts of the frame
with concentric seat tubes, one nested inside the other. Since then,
Montague Corporation has never hit the brakes, winning numerous awards
along the way, including the Popular Mechanic's Design &
Engineering Award.
In 1996, the BMW/Montague Mountain bike was chosen as the Official
Mountain Bike of the Summer Olympic Games in Atlanta. These bikes were
featured in the closing ceremonies of the 1996 Olympics. Montague
bicycles are also distributed through high-end consumer catalogs such
as Sharper Image, Neiman Marcus, Hammacher Schlemmer and National
Geographic.
In 1997, Montague won a two-year grant from the Defense Advanced
Research Projects Agency (DARPA), who recognized the importance of the
folding technology, to work with the United States Marines in
developing the Tactical Electric No Signature (TENS) Mountain bike. For
this project Montague developed a new folding design, enabling the bike
to fold faster for Paratrooper exit from military aircraft while also
increasing its load bearing capacity. This gave rise to the
Paratrooper, Montague's non-electric Military Mountain Bike.
In 1999 Montague launched a consumer line of bikes, the X-Series,
based on the original Military Bike design. Due to the success of the
X-Series and the publicity surrounding the DARPA development, there
was an overwhelming demand for the original Military Bike. Montague
decided to manufacture and launch the Paratrooper for professional and
civilian use.
In 2002 Montague partnered with General Motors to design and
manufacture the HUMMER Tactical Mountain Bike, a version of the
Montague's popular military bike that folds to fit in the back of the Hummer H2. This
partnership demonstrates how Montague is spearheading a new and
innovative approach.
In 2007 Montague released a new line of rugged mountain bikes based on
the X-Series platform. SwissBikes feature more aggressive rider
positioning and focus on performance mountain biking. The SwissBike XO
is the lightest, most technologically advanced bike in Montague's
lineup. The SwissBikes are a great compliment to the already diverse
Montague lineup.
In 2010 Montague debuts a new frame design and with it, an entirely new line of full size, 700c folding bikes. These bikes are designed for pavement oriented riders. The new frame design features more elegant lines and a redesigned folding mechanism that allows for a faster, easier fold. With the addition of these models, Montague is able to offer a bike for every style of riding.
In 2011 Montague released the Octagon steering system as an after-market component. Already a popular component on some of their road bikes and responding to consumer demand, Montague made Octagon available through local bike shops. Octagon allows the rider to adjust their handlebar height by up to four inches using the already familiar quick release system. More information is available at www.OctagonCycles.com.
