Plastic bicycle

In the 1970s and early 1980s, experimental plastic bicycles were developed and the Itera was produced in significant numbers, but they failed commercially.

In the 21st century, developments in the technology have made reinforced plastic composites, especially carbon fibre, widely used for high-end racing bicycles.

Popular Science featured ads in 1973 from "The Original Plastic Bike Inc", with plans to make the bicycle - including the chain and hubs, possibly excluding the spokes - entirely from injection-molded Lexan.

[1][2] The company was founded on December 15, 1971 by John P. Marzullo, Roger Stark, and William Thompson, based on ideas by Joseph Dorrity and Charles Cadorette.

In October 1978, a grant of SEK 54,000 from the Swedish National Board for Technical Development financed a prototype plastic bicycle.

In February 1980, a rideable bicycle was demonstrated to the state-owned bank and a loan of SEK 6 million granted.

The stock was sold to the Caribbean region where they became popular as rust is a problem with metal bicycles.

[6] It is to be produced by local industries for economy and ecological reasons, as its manufacture process is simple and low cost in large quantities.