Shane Cusick is an avid local road and mountain biker, and the Event Director for the non-profit Bike Virginia. He spent much of the past year with business partner Chris Peel designing and manufacturing what they call “the ultimate kids bike.” Their company Pello Bikes aims to “give children the joy and freedom of cycling by providing bicycles that are high quality, lightweight, safe and designed specifically for them.”

I heard about Pello Bikes not too long ago and caught up with Cusick recently to hear about the project:

RO: With a 5 and a 2-year0old at home, I love the idea of a bike designed for kids. Where do things stand?

SC: Currently our focus is on finalizing the details for our cranksets.  We are working with a leading crank manufacturer to design our own cranksets that will tighten up the Q-Factor (the distance between the pedals). What this means is that the cranks will be more proportioned to kids “hip” sizing, making them fit better and be more fun to ride.

RO: What’s the timing on bringing the bikes to market?

SC: Once we have the cranksets dialed in, we are then going to have a final round of prototypes built to ensure everything is up to our standards. It’s our hope that we will have our prototypes in September, and provided all the details are worked out with the prototypes, we hope to have the first batch of bikes for sale in December!!!

RO: How are you promoting the Pello brand in the meantime?

SC: We are also in the process of getting T-Shirts (kids and adult sizes), little water bottles, and stickers made and should have all of this by the end of August. They’re available on our website. Also, we’re going to have a booth at the Pop Up Revolution during the UCI World Cycling Championships here in Richmond next month. Feel free to swing by and learn more. We will have bikes on hand for little ones to ride and cool things to give away!

SC: We’re really excited about the changes we’re making to the first version of the bikes. Check our site for updates on our progress of bringing the “Ultimate Kids Bike” to market, thank you again for your support!