History
Starting in 1991, the company was in operation for a year. Being frustrated by bicycle manufacturers' reluctance to embrace new innovative bicycle technologies, Royce Husted, the founder, created his company and sold Yankee Bicycles out of a facility in West Chicago, Illinois. Husted would have preferred that others built and sold his bicycles. Royce Husted witnessed his family having problems when they rode their bicycles. As a person capable of holding several patents, he designed a whole new approach to shifting and braking bicycles. After being in operation for only one year, starting in 1991, the company and relevant patents were sold to NordicTrak in 1992. == Yankee Bicycle ==
Yankee Bicycle
Perhaps only 3,000 Yankee Bicycles were built. The unique elements were not readily accepted by the bike industry which, arguably, valued only industry leaders' innovations. The name was derived as a reference to "Yankee ingenuity". Unlike other regular recreational bikes, Yankee Bicycles use systems invented by the founder, Royce Husted, for its shifting and braking. Not using chainrings, Radial Gear has a single sprocket that expands and contracts in response to a single gear shift lever. The selection of the gear is based on the length of time the shift lever is depressed. The braking scheme uses a Kevlar-covered steel cable that completely encircles the rear wheel around an extra rim. Due to lack of available parts and limited production, the Yankee Bicycles have become a collector's item (see external link section). == References ==