Good business cycle

Steuben maker of four-wheeled bikes gets global clientele

by Joe Boyle, Journal Gazette, Sunday April 25, 1999

On a 135 year-old farm just north of Hamilton, as horse-drawn buggies drive by, technology is reshaping the way one family does business.

The Teegardin farm's barn on Stueben County Road 500 South no longer houses farm implements. Instead, its large, open spaces are the assembly floor for Quadracycle Ind., one of only a handful of businesses in the world making four-wheeled bicycle, but one of many businesses realizing the importance of the Internet.

"Here we are in the middle of nowhere, but we can sell worldwide because of the Internet," said Quadracycle's sales manager, Rick Munroe.

Ed Teegardin, owner of the company, said a man he went to church with had the idea for a four-wheeled bicycle that he and his wife could ride to garage sales.

The tow hatched out a preliminary idea for the Quadracycle and built two, which were used in several Fourth of July parades in 1992, Teegardin said.

Interest in the four-wheeled contraption was piqued. In August, Quadracycle Inc. was officially formed.

By December, the company had an order for a shipment to Texas. The following August, Quadracycle Inc. was invited to an industry trade show in Las Vegas.

"The biking industry was amazed," Teegardin said. "They really liked it."

Quadracycle was only the second company in the United Stated to make a four-wheeler, Teegardin said, and it differed from the other models on the market because it has a suspension, and at 108 pound, was lighter than other specialty bike.

The vehicle isn't cheap. The models range from $700 to $2,800 in cost, depending on how large they are, how many seats and how many gears.

The costs of promoting the Quadracycle were prohibitive at first, said Rick Munroe, sales manager. The company needed to print brochures, set up a dealer network and do the things a traditional business need to do to set up, he said.

"It's expensive to go out and get you name known," Munroe said.

Enter the Internet.

Several years ago, the firm was listed with other bicycle manufactures on a site that promoted biking paths. But this year, the company got its own World Wide Web site, which Munroe said is critical to the company's growth.

Last week, the factory was preparing an order of nine Quadracycles for shipment to Arcadia National Park, in Maine. The order, Munroe said, was sparked when the customer found Quadracycle Inc. on the Internet.

We've found customers that may not have been found before," Munroe said.

The customers have been from all over the world, Teegardin said; Israel, France, South America.

And the Internet help consumers by cutting out the middleman. When Quadracycle operated through a network of dealers, the price was inevitably higher for the consumer. Now, consumers can order factory direct.

Another key to the company's growth is adapting each vehicle to what the customer wants, Teegardin said.

About half of the vehicles, which take about 22 hours to build, are sold to businesses near tourist attractions, which rent the Quadracycle for transportation, Munroe said.

One of the more interesting variations of the transportation theme is in Oslo, Norway, where Munroe said a man uses a four-seater to transport drunken people.

"The guy used to have a rickshaw but likes this better," Munroe said.

some customers have come up with ideas beyond what Teegardin ever imagined.

A Massachusetts man had a Quadracycle capable of riding on abandoned railroad tracks built, Teegardin said. A local clown had one built with headlights and a windshield like an old Model T Ford. One person had a sail mounted on the Quadracycle to zip around parking lots on gusty days.

But the customers Quadracycle officials are most excited about are those with physical disabilities, Munroe said.

Bikes have been built with different seating, steering and frame setups to accommodate different disabilities, he said.

Eventually, he said, he'd like to see production increased to a pint where the company could create about 20 full-time jobs - something badly needed in Hamilton, which has lost two major factories in the past year.

"We're on the borderline where we're busy but putting all the money back into making the bikes," he said.

And when the company gets on its feet, Munroe also hopes to be able to help that special segment of Quadracycle's customer base.

"I want to be able to help disabled kids, to donate bikes to non-profits," he said.

A crucial component to the company's success is enjoying the work, Munroe said.

"It's neat to have the prospect of going to work and having fun."

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