Specialized Fights For Hearts & Minds In Afghanistan
This week, Specialized Bicycles teamed with Bicycling Magazine's BikeTown program and NATO to distribute Globe bicycles to local organizations in Kabul, Afghanistan. The groups receiving the bikes, including a local orphanage and the Afghani National Cycling Federation, will benefit from the Globe's utility, durability and comfort.
Started in 2003 to provide bikes to those in need, Bicycling's BikeTown program has provided over 3,000 bikes to people in more than 20 American cities. BikeTown also has also teamed up with drug maker Bristol-Myers Squibb to deliver more than 400 bicycles to home healthcare workers in African nations such as Botswana, Senegal and Namibia.
Specialized's Globe family of bicycles are have been specifically designed for riders seeking a bike for a variety of needs including running errands, commuting to work, burning off a few calories on a bike path, riding with the kids to school and a million other possibilities. Thanks to their A1 Premium Aluminum frames, puncture resistant Nimbus tires and medically proven Specialized Body Geometry saddles, the team at Specialized is confident that their Globe bicycles will hold up even on the war ravaged streets of Kabul.
"At Specialized we always design bikes and equipment for the specific experience that a rider needs them to satisfy," said the Founder and President of Specialized, Mike Sinyard. "Our Globe family of bikes has been designed to excel in a wide range of conditions, be incredibly durable and very easy to operate. Those features should serve their recipients well in Afghanistan."
After General John Craddock, NATO’s Supreme Allied Commander for Europe and the commander of the war in Afghanistan, agreed to support the establishment of the BikeTown program in Afghanistan, Bicycling Magazine's VP/Editor In Chief Stephen Madden turned to Specialized for 50 ultra-reliable, urban utility Globe bicycles.
After shipping 50 Globes, boxes of spare parts and several dozen helmets to Andrews Airforce Base in Maryland, the two tons of Globe bikes and Specialized equipment were loaded onto a C-17 cargo plane for transport to Afghanistan. Madden and a team from Bicycling met up with the bikes and equipment at the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) compound in Kabul on Tuesday May 20th to begin their humanitarian operation. After assembling the Globe bikes with some help from US Armed Services personnel, the team, accompanied by members of the armed services, visited a local orphanage to distribute roughly half the bikes. Members of the Afghan National Cycling Federation visited the ISAF compound to collect their Globe bikes, spare parts and helmets.
Globe bicycles are available at Specialized dealers across the United States. Three Globe families, Globe, Globe Centrum and Globe City retail for between $440 and $1,100 based on specification.
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