HEERENVEEN, Netherlands - Dutch cycle maker Koga Miyata is betting that its $1-million bike will help cyclist Theo Bos land a gold medal at the Beijing Olympics after he narrowly missed out in Athens four years ago.
Dutch bicycle maker Koga Miyata's managing director Wouter Jager poses behind Theo Bos' $1 million bike at the company's show room in the Dutch northern town of Heerenveen, May 28, 2008. [Agencies] |
"I was there in Athens, I saw Theo Bos and I thought there was room for improvement," Wouter Jager, Koga's managing director, told Reuters.
"I guaranteed we would make him the best frame in the world. It would be tailor-made to win a gold medal in Beijing."
Koga, a high-end bike maker in the north of the Netherlands which assembles its bikes by hand and sells them for an average of 1,300 euros ($2,023), spent the next three-and-a-half years developing a revolutionary frame for Bos.
Bos, silver medallist in the sprint in Athens, won bronze in the team sprint in the track world championships in Manchester in March and is seen as one of the Netherlands' brightest hopes for gold in Beijing in August.
Koga enlisted experts in the aerodynamics and carbon technology sectors, including several who had worked on the Ariane-5 space rocket and the Joint Strike Fighter project.
AERODYNAMIC LOOK
The company, which had initially budgeted $100,000, saw costs soar to around $1 million as it tested various materials, made numerous moulds and conducted multiple trials.
