It is likely that many of you who are currently reading these lines were lucky enough to be born in the eighties or early nineties, and also enjoyed something similar to this Roadmaster Motocykes CR-2X that today we want to show you.
We are talking about a truly striking bike that was marketed in North America for a few years by Roadmaster Industries Inc, and that surely fascinated the children of the time.
Roadmaster Motocykes CR-2X: “They will attract the crowd and leave them behind”
Roadmaster is “one of the largest bicycle manufacturers and a leading producer of fitness equipment and toy products in the United States.”founded in 1925 under the name Anderson and Vail Stamping Company. Throughout the following decades it went through different commercial and economic stages, although it almost always managed to emerge successfully from the situation. At the same time, I created different subsidiary brands integrated within the business group, such as Roadmaster, Vitamaster, Flexible Flyer, DP, Hutch, Mac-Gregor and American Playworld.
As detailed in the specialized portal Encyclopedia “As the decade progressed, (the 1990s)…the company engineered one of the most successful product launches in its history, introducing in 1992 the Motocycle, a bicycle designed to look like a motorcycle for children ages ten to fourteen.”
He concludes: “A concentrated marketing effort that included print ads in Good Housekeeping, Parenting and Family Circle, as well as television ads on the youth-oriented cable channel “Nickelodeon,” enabled the company to sell out of its inventory in just five months, en route to a total of $226.2 million in sales, another record performance.”
Among the models that made up that range of products was this CR-2X. Presented under the motto “Motocykes: They will attract the crowd and leave them behind” It sported a striking aesthetic in the image and likeness of those iconic two-stroke frames of the time that delighted the teenagers of the moment.
For this, it had an aero-type fairing with rear-view mirrors integrated into it (reminiscent of the design of the Ducati Paso or the Cagiva Freccia), as well as a single-seater seat or powerful air intakes.
There is even more, since the CR-2X had a fictitious lighting system, consisting of a headlight, taillight and rear turn signals. Also two simulated exhaust outlets in the shapes of their side fairings. To finish off, an instrument panel made up of two stickers as a speedometer and rev counter, both digital and supported by fuel temperature indicators, as well as various indicators grouped between both screens.
In addition, there were versions that mounted road tires and others, the most common, included offroad rubber. The latter wrapped a pair of Mag-Lites wheels measuring 20″ x 2.125″. Imagine what a child of that time must have felt when seeing one of the brand’s advertisements where their new bike models were announced, including this CR-2X.
We don’t even want to imagine the emotion that any of them would have if that same season they found one of these under the Christmas tree. For all those who did not suffer this fate, from time to time a unit of the model is put up for sale, as is the case of this example that until not long ago was advertised on the Marketplace and that we learned about thanks to the colleagues at Bike Urious. More information and details by clicking on the link.
