NeilPryde Launches its First High Performance Road Bikes with BMW Group DesignworksUSA as its Creative Partner

August 9, 2010...NeilPryde, leader in the marine and adventure sports markets and known for their high performance windsurfing equipment, takes a valiant step into a new industry segment.  Two high-performance road bikes Alize and Diablo have been developed together with BMW Group subsidiary DesignworksUSA.  The bikes will be presented to the public for the first time during one of Europe´s biggest cycling races, the Vattenfall Cyclassics, taking place in Hamburg, Germany, from August 13-15, 2010.

DesignworksUSA brings its knowledge in creating premium designs for mobility-related products from the automotive industry to aircrafts and yachts leveraging its global leadership in translating distinct brand values into compelling design solutions.

“NeilPryde Bikes is a bold step forward, both in terms of the products’ design and the evolution of the NeilPryde brand, and we are glad to have developed an innovative vision for this collaboration with NeilPryde,” said Laurenz Schaffer, President, DesignworksUSA.

The first two high performance road bikes from NeilPryde will launch globally online in August 2010 for pre-orders on its website www.neilprydebikes.com, with shipments to begin in mid-September 2010.

The Alize focuses on aerodynamic performance through optimized tube profiling and an extended Kamm tail.  The changing aerofoil profile along the length of the tubes manages the airflow specific to the aerodynamic characteristics of each element – frame, forks, wheels and components.  The Alize incorporates a progressive Kamm tail profile in the lower 1/3 of the down tube, with the extended trailing edge morphing into a squared-off surface, enabling a more efficient transition from the down tube to the seat tube.  “Using a Computational Fluid Dynamic modeling system, we were able to create a design that tricks the airflow to remain laminar around the downtube, seattube and rear wheel,” said Magnus Aspegren, Director of DesignworksUSA’s Singapore Studio.
 
Together with its client, DesignworksUSA developed an exoskeleton design of continuous carbon fibers fully integrated into the monocoque front triangle for the Diablo.  Stiffness ribs were also incorporated into strategic locations on the fork blades, chain and seat stays.  The design created allows carbon fibers to run continuously through tube-joint-tube transitions, resulting in a frameset that has been optimised for its unique material characteristics.

“We are extremely proud of the two bikes that reflect our brand essence and attitude,” said Michael Pryde, Group Sales and Distribution Manager at NeilPryde.  “Our heritage in elegantly engineering winning products in the water sports arena is now expanded beautifully to the cycling world,” Pryde added.

Framesets, inclusive of frame, forks, seat post, and headset, are priced at USD 2,500 for Diablo, and USD 2,250 for Alize.  Complete NeilPryde Bikes, inclusive of frameset, groupset, wheel set, and components, are priced between USD 3,900 – USD 4,300 when specified with Shimano Ultegra; and between USD 5,100 – USD 5,500 when specified with Shimano Dura Ace.

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About BMW Group DesignworksUSA
BMW Group DesignworksUSA provides design strategy, research, development, sustainability consulting, brand communications, 3D modeling, and color, materials, and finish services to many of the world’s great brands.  In addition to being the creative partner to BMW Group, which includes BMW, MINI and Rolls-Royce Motor Cars, additional DesignworksUSA clients include Hewlett Packard, Microsoft, Starbucks, Boeing Business Jets, Embraer, Pilatus, John Deere, Advanced Medical Optics and BAVARIA Yachts among others. The company was founded in 1972 by Charles W. Pelly in Malibu, California, and acquired by BMW Group in 1995.  Since December 2009, President Laurenz Schaffer has led DesignworksUSA's strategy and operations, which includes studios in Los Angeles, Munich, and Singapore. With global resources and clients across a spectrum of forward-thinking industries, DesignworksUSA has an unparalleled understanding of consumers and the world of design that surrounds them, both today and many years into the future.  In 2010, Fast Company magazine ranked DesignworksUSA as the world’s “#1 Most Innovative Company in Design,” and among the “Most Innovative Companies for 2010.”

www.designworksusa.com

About NeilPryde
NeilPryde a Division of Pryde Group is the benchmark for quality and performance in windsurfing. NeilPryde sails and rigs won consecutive world titles for twelve straight seasons from 1988 to 2000 and still dominate competitive windsurfing at national and international levels, including an outright speed record of 49.09 knots set by professional team rider Antoine Albeau in March 2008. NeilPryde Windsurfing is the official supplier of windsurfing sails, rigs and boards to the 2008 and 2012 Olympic Games.

As one of the pioneers in the sport of windsurfing, NeilPryde has been the key innovator to the sport, developing elegantly designed and highly engineered products for consumers seeking that extra margin of performance advantage. It is with this same philosophy and passion for performance that NeilPryde now brings to road bikes.

www.neilprydebikes.com

For media inquiries please contact:

Jackie Jones, Marketing Manager, DesignworksUSA
Tel: (805) 376-6253
email: Jackie.Jones@DesignworksUSA.com
or
Joe Richardson, Beautiful Noise Public Relations
Tel: (917) 716-6617
Email: Joe@BeautifulNoisePR.com