Why the name?
Well, I don’t think there is a word in English that so strongly conveys both material and cultural resilience at the same time. I take great care to make sure that Sumoud machines are indeed “bomb-proof”, but I’m not in this game just to make awesome bikes, I’m in it to make awesome bikes that allow you to weather all the abuse and iniquity our modern world throws at you. Of course, no bike on its own will do that—it requires a lot of effort on your part. But a solid bike, custom-built around your day-to-day needs can be a powerful tool to facilitate those daily acts of transformation and affirmation and refusal. With a Sumoud bike between your legs you can feel confident saying, “NO! I will NOT be trapped in the drive-to-work-to-make-the-auto-payments-to-drive-to-work cycle.” No debt servitude. No worries about gas prices and parking. No insurance premiums. No long commutes that steal time from your friends and family.
Whatever you’re looking for in a bike, you can rest assured that a Sumoud bike will be tailored to your needs, not those of the ballooning bike industry. And it will be made by someone you know or have at least talked to over the phone, plugging away in a leaky garage with uneven floors and no insulation—someone more concerned with doing the right thing, and doing it well, than turning an easy profit. When you ask for a Sumoud bike, you’re not just conducting a financial transaction, you’re establishing a relationship with me, the builder, and all the big and small suppliers of raw materials and finished components that I eventually meld into a human-powered machine. You also invite me into your community, where I do my best to design with you a machine that will enhance your life and your relationships with those around you. It’s easy to lose sight of, but so much of our social lives is determined by how we get ourselves, our stuff and our less-mobile loved-ones from point A to point B. I contend that building a transportation solution responsive to ALL of your social needs and desires, not just your recreational ones, can go a long way toward making you more deeply-rooted in your/our community—as deeply-rooted as a Palestinian to her land.
