Back in the 80’s Huffy was a powerhouse, of sorts, in the BMX World, especially in the USA, with BMX legends like Gary Ellis, Mike King, and Stu Thomsen riding a signature frame, all shredding on a Huffy. Even in the 90’s they were supporting heavy hitters like Todd Lyons, then there was a lull and Huffy disappeared from the racing scene, only to be found in the history pages.
Then came 2024 … on January 23rd the iconic bicycle brand announced they were back in the BMX Racing game, with the launch of their @huffy_bmx Instagram page, and on January 24th they announced Carly Kane was the racer who would help propel them back into the spotlight. It was an astute pick! In March Carly picked up a Silver medal at the US National Championships and in May, she went to the UCI BMX Racing World Championships in Rock Hill and rolled across the finish line World Number 6, in Elite Women. All that on a blacked-out frame as she waited for Huffy to build their first professional race frame in quite some time. Now in August 2024, Carly is rolling on a Huffy … albeit a prototype, which both Huffy and Carly are not yet ready to share all the details despite our prodding … she did however give us some interesting background on the project …
‘I’ve been working with the absolutely incredible crew at Huffy to develop a high-end race frame since January. The prototype I am currently riding is simply a “test mule”, and it won’t fully reflect the final design of the production frame. We’re actually in the process of building several “test mules” so that we can do back-to-back testing with some varying factors to see what performs best’.
‘The technical team of Huffy’s parent company, United Wheels Inc. (UWI), has experience in various cycling disciplines doing design work for all their brands, and the process of making test mules is rather common in the high-end mountain bike and gravel world. The engineers at Huffy are just applying this process to the world of BMX racing! I have loved every minute of learning, experimenting, and discussing all of the little details with the team. I’m a very data-driven person, so having numbers and science to look at is just so exciting to me’.
You will have seen Carly riding her new ‘test mule’ since the beginning of august on her socials, and while it’s likely to evolve somewhat before it appears on general sale she’s clearly excited with where they are, ‘I’m seriously thrilled with the way the bike handles, the weight, the stiffness- all of it. I told the team that I was actually a little bit worried to ride something new, as prior to my Huffy prototype, I had been riding the same model of frame for almost four years. The transition to the new frame was practically seamless, and since the switch I have hit a few PB’s during my sprint and track work, which makes me feel pretty good. I was very confident in the engineers who designed my frame before riding it, but being on a Huffy has completely fortified that confidence’.
As of yet there is no timeline for production frames to hit the stores as both Carly and Huffy want it to be perfect when it does, ‘The Huffy team plans for the production version to be a massive step above anything they currently have,’ Carly told us, ‘we fully intend for the new frame to set the tone for how Huffy is perceived in the BMX race market moving forward … I can guarantee they will be well worth the wait!’
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